Boronia resident helps build health centre in Ecuador
Monday, 7 September 2009
Working for a major healthcare company, Boronia resident Louise-Kate Grey spends her days helping customers prevent and treat illness and injury.
But her passion for helping others extends well beyond 9 to 5. It also extends beyond Australian shores, with Grey about to depart for Ecuador, where she is part of an international challenge to build a health centre for an Ecuadorian community where many families live on the equivalent of $5 a day.
As part of The Ecuador Challenge, organised by her employer, Bupa Australia (which operates under the MBF, HBA, Mutual Community and ClearView brands), Grey said she would be one of 120 employees travelling to Ecuador to build a health and wellbeing centre in the remote agricultural community of Miraflores.
"People in Miraflores don't have access to things we take for granted, such as healthcare facilities. To have the chance to go to Ecuador and be part of a project where I know I'll make a real difference to the lives of people who are less fortunate, was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up," Grey said.
"It also aligns with Bupa's company vision to help people around the world live longer, healthier, happier lives."
Working alongside the Martha Estrella Foundation – a registered charity based in Ecuador that helps communities find lasting solutions to improve social and economic conditions – the Ecuador Challenge will be coordinated and funded by Bupa, as part of the company's Community Connections program. In addition, each volunteer will raise $2000 or more to contribute towards long term improvements for people in the Miraflores community.
During the 10-week challenge, the team will build a centre that will house medical and dental facilities, a childcare facility where village children will be cared for while their parents work, educational facilities, and an IT suite.
The scale of the Ecuador Challenge means there is enough scope for Bupa employees to learn new skills as well as work alongside international colleagues. Grey will spend a week undertaking tasks ranging from helping with the construction of the building and teaching English, to delivering healthcare programs to the local community.
Marketing Director Mark Engel said Bupa had a long-term commitment to support the communities in which it operated and The Ecuador Challenge was the biggest international community challenge project Bupa had ever undertaken.
"The Challenge brings together Bupa employees from all over the world to help deliver essential healthcare facilities to a community in need and goes to strengthen the volunteering work already being done in those countries in which Bupa operates," Engel said.
"Once completed, the project will be handed over to Bupa's Latin American office so the team will continue to support the clinic and the community, on a long-term basis."
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Ecuador Challenge
Ecuador is one of the largest markets served by Bupa Latin America. Bupa is working with the local charity, The Martha Estrella Foundation, which helped identify a clear need for health and care facilities in the local community of Miraflores.
Bupa encourages its employees to play an active role in the local communities in which it operates. During 2009 Bupa employees have already donated nearly 24,000 hours of time to their local communities and the Ecuador Challenge will donate over 4500 hours alone (based on five working days multiplied by 120 volunteers).