Over the last few weeks, I approached Nakheel, TBWA RAAD, Adidas and Thuraya for corporate sponsorship towards the cause I am supporting by climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. None of them showed any interest in my initiative, which naturally brings me to wonder if they understand CSR and if they know their role as businesses in society.
Nakheel is a large UAE real estate developer well known for developing The Palm and The World. As a corporation the does not have a good reputation among the public for a variety of reasons including labor and human rights, safety of laborers, destruction of natural resources, poor quality of construction and poor consumer rights, they seem quite happy to carry on with their daily business of damaging corals in the Gulf.
Ironically, their tag line reads – “Where vision inspires humanity”
Adidas is very well known and I am not going to tell you much about who say they are, coz’ they haven’t shown it to me yet. Do they not owe anything to the residents of Dubai, their consumers? Like many other brands in the country, I suspect Adidas too has chosen to ignore the expats as they are a transient population. Do they believe that initiatives in other markets will be noticed and acknowledged by residents of UAE? So Adidas, nothing is impossible except reaching into your deep pockets for some change, eh?
Do lofty tag lines really mean anything if we can’t experience their true meaning in the real world?
Let me put things in context if some of you think I have been very harsh to Nakheel and Adidas above. I have received contributions from individuals totalling approx. $3000. Thank you all for your support.
I now need atleast another $1,700 (approx.) to reach the minimum amount needed to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and above all to help build a health ward for children in Nairobi, Kenya.
The health situation of children in Nairobi is characterized by high acute respiratory and cardiovascular diseases such as tuberculosis, bronchitis; high cases of diarrhea, typhoid, dysentery, cholera, HIV related illnesses and malnutrition. This has put a strain on the existing medical facilities as the number of children visiting the health facilities continues to increase.
The project that I am supporting, will build child friendly consultation rooms and a waiting bay. This will help lessen overcrowding and enhance the response of medical personnel to children with emergencies. The new facilities will also streamline patient intake which will allow the children to see a doctor quickly.This project is built on a long term approach to help the community develop independently when it is complete and be handed over to the local authorities, ensuring that all parties are consulted and have an active part to play in managing such development programs.
Your support could enable over 100 children per day in Nairobi to benefit from much improved medical care.
If you wish to support me please find the details here. Every little helps.
I will continue Part 2 of this post with a point of view on the other firms that I approached and was ignored.
