Making the lives of those around us better

At 乔治费歇尔 , our purpose is to become better every day. But we also try to make the lives of those around us better. Can we use the skills we hone at work to create positive impact… outside of work?

A good example is the story of Yannic Ohms, a colleague at GF Piping Systems who recently took over the product management team for valves after joining us five years ago. Yannic started out as an industrial engineer. Today, his daily work revolves around supplying high-quality valves for the safe transportation of clean water. I met Yannic a few weeks after he returned to Switzerland from Zambia, where he spent some days earlier this year as a volunteer visiting a pilot project of the GF Clean Water Foundation in the city of Mansa. His mission was to understand how our technologies and expertise in water treatment and transportation can make a concrete contribution in a developing region, and play a key role in shaping local water competence.

"As experts in our field, we have the chance to offer something extremely important, and unique: our knowledge," Yannic Ohms says. During his trip, he visited a local school which has been refurbished thanks to the foundation, and met with several teams to discuss water-related vocational trainings and the provision of training materials and machines. "GF is already collaborating with organizations locally, providing not only funds, but also information on jointing technologies and testing methods. The goal is to empower people to build the necessary infrastructure, and to teach them how to do it themselves."

As a business, and as a leading solution provider for the safe and sustainable transport of fluids, we have a responsibility toward society and the environment. Of course, financial contributions remain essential; sharing knowledge is the next step.?

Yannic is planning to go back to Africa again, both for GF and privately. He is proud to have made such a journey that also helps people around him understand his job and his contribution better. He says this experience has challenged him and made him grow, and also gave him the opportunity to make "a little difference." I would argue, not so little.

?#water #teamwork #volunteering