Aid project Cambodia

Geberit employee Thomas Wälti implemented a social-aid project in Cambodia with the support of Geberit. He helped improve future prospects for female factory workers through the construction of a residential establishment.

When Wälti submitted to Geberit a project for a residential center in Cambodia, CEO Albert M. Baehny and Roland Högger, Head of Environment and Sustainability, were immediately convinced and gave their consent. The project was actively supported with know-how, services and products.

The aim of the project is to enable women working in the cotton and clothing factories of Phnom Penh to obtain access to living spaces offering hygienically acceptable sanitary facilities, food and further training. These women, who are generally young and single, are from the provinces and it is very difficult for them to find affordable living space in the vicinity of the Cambodian capital. Ten women must share a single small room. Poor diet and insufficient hygiene are everyday problems. A total of 150,000 women are currently living in similarly wretched conditions.

Thanks to this project, a residential building is being constructed, in which 400 of these workers will receive inexpensive housing. The approximately 50 rooms will be equipped with toilets, showers and washbasins.

Geberit sent materials for this project and made Wälti available as an adviser to train people onsite. In order to provide the building workers with the necessary knowledge of sanitary technology, he organized a workshop on PE-HD, Mepla pipes and cisterns. The knowledge gained was subsequently put into practice on the construction site. In just a short space of time, three bathrooms as well as the Mepla supply pipe on the roof were completed. They served the workers as an example for the completion of other sanitary installations.

The local workers were impressed by Geberit working methods and they absorbed the knowledge within a very short time. The workers can now continue the construction work on their own, with only supervision from Geberit. In the future they will be able to carry out sanitary installations on their own. The new residential center for 400 female workers will be ready for occupancy during the course of 2008 - that's sustainability.