At Diethelm Travel Group, we believe caring for our communities is more than just giving to those in need. We proudly employ local staff and work closely with travel and hospitality partners to ensure high standards of ethics and sustainability wherever we go.
This care and emphasis on connection extends to our communities and natural environments both in destinations where we send travellers and our own backyard.
We’re delighted to collaborate with a variety of great organisations and support worthy causes, especially when we can help out again year after year. Below is a roundup of just some of the ways we’ve recently done our part to give back.
In early June, our Diethelm Cares Ambassador, Napason Wetchapram, and Natalia Anosova, Sales & Account Manager – Russia/CIS & Eastern Europe, joined the Pencils for Kids team for the second year in a row during an outreach mission in Chiang Rai, Thailand. For some families in rural parts of Southeast Asia, being able to afford school supplies is an ongoing struggle, so Pencils for Kids, Inc. provides school supplies to students in need to ensure that no child’s education is limited due to lack of basic supplies.
To help reach more students, Diethelm Travel supplied transport for the supply drops. Backpacks filled with essential school supplies, such as pencils, notebooks, crayons and uniforms, were successfully distributed to nearly 1,000 students studying at 6 different schools and two orphanages around Chiang Rai.
Pencils for Kids has been visiting the same schools year after year for over a decade in an attempt to give ongoing support to the community and reiterate to students year after year how important their education is.
As a first-time volunteer for this particular project, Natalia came away from the experience saying, “I hope it’s not the last one. Children are our future and it is our responsibility to help prepare them for a great one.”
Read more about this joint venture here on our blog from last year’s mission.
In April, the Diethelm Travel Myanmar team was also able to work with Pencils for Kids on a two-day trip to visit schools on the outskirts of Yangon. This project was Pencils for Kids’ 6th annual Myanmar Mission Trip and Diethelm Travel Myanmar provided transportation and a helping hand. The team delivered 500 backpacks loaded with stationery and school uniforms provided as donations, which families must typically pay for out of pocket.
Read about the challenges and successes of this trip here on our blog.
Soil erosion is a major problem in Thailand. The country’s late King Bhumibol Adulyadej was aware of the importance of preventing and solving soil problems and launched the Royal Initiative for Vetiver Grass to help conserve soil and water.
During 2-3 June 2018, 80 members of the Diethelm Travel Thailand team made their way to Khao Yai National Park in central Thailand to help Royal Forest Department rangers plant the last set of vetiver saplings from the Royal Initiative.
The group trekked 2 kilometres deep into the jungle at the centre of the national park to help plant the vetiver as well as build salt licks for the area’s wild animals including elephants, deer and bulls.
Read about Diethelm Cares – Supporting Rangers and Planting Projects in Khao Yai here on our blog.
Diethelm Travel Thailand also recently joined “Grandmom Yim” and other local volunteers in a tree-planting and conservation event in the north of Thailand. Surprisingly spry for her age, the industrious Yim has devoted her life to planting thousands of trees in honour of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. During this environmental conservation project, the team volunteered and got their hands dirty planting trees, as well as sponsored the drinking water station that kept the day’s many volunteers hydrated.
See pictures and learn more about this volunteer project on our blog.
These are just a few of the current CSR initiative Diethelm Travel Group is undertaking. We’re always looking for ways to support our communities and give back to the planet we love!