14/7/2014 0 Comments Alien turns 3!Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky. The flying cloud, the frosty light. The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Growing up has never been so much fun as it’s been with Alien Logistics, from the celebrations in the first year with the Alien family & friends; to the time when Aliens descended upon Osaka in a bid to locate what the locals called the “fire in the sky” in our second year! The past year has seen us amass a wealth of new knowledge about the industry, new trustworthy partners in more countries around the world, and a new sense of belonging to this world we live in. Some of the fondest moments include meeting travellers who collect memories and build friendships across the world, working together with multiple customer offices to plan and set up a robotic factory process, and walking a customer through their foray into warehousing and reverse logistics. Oh yes, and the participation in Asia’s first ever Viper Challenge event! One thing which had always been on Gavin’s mind was how to give back to the community which supported us – while there were a lot of worthy causes out there, we wanted to be able to support a cause which was sustainable and aligned with our core business, vision and values. A friend of mine was involved in a project to bring light and a brighter future to Orang Asli (aboriginal) children in places where electricity was not available, and needed some help with the logistics of bringing the bulbs in, storing them and then distributing the bulbs to the volunteers. The “Project Light a Home” team’s heart was set on helping the children and womenfolk gain a better life through education and forms of income supplementation. At night, in the traditional aboriginal houses which are off the grid, the children are unable to do their homework due to the lack of lighting. For those houses which run on generators, it costs them USD 3 a day to run the generator for 6 hours. When these households earn between USD 6-10 a day, running the generator so that their children can do their homework would seem to take up too much of the living cost for something which the parents may not seem too keen on, preferring their children to live off the land, than get an education in the hope of bettering their livelihood. So, the downward spiral of no homework done and the inability to study for exams, leading to poor results and then the dropping out of school begins. With the donated Nokero solar light bulbs, the Orang Asli then have free light which enables not just the children to study, but the womenfolk to make handicraft which is sold through the Gerai OA and their household income improves while the children have the hope of a brighter future with a fair chance at education. So, what does the new year bring for us, in terms of giving back to the community? For sure, it would be something which would be in line with our core business, and with a greater impact on the society than just a single meal or just one day of fun. All ideas on “Logistics with a heart” are welcome!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |