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October 30, 2008
Making a Difference in Asia
Alcoa’s October 2008 Worldwide Month of Service
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Across Asia, over 290 Alcoa volunteers made a difference in the community by taking practical steps to improving the environment, by reaching out hands of friendship to vulnerable groups in the community, and by improving the quality of life of their communities now and for future generations.
In China, Alcoa volunteers and their families from Bohai and Quihuangdao teamed up with Quihuangdao Animal SOS Center, the Birds Protection Association and Quinhuangdao Forest Bureau, and the Quihuangdao Bird Museum to support conservation of wildlife and their fragile ecosystems. Volunteers hung bird houses to provide shelter and participated in the release to the wild of birds which had been nursed back to health by the Quihuangdao Animal SOS Center. They finished the day by energetically collecting and removing large amounts of trash and debris from a beach area which was polluting wildlife habitat.
In Beijing, Alcoa volunteers teamed up with the journalists from the China Forum of Environmental Journalists at the Alcoa Environmental Protection Base. They participated in a workshop led by Dr Li Hao, a prominent environmental expert in China, to raise public awareness of pressing issues of air pollution, water resource management, recycling and city greening programs which can make a difference in peoples’ lives in Beijing and beyond. After the workshop, the participants went to work putting theory into practice by digging more than 150 tree cells to assist trees on a nearby mountain to better absorb scarce water resources.
In Shanghai, Alcoa volunteers reached out to children at the Shanghai Pudong Special School to share a day of enriching activities, and visited elderly residents at the Jiangchuan rest home with gifts and laughter. They also participated in a “green transpiration, clean beach” program with the Shanghai Oasis Ecological Conservation Center.
In Kushan, Alcoa volunteers lent a helping hand to the patients and nurses at the Huaquiao Hospital, including helping with transport, providing fresh fruit, magazines and lots of smiles for the enjoyment of the patients. They also undertook a one-on-one tutoring program for school children at the Qianjing School.
In Hong Kong, Alcoa staff, family and friends spent a day at a nursing home for the elderly in Kwun Tong, telling stories, sharing a Dim Sum lunch, and returning to brighten up the elders’ home by painting 50 doors at their residences.
In the Republic of Korea, Alcoa volunteers worked hard digging up concrete and stones to prepared the ground for a major garden project at the DongJinBokJi senior care center.
In Singapore, Alcoa volunteers partnered with the Handicapped Welfare Association to treat 13 special guests in wheel chairs to a day at the Bollywood Veggies Farm, including an education tour of the farm, sharing Hi-tea together, outdoor sketching and enjoying a carefree day in natural surroundings.
The volunteers saw first-hand that what can be achieved by working together - and through education and awareness - can be enormously powerful now and for the future.
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