COVID-19  •  Companies news

ANL supports indigenous communities in need during COVID-19 challenge

ANL encourages Children’s Ground which is focused on educating children and young adults in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.

Through its contacts at FACCI (French Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry) and the French Consul in Melbourne, ANL was able to provide support to Indigenous Communities in regional Australia. FACCI have connections with many NGOs, one of which is Children’s Ground; an organisation focused on educating children and young adults in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory (Australia).

Children’s Ground ordinarily supports Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people with education, as data shows that only 10% finish their final year (year 12, A levels or Baccalaureat equivalent), 2.2% attend a tertiary institution and 2% a technical or further education institute. This NGO works with these communities over the course of 25 years to support these children and young adults with Western Education (numeracy and literacy) as well as Traditional Education so they can benefit from both cultures.

At present, the risk of contracting COVID-19 is made more serious by the lack of health care available to these less affluent communities. So many of the community leaders; elders and their families, are heading ‘out bush’ to more remote locations like Alice Springs (14 hours by road from the closest port, Darwin). While this makes sense from an isolation point of view, these families have food insecurity because supermarkets are limiting the amount of long life food people can buy. 

THE SOLUTION – CMA CGM TO THE RESCUE
So Children’s Ground asked if CMA CGM could help by providing two containers, one for medical supplies and the other for long life food and drink. On Monday, two boxes were picked up from Darwin and made their long road journey to Alice Springs and Burt Creek. 

Xavier Eiglier, Managing Director at ANL, said:

"Working with our contacts at the French Consul, the Tanarra Foundation a Children’s Ground has shown that our team can be quick, decisive and positive in the face of COVID-19. Thank you to our Equipment and Container Logistics teams for leveraging our supplier relationships to make this a reality so quickly. We are very pleased to be supporting this NGO in their time of need and look forward to working with our partners to do more in the future."

Know more: ANL