KIA hands over ‘Green Light Project’ schools to local communities in Malawi and Mozambique
KIA Motors has handed over two further ‘Green Light Project’ schools to local communities in Malawi and Mozambique.
The community-run schools were opened in 2014, and, combined, provide access to education for more than 2,000 students. They were constructed and established under KIA’s ‘Green Light Project’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme.
The handover ceremony took place at the ‘Green Light’ school in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, on August 1st. The ceremony was attended by residents, teachers, students, local community leaders, KIA’s CSR Management Team Leader, Kyehwan Roh, and Jujong Bum, Director of International Development division at Korea Food For the Hungry. The Mozambique ‘Green Light’ school, in the town of Helene in Inhambane Province, Mozambique, has also been handed over to the local community.
“The Green Light Project seeks to provide communities in some of the most deprived parts of the world with the opportunity to build better lives through improved access to healthcare, education and vocational training.”
Kyehwan Roh commented.
“A key element of the programme for KIA is providing the means for these communities to eventually manage such facilities for themselves.”
Parallel to the handover ceremony, KIA has assembled a global employee volunteer group to support the company’s Green Light Project activities in Ethiopia. 24 KIA employees from around the world are visiting the ‘Green Light’ auto mechanic training centre in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. The centre was constructed in 2017 by KIA and World Vision, a global aid and development organisation.
During their summer vacations, KIA’s volunteers are taking part in vehicle maintenance education, and assisting in the construction of elementary school facilities, and educating local communities about hygiene. The centre seeks to increase the number of trained vehicle mechanics in one of the poorest districts of the city.
The Green Light Project
KIA’s Green Light Project is a global social mobility programme started by the carmaker in 2012. The Project strives to improve access to healthcare, education and employment for disadvantaged communities in Africa, helping them to establish much-needed facilities. The programme seeks to empower local communities to improve mobility and self-sufficiency, and enable them to challenge and overcome any obstacle. With the establishment of each Green Light Project facility, KIA’s final goal is to be able to hand over full control, giving a ‘green light’ to local communities.
KIA has built 11 Green Light Project centres in eight countries in Africa since 2012. Last year, the company handed over its first completed projects, a Green Light school and health care centre in Malawi and Tanzania, respectively. KIA plans to expand the Green Light Project continuously throughout other developing countries in Africa and around the world.
