Hogg Robinson Employees Making a Difference in Malawi

Two Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) employees, from Toronto (Canada) and Johannesburg (South Africa), are leaving the comfort and stability of their home and work environments to spend a week supporting international development charity ActionAid teams to build better lives for HIV/AIDS orphans in Malawi.

Jeremy Bonk, a Management Accountant with HRG North America, and Shirlene Nel, a Credit Controller with HRG South Africa, were selected from hundreds of applicants who offered their support to ActionAid, HRG's nominated corporate charity. Some 12,000 employees also joined together to help ActionAid on HRG Day, the company's annual charity and community support day, raising almost £100,000. All funds are being used to support three specific projects across three continents: the HIV/AIDS project in Malawi, an education programme for children in Brazil's City of God, and a community healthcare initiative in Cambodia.

David Radcliffe, CEO of HRG, said, "We are delighted to be working with ActionAid on such worthy projects. The three initiatives, spanning different continents, reflect our company culture which encourages our international employees to work closely together and enables us to give something back and help those less fortunate than ourselves."

Malawi has one of the highest global rates of HIV/Aids, with one in seven of the population living with the disease. Over 500,000 children in the country have already been orphaned by HIV/AIDS, leaving them vulnerable to child abuse, sexual exploitation and child labour. The HRG-supported ActionAid priority project in Malawi is focused on the construction and development of an Ufulu Centre employing trained nursery nurses to give these children a chance at leading better and healthier lives.

As part of its support for ActionAid, HRG agreed to sponsor six employees to undertake working site visits and report back on the progress of the projects. In addition to Jeremy and Shirlene, other employees from Australia, Italy and the UK will be visiting the projects in Brazil and Cambodia over the coming months.

Commenting on his trip Jeremy said, "One of the primary reasons that I originally elected to work for HRG was that I learned that it was heavily involved in aiding and giving back to those who were less fortunate. I have travelled to many countries, where I have witnessed that a little bit of financial aid, combined with a passion for change within the nation, will not only change and improve lives, it will save lives. For this reason, I feel incredibly fortunate to work for a company that strives to make a difference internationally and I relish the opportunity to witness the progress that the Ufulu centre has made thanks to the hard work within Malawi."

Shirlene added, "I'm going on this trip not to gain anything but I hope the people around me will be able to gain from what I'm putting into it! I hope that I will be able to make a difference in someone's life and that I will learn from the people driving huge aid-providing organisations. I'm looking forward to participating in a dream coming true and making people more aware of what and how big the needs are in Africa. Every minute spent and every penny raised by HRG is changing the world."

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