GROHE Dual Tech Training Facility opens in the Philippines at Don Bosco Youth Center Tondo Manila

Thursday, October 29, 2015

It's not everyday that we get to witness a ground breaking event especially if the event is for the good of many. True enough, the youth holds the bright future of our nation which is why salute Grohe for choosing our country as one of their beneficiary in helping the youth achieve their dreams and help our country as well.

Thomas Ossowski (German Ambassador to the Philippines),  Father Anthony Paul Bicomong (Provincial Superior - Don Bosco), Michael Mager (Executive Board, Grohe AG), Father Gaudencio Carandang,Jr. (Rector/TVET Director, Don Bosco), Suzanne Franke (Manager, Corporate Cooperation, Don Bosco Mondo)

Last October 24, the successful GROHE Dual Tech aid project has now also been launched in Manila-Tondo in the Philippines, where a new training facility was opened. 

Since 2009, water fittings manufacturer GROHE has cooperated with Don Bosco Mondo e.V. with a view to helping young people better their lives. To date some 780 young people in Mumbai, India, have been given the opportunity to start a new life as a result of this collaboration. 

GROHE Management Board member Michael Mager led the the inauguration. "Today is an important day for all of us, in the six years that have passed since we launched our partnership with Don Bosco Mondo e.V. in India, we have achieved a lot and learned a lot. Our work has borne fruit and demand for our trained and skilled plumbers is huge. We now want to continue this strategy in the Philippines and offer apprenticeships to the young people of Manila-Tondo to give them a genuine chance to earn a living from skilled work. At the same time, our local partners will benefit from the availability of professionally trained plumbers.” 

Kerwin Tan (Account Manager, Projects), Alpha Ang (General Manager), Manfred Kuhn, Michael Mager, Alen Alban, Carlo Malantic, Joralyn Ong, Heide Lopez (Account Manager, Projects), Valerie Suspine (Account Manager, Projects), Mary Ann Rabonza (Specifications Manager)

The inauguration ceremony, during which the building was blessed and a ribbon cut, was organised jointly by the Salesians of Don Bosco and GROHE together with apprentices from other disciplines of the Don Bosco Youth Center in Manila-Tondo. Besides the new Plumber Training Programme, the Center already offers apprenticeships in other fields, from mechanical and electrical engineering to accounting, home economics and hospitality, as well as milling, turning and welding. The ceremony was attended by guests from the local business and academic communities as well as the German Ambassador, Thomas Ossowski, and representatives of the German Chamber of Foreign Trade. 

Check out the facilities at Grohe - Dual Tech Training Center

The project aims to enhance the professionalism of the local plumbing trade. To achieve this, GROHE Dual Tech offers a high-quality training programme leading up to NC II qualification. The programme not only supports the apprentices but also addresses the lack of skilled labour while at the same time helping to advance the industry. Direct cooperation with local companies helps young people find employment right after finishing their training, making their future more secure. 

Says Christian Osterhaus, Managing Director of Don Bosco Mondo: “We are happy to offer these new training programmes in Manila-Tondo, a place that is known throughout the world for poverty and adverse living conditions. We give young people the chance to train and enhance their skills in order to compete successfully in the local labour market, to earn their living and to become active members of society.”

The event also featured the talented students of Don Bosco Youth Center. 

The programmes of GROHE Dual Tech in the Philippines are targeted at socially disadvantaged people aged 17 to 25 who are unable to obtain vocational training otherwise. Courses start twice a year with some 30 participants each and comprise a 12-month apprenticeship at the Training Center including a 6-week internship at a GROHE partner company. Thanks to their widely recognised graduation certificates, the young plumbers are not confined to the partner companies after finishing their training but can apply for a job with any other firm.  

Besides the annual programmes, GROHE Dual Tech offers short-term training courses for assistant plumbers as well as further training courses comprising customised modules for young employees of construction and plumbing companies. “Train-the-trainer” courses and other targeted measures are organised to assure the quality of these courses. Participating companies benefit from regular visits by GROHE field representatives providing face-to-face advice and support as well as GROHE materials and training aids. 

GROHE Dual Tech is a develoPPP.de project. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) fosters the involvement of the private sector at the point where business opportunities and development policy initiatives intersect. The programme is put into practice by Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) on behalf of the BMZ. DEG promotes business initiatives in developing and emerging countries and finances sustainable investments.

GROHE is the world’s leading provider of sanitary fittings. 

With its global GROHE brand, the company has relied on its brand values of technology, quality, design and sustainability for decades to deliver “Pure Freude an Wasser”. 
GROHE has a global workforce of around 6,000 people. There are about 2,400 employees working in Germany. GROHE runs three production plants in Germany as well as several plants in other markets. In 2014, the company generated consolidated sales of €1.2 billion with its comprehensive product portfolio for bathroom and kitchen. Some 85 percent of its sales are currently generated outside Germany.

GROHE was taken over by the LIXIL Group and the Development Bank of Japan 
in January 2014.

The LIXIL Group is the global leader in the building materials and housing equipment industries. Since April 2015, GROHE is part of the global market leader LIXIL Water Technology that pools LIXIL’s worldwide sanitary ware business in one single business unit with GROHE remaining an independent brand.

You Might Also Like

0 comments