When Car Refinishes Managing Director in Bangalore, Sudhakar Dantiki, heard that the neighboring elementary Telugu School was plagued by its rather unfortunate proximity to the local market, he decided to give the school a helping hand.
It seemed that meat and fish vendors were tossing their waste products into the school yard. The result was not only an assault on the noses of students and faculty, but created unsanitary conditions. The solution was not particularly complicated, but it was beyond the means of the school – a concrete wall ten feet high and 100 feet long. With support from the Community Program a local contractor was engaged to take care of the problem and build the fence.
This happened in the summer of 2007 and since then the involvement of Car Refinishes employees with this school has increased a lot as well as in other activities in the community. A subsequent tour of the school revealed that the toilets were in a terrible state, so once again, Car Refinishes employees coordinated the repairs to the lavatories as well as a coat of paint for the lavatories and other areas around the school in order to improve the appearance and the sanitary conditions.
Bangalore has earned a reputation as one of the great success stories of the developing world – a center of high tech that rivals Silicon Valley as a draw for genius engineers and daring entrepreneurs. That, of course, is why Car Refinishes invested so heavily in its Bangalore Research Center. But that doesn’t mean that poverty doesn’t persist amidst the boom. And with that in mind, this major AkzoNobel location has lent a generous helping hand on a range of health and education programs to try to improve conditions for its neighbors.
‘It’s not that Bangalore is not prosperous’, says Site Manager N. Dwarakanath. ’It is, but in any city you have extremes. However developed you may be, you have people who need to be taken care of. And even though the government is spending large sums of money, it doesn’t always reach the people who need it. So a company like AkzoNobel can pitch in to make it a nicer place for everyone ‘.
And that is exactly what our colleagues are regularly doing, focusing on the health and education of the children. The Research Center site organized Saturday competitions at the school in essay writing and drawing and painting, and sponsored quiz tournaments for the kids. Our colleagues volunteered their time for these weekend events, working with the school principal and teachers. Prizes were provided to the top competitors. In March, while on a visit to Bangalore, BU R&D Manager Klaas Kruithof stopped by the Telugu School and distributed shoes to the 200 plus youngsters. He also handed out prizes to the winners of a cultural event that was part of the outreach program.
Quite a few employees have been donating time on weekends to teach courses to students in subjects areas where the school itself does not have qualified teachers. ‘The government really appreciates our involvement’, says Senior Group Leader Dada Herle, who teaches science at the school on most weekends. ’We’ve developed this school as a sort of model school, and are now trying to extend similar services to other local schools’. One project just about to be completed involves installing a water tank at another local school. That project will improve the quality and reliability of the school’s water supply.
Community outreach has also extended to the organization of a ‘medical camp’ which was held on June 1 in Hoskote village, adjacent to the center. Contract workers at the Center, their family members, and local residents in Hoskote and surrounding villages were all invited to the camp for a free medical checkup. The Red Cross played an active role in organizing and conducting the camp, and a local NGO took the responsibility to get medics, paramedics, and all sorts of medical experts to participate. The event was publicized throughout the area and with support from the Community Program the Center hired buses to provide transport.
In the end, some 520 people ranging from small children to senior citizens attended the camp. Those who required further treatment were referred to a hospital to be taken care of at a later date. Around 30 AkzoNobel employees helped out at the camp, including John van Diemen, Color Manager, who is on assignment from the Netherlands. ’It was great to see the enthusiasm of our AkzoNobel team’, says John. ’The spirit of our staff and their eagerness to help the needy people in the area is truly inspiring’.
‘What we are doing here in Bangalore with the local community is great” says Managing Director Sudhakar Dantiki, ’we are not only helping our neighbors but also developing excellent organizational skills and team spirit in our employees. For me, it’s quite a humbling experience to be part of this program’.