Field of intervention :Training and insertion
Association : Bethel Foundation
Project :« Almond Roca »
Localisation :Beijing
Country :China
Supported Group :60 young blind and sight-impaired orphans
 
Objective

Allowing the social and professional integration of young disadvantaged blind persons.

Project holder

Ian Alexandre, Sofitel area Manager, Accor China.

Association

 Created in 2002 by a French couple, the Bethel Foundation aims to care for, feed, educate and train young blind or sight-impaired orphans to help them lead independent lives and integrate them into society. It also conducts training operations in Chinese orphanages to teach them how to take care of these disadvantaged young persons.

Project

Bethel FoundationChina has 9 million blind people, i.e. 20% of the world’s blind. About 72% of these blindness cases could be cured but most of them live in rural areas with no access to the necessary care. Many blind children are abandoned by their parents owing to a lack of appropriate support structures. The Bethel Foundation has chosen to help these disadvantaged populations by setting up several support programmes.

In 2011, the Bethel Foundation launched the “Almond Roca” project, a supportive micro-company working on the production of chocolates. The Accor Foundation funds this pilot project to support 60 young blind or sight-impaired orphans.

This project has several goals:

  • To involve these young people in the launch of a micro-company, participating in the entire chocolate production chain: Business Plan creation, design development, team selection, purchase of equipment, production, sales and marketing, money management.
  • To teach these youngsters new know-how: behaviour, cooking skills, professional skills, mastery of new technology (using a computer and software to ensure better project management…).
  • To allow the Bethel Foundation to reap the benefits of the sale of these chocolates.

support €17,000 in 2011