MIT volunteers talk about their experiences

Volunteering during leisure time and alongside a career – Henkel’s MIT initiative is founded on the hard work of Henkel employees and retirees who are involved in charitable projects worldwide. Three MIT helpers talk here about their contributions to good causes.


Three questions to Tatiana Gillitzer

Tatiana Gillitzer heads an international team at Henkel responsible for the manufacture and marketing of wound adhesives. Since 2005, she has also been a volunteer for “PACK,” an organization in Mombasa, Kenya, that collects donations to fund vital chemotherapy for children.

What do you do specifically with the donations received?
Tatiana Gillitzer: “Over the last two years, we have managed to install a separate cancer ward in the Coast General Hospital in Mombasa for ‘our’ children. These share a tough fate: they have Burkitt’s Lymphoma, a very fast growing form of non-Hodgkin’s cancer of the lymph glands. The tumor often causes their facial expressions to distort, so it is good that they can be kept exclusively together with fellow sufferers on the same ward. And the nurses and doctors can also provide them with excellent pre- and post-treatment support.”

Last year, the MIT donated 3,000 euros. What did this buy?
Tatiana Gillitzer: “Beds and mattresses for the ward. Henkel also donated shampoos, detergents and toothpaste. Some of the money was actually used for treatments because most of the children come from families that are unable to afford the expensive therapy required.”

Why are you specifically involved in the treatment of sick children?
Tatiana Gillitzer: “I want to see children smiling, not suffering. Anyone who has witnessed the suffering of these kids would want to help. Also after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, I arranged for the donation of wound adhesives to facilitate the provision of fast medical care there."

Three questions to Isabel Ramblas and Marisol Sanchez

Isabel Ramblas and Marisol Sanchez work in the Human Resources department of Henkel in Mexico. They also help out in the “Allegra Casa Hogar” children’s home in Salamanca, Guanajuato.

Why are you supporting this project?
Isabel Ramblas: “We want to help children in our city who, right from birth, face a pretty tough existence. The Allegra Casa Hogar is home to 20 kids from difficult family backgrounds. We feel that we can at least contribute to providing a secure atmosphere for them to grow up in. It helps that here they are able to live with their siblings, something which is not normally the case in other children’s homes in Mexico.”

How has the MIT supported the children’s home?
Marisol Sanchez: “With its donation of 4,000 euros, we were able to build a wall around the site. This is important in order to give the children a feeling of safety and protection.”

What other projects are in the pipeline?
Isabel Ramblas: “This year we hope to install a new early learning room. We expect to be heavily involved in this and will again be trying to attract donations.”

Three questions to John Shaw

John Shaw works for Technical Customer Services at Henkel in the UK and invited a school principal from Malawi, Africa to visit an English school.

What was the purpose of the invitation?
John Shaw: “Cultural exchange! Ophent Kalawonga, the principal of Zombwe School in Malawi, spent two weeks at Hatfield’s Countess Anne Church of England Primary School in the autumn of 2010. He wanted to see life and learning in a typical British school. He also talked to the school children about culture in Malawi.”

What form did the lessons take?
John Shaw: “He told the children about the geographical and political situation in Malawi and described life there. By the time he had finished, the kids were even able to say a few sentences in the Malawi language! He also cooked meals from his homeland so as to give the students a taste of Malawian cuisine.”

Why was this cultural exchange worthwhile?
John Shaw: “The children of both countries will benefit from having their horizons extended through this contact."

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