When I get mails with content like ‘but why not us and always them’ I often just shake my head. Some of the stuff I get in my mail and message boxes is simply not good enough to spread around, and I am talking both content and presentation. Alan Dixson of Uniglobe Lets Go Travel in Nairobi in contrast does send me material I think is worth sharing, to show how a Kenyan travel agency plays its role in looking after the less fortunate in society – until now done almost by stealth but this is the time to beat those drums and share the good news. My only wish is that more tourism stakeholders, even though times were hard in recent years, would find worthy causes and help those who need it most.
INTRODUCTION:
This year’s first half Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects have fully reflected on our CSR policy vision, copiously showing our commitment to supporting environmental conservation and communities in areas in which we live and operate, by adopting sustainable tourism practices, with great emphasis on our on-going commitment to innovation in sustainability and green practises and our pledge to promoting responsible tourism.
2015 ULGT CSR PROJECTS
1. Keep her in school
2. Education
3. Livelihood
4. Conservation
1. 2015 KEY PROJECT: KEEP HER IN SCHOOL
In our efforts to promote responsible tourism through Corporate Social Responsibility, the Uniglobe Let’s Go Travel ladies came up with the concept of raising funds to assist the less fortunate teenage girls who are part of the homes and schools we support, by sponsoring them with sanitary towels.
The initiative was developed after a series of observations of the girl child monthly situation where she would be forced to stay away from school at least 5 days in a month, because they could not afford sanitary towels. This would therefore mean she would miss at a minimum 45 days in a school year or 6 weeks in a school calendar year!
It is after this observation that we understood the dire need of keeping the girl child in school by dissecting the core reason of her missing school. The best way possible was making the “every month” situation less stressful and worrisome for the girls by providing them with the sanitary towels.
PROJECT GOALS:
v To supply girls with sanitary towels and ensure that the girl child doesn’t miss school due to lack of sanitary towels.
v To restore her dignity and self-worth.
v Improve her performance in school, which ultimately will improve her life and her community.
v Girl child empowerment through building her confidence.
v Promoting safe and clean health practices for the girl.
v Freedom from discrimination through monthly isolation.
PROJECT PICTORIAL:
Uniglobe Lets Go Travel staff handover some underwear for the girls at BOC
ULGT staff gives out the sanitary towels to BOC girls
FINANCIAL SUPPORT BREAKDOWN
| Body of Christ Children’s Home (BOC) 2015
Target 12 girls |
|
| Cost Breakdown | Total Per Year |
| 1 sanitary pack per girl = KES 140
12 girls supply per month = KES 1,680 12 months’ supply per girl = KES 1,680 X 12 |
KES 20,160 |
| Kalalu Secondary School 2015
Target 30 girls (Form 4 class only) |
|
| Cost Breakdown | Total Per Year |
| 1 sanitary pack per girl = KES 140
30 girls supply per month = KES 4,200 12 months’ supply per girl = KES 4,200 X 12 |
KES 50,400 |
Notes:
v 2015 target number for the Body of Christ teenage girls is 12.
v 2015 target number for Kalalu Secondary (Form 4 students) is 30.
v Cost of sanitary pack per girl is based on the assumption of no inflation throughout the year.
Future Financial Support Projections
| Body of Christ Children’s Home (BOC) 2016
Target 24 girls |
|
| Cost Breakdown | Total Per Year |
| 1 sanitary pack per girl = KES 150
24 girls supply per month = KES 1,800 12 months’ supply per girl = KES 1,800 X 24 |
KES 43,200 |
| Kalalu Secondary School 2016
Target 120 girls (Form 1 – 4 ) |
|
| Cost Breakdown | Total Per Year |
| 1 sanitary pack per girl = KES 150
120 girls supply per month = KES 18,000 12 months’ supply per girl = KES 18,000 X 12 |
KES 216,000 |
Notes:
v 2016 target number for the Body of Christ teenage girls is 24.
v 2016 target number for Kalalu Secondary (Form1 – 4 students) is 120.
v 2016 cost of sanitary pack per girl is based on the assumption of KES 10 increase of inflation throughout the year compared to 2015.
HOW DOES UNIGLOBE LET’S GO TRAVEL SUPPORT THE PROJECT?
ULGT Staff contribute through monthly cash, food stuffs and clothing items donations.
In 2015, the staff raised 50% of the total amount and the company raised the other 50% of the total amount. The company also provided the means of transport, to aide in having these items delivered to Body of Christ Home, Limuru and Kalalu Secondary School,Nanyuki.
Future Support
Being the pilot year for the Keep Her in School project, we only helped 12 of the girls at BOC and 30 Form 4 students at Kalalu Secondary School because these were the most needful cases in the year.
In 2016 + we are looking at expanding the project as more girls at BOC home will have come of age where they need the sanitary towels, thus projecting a total of 24 girls. And at Kalalu Secondary School, we are aiming at providing for all the girls, starting from form 1- form 4, projected to be a total of 120 girls.
Therefore we aim at funding through;
1. Staff contributions
2. The company will contribute the same amount raised by staff or more.
3. Traveller’s Philanthropy – a practise that we encourage our clients (travellers) to give to the worthy causes that especially promote community and environmental sustainability and development.
5. Corporate donations and well-wishers.
SUMMARY
Debatably, the greatest challenges to sustainable development are environmental issues, however in efforts to promote other related problems such as food, clothing and poverty in our communities, through responsible tourism, we stumbled upon an issue that is often passed off as less important without realising how much of a deep impact that the lack of sanitary towels was and is, to our girls.
Cognisant of the importance of sustainable development to these young girls lives, we felt that it was only fair and just to keep them in school by diminishing the root cause of one of the main challenges that they faced as young women, in our society, by simply providing that which we consider to be a basic need for every adolescent girl child – A pack of sanitary towels every month.
OTHER CSR ON-GOING PROJECTS THAT WE SUPPORT:
2. EDUCATION
We support schools in Laikipia area. These schools, like many in rural areas of developing countries face many challenges that include inadequate school supplies, poor infrastructure, and lack of equipment. Our relationship with each school is unique and is defined by needs of the school, and not our priorities. In order to broaden opportunities for these schools, we invite our travellers to be part of our education partnership programs through traveller’s philanthropy.
This year we donated some computers to Kalalu Secondary school to be used in their computer labs, where the children get to be taught basic computer skills.
15th June, 2015 Mr. Alan Dixson (MD) presented Kalalu Secondary School with a cheque of £ 2,000 approximately KES 316,000 courtesy of Kings Oak Academy, UK. The funds were to settle school fees for 21 students who had been sent home due to lack of school fees.
Kalalu Secondary School, one of the schools we have partnered with, is a beneficiary of our travellers’ philanthropy program. As a result, Kalalu has received support from Kings Oak Academy, Bristol, UK, in the past where they constructed a computer lab, washrooms for boys and girls and a classroom, and deposit to purchase the 50 seater school bus.
3. LIVELIHOOD
(a) Limuru Elderly Feeding Programme:
ULGT in conjunction with Pat Dixson, Alan’s mother, every two weeks hands out food stuff to the elderly people of Limuru area, where she and her team have created a system where the less fortunate elderly people register themselves and thus receive a two weekly portion of food consistently without fail, at the Limuru Red Cross hall.
18th March, 2015 ULGT staff together with our technology partners, Amadeus, visited the feeding programme and assisted in donating and distributing some of the food.
Amadeus also sponsored a computer to Pat Dixson’s assistant which would help him plan, manage and organise the feeding programme records much better.
(b) Body of Christ Children’s Home:
18th March, 2015 ULGT staff together with our technology partners, Amadeus, also visited Body of Christ Children’s Home, whom as mentioned above we work very closely with and support in any possible way.
Here, we donated clothing and food for the kids. Pastor Mbugua, the home’s founder also received a computer courtesy of Amadeus, to help her in better records keeping for the home.
08th April, 2015 48 children of BOC were treated to a full day wildlife conservation trip to the Giraffe Center, Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, Mamba Village where they also had lunch and later visited the Nairobi Safari Walk, all sponsored by African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW) and transport/coordination courtesy of ULGT.
(c) Limuru Children’s Home:
Limuru Children Centre has been receiving support from us since 2005. Through our traveller’s philanthropy project, we connected them with international sponsors who have built new and modern structures for the centre and continue to support the school to keep it operational. The centre takes care of orphaned and vulnerable children from Limuru area and supports more than 400 needy children. It is also a rescue centre for abused children. Apart from the financial support given by ULGT, staff visit the centre a few times a year to donate food and clothing.
And as such, on 18th March, 2015 we also visited them together with our technology partners, Amadeus, donating food, clothing and a computer for the administration office for the home.
4. CONSERVATION
We believe that conservation of our environment and wildlife heritage is key for tourism and quality of life. As has been in the past, we support conservation efforts for over 20 years, by being members of various organisations in Kenya to enhance conservation ideals. Our support has been given directly through membership subscriptions and in-kind through serving in numerous boards and committees. Also, actively sponsoring conservation events.
17th April, 2015 we part sponsored children conservation competition awards created by African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW). This was a simple way of us giving back to AFEW.
The table below shows the organisations we have supported over the years, and estimates of our direct investment in conservation up until 30th June, 2015.
| MEMBERSHIP AND SUBSCRIPTIONS | |||
| Name | Year Joined | Annual Subs | |
| East African Wildlife Society | 1986 – 26 yrs. | 20,000 | 520,000 |
| Wildlife Clubs of Kenya | 2003 – 12 yrs. | 5,000 | 60,000 |
| Nature Kenya | 2005 – 10 yrs. | 20,000 | 200,000 |
| Ecotourism Kenya | 1996 – 19 yrs. | 10,000 | 190,000 |
| Laikipia Wildlife Forum | 2007 – 8 yrs. | 10,000 | 80,000 |
| FONNAP (Friends of Nairobi Park) | 2009 – 6 yrs. | 10,000 | 60,000 |
| Total | 1,110,000 |
REPORT SUMMARY
Through these and other initiatives, we look forward to continuing our investment in our communities and hope to fulfil our social and ethical responsibility as a leading tourism industry stakeholder in Kenya.
By driving CSR innovation and continuity in our business, we believe that our goals will be met through our CSR policy and principles and ultimately will highly contribute to social sustainability and responsible tourism.
