Cementing a Stronger Future in the Community
KHD is dedicated to helping create healthy environments, not only through our clean technology and engineering expertise in the cement industry, but also through our partnerships and work outside the workplace. Recently, the KHD Customer Service Center in India partnered with Swechha, a youth-run, youth-focused NGO operating out of Delhi, India. Swechha is a movement of young people engaged in environmental and social development issues. They offer programs and activities designed to raise awareness and enable young people to bring about change.
Monsoon Wooding is Swechha’s annual drive to plant trees in local communities throughout Delhi, Noida, and Gurgaon, India. This year, with support from KHD, Monsoon Wooding held 8 awareness drives, 5 massive clean-ups and 6 planting drives within communities. The participation in these drives was tremendous. More than 700 community members and 80 volunteers successfully planted 360 saplings of various species. Additionally, KHD committed to distributing 150 bonsai plants among employees at CSC India. Volunteers from KHD actively participated in the campaigns through planting, as well as creating awareness about the importance of trees.
In June, KHD sponsored Swechha’s annual concert, Yamunotsav, an awareness drive for Monsoon Wooding focused on spreading awareness about the World Environment. Attendees enjoyed a welcome address by Martin Gierse, Head of KHD’s Customer Service Center (CSC) India, followed by an evening of music and theater centered on conservation. 150 saplings were distributed based on pledges made at this event.
KHD employees also participated in staff training sessions designed to create awareness about environmental issues and simple steps we can take to correct them. These employees, along with other volunteers, help Swechha with their PAGDANDI program by facilitating regular classes, such as:
- Weekend classes teaching life skills, values, attitudes and general awareness
- Media clubs focusing on street play, dance, and film making
- Girls groups focusing on photography
- Remedial classes for tutoring weaker students
- Sports, games, and creative workshops
- A community library for children, open three days a week.
- KHD’s dedication to responsible practices that encourage sustainability and contribute to the overall well-being of our current and future generations matches perfectly with Swechha’s mission:
“Through our environmental and educational programs, our ultimate aim is to make people realize their potential of being socially and environmentally-responsible individuals. We want to encourage people to think before they act and to be involved in their communities, so that together we can all bring about change for a better, cleaner and healthier society. We hope to instill in all individuals the idea that citizenship is not just about belonging to a particular nation state, but is about responsibility, partnership, participation, and action”.
To learn more about Swechha or find out how you can get involved, visit http://www.swechha.in/home or email us at KHD Global Marketing.
Just another way KHD is dedicated to Cementing a Stronger Future.