How does planting trees in Africa help to educate Maltese children about waste separation? The answer is simple. Send an HSBC Bank Malta employee on an Earthwatch expedition to Kenya and encourage her to set up her own project to help the environment on her return.

“Like dozens of HSBC Bank Malta employees, I successfully applied to take part in an Earthwatch expedition,” said Rosemarie Dorekens from St Paul’s Bay, who works in the bank’s Operations Centre in Qormi. “One of the conditions HSBC sets for employees who join an Earthwatch expedition is that they set up a project of their own once they return. As soon as I got back from Kenya, I decided to do something that would help my community and began working on a waste separation project for St Paul’s Bay Primary School, where both my children are students,” Mrs Dorekens continued.

In addition to buying and installing waste separation bins at the school, Mrs Dorekens also prepared a presentation on her experiences in Kenya and on the importance of separating waste for recycling. All the 700 plus children who attend St Paul’s Bay Primary School saw this presentation together with dozens of parents who were also invited to attend.

“HSBC Group has committed $50 million to its Investing in Nature initiative. The direct impact on environmental scientific research has been dramatic. Even more impressive has been the effect that those who successfully apply to participate in an Earthwatch expedition have had on their local communities. The 30 plus employees from Malta, including Rosemarie, have all done their bit to make Malta a better place to live in and more will continue to do so in the future,” said HSBC Cares For The Environment Fund director Godfrey Swain.