Planète Urgence and Umicore join forces
Planète Urgence battles against the destruction of the planet and the social inequalities by mobilizing employees for short foreign missions (two or three weeks) sponsored by their employer. When the Planète Urgence missions were proposed by Umicore Building Products in 4 French sites, Umicore employees were eager to get on board. Out of all candidates, 4 lucky colleagues got drafted; one from each site. Umicore covered all local costs and plane tickets. Additionally, a two-day preparation course in Paris was provided for these highly motivated volunteers.
They got to choose their own mission out of two categories: protecting the environment and adult education. In the end, one colleague left for a park called Kempo Meen that is located near the village Ebodje in Cameroon where he was involved in the protection of turtles. A second volunteer also chose environmental charity work in Cameroon. She travelled to the national park of Bénoué where she had to make an evaluation of the park’s animal life. Another employee was more drawn to the humanitarian aspect of the organization, and left for Burkina Faso to teach office skills in an orphanage. The final volunteer went to the village Mopti in the west of Mali where he helped people in a more practical way, as he had to make an evaluation for the rehabilitation and the maintenance of a hydraulic system in a community garden in the village.