Nurturing the agricultural experts of tomorrow
Rebuilding Wat Chatthong School
To kickstart the year, our Agriculture Brand and Commercial Services team for Asia Pacific joined forces with the Thailand Finance team to help improve the safety and wellbeing of students at Wat Chatthong school in Ayutthaya, Thailand.
Floods threaten the school every year during the monsoon period. In late 2022, water damaged buildings and swamped the vegetable garden.
With more than 60 young students – children of local farming families and migrants – to educate and feed, the school needed support – and it needed it fast.
Pictured: Our international team of volunteers
An international team of 36 volunteers was swift to react. The team, including Australian, British, Belgian, Chinese, French, Indian, Italian, Thai, and Turkish colleagues arrived at the school ready to help. They were armed with gardening tools, painting equipment, and school supplies.
One team set to work sanding and repainting two classrooms. Another cleared a patch of land, creating a new kitchen garden to provide vegetables for the children’s lunches.
Pictured: Getting hands dirty in the new kitchen garden
Matthieu Sejourne, Vice President of Brand and Commercial Services for APAC at CNH Industrial, presented a cheque to the school’s principal, Acting Sub Lt. Pongprapa Wasuwatheque to cover the cost of rebuilding the cafeteria and kitchen.
“Education is the key to providing opportunities for everyone to contribute to the development of their country. As a company, we believe in the value of equal opportunities,” said Matthieu Sejourne.
“We especially want to assist the children of farm workers who are the foundation of the industry in which we operate, and whose valuable work ensures there is food on all our tables.”
Pictured: Ready for planting
We Care We Share
Meanwhile the “We Care We Share” outreach program continues to go from strength to strength. Since 2020, its volunteers have supported local communities through donations, ag training and more.
Here’s just a taste of what the program has provided in 2023:
A state-of-the-art combine harvester for ag students
First up: a significant donation. We presented a New Holland TC5.30 combine harvester to the Nakhon Ratchsrima College of Agriculture and Technology in Thailand’s Sikhio District.
The machine will support student training courses and harvest the fodder corn grown on the college farm.
To mark the occasion, we held a handover ceremony at the 2023 Flower Day Expo Open House Agriculture Fair.
Pictured: One Team, one impressive machine
A tractor and training for Pakdee College
Elsewhere, we teamed up with the Pakdee College of Commerce and Technology, in Thailand’s Kamphaeng Phet province.
As part of our ongoing collaboration with the country’s Ministry of Education, we presented a New Holland TT2.50 tractor, components, and a cut away engine to the college.
But that’s not all. Working with the college, we have developed a new qualification: the Diploma in Agriculture Machinery. Our experts will train the students in drone weed control technology, auto guidance and telematics. We are excited for the first cohort to start in May 2023.
Pictured: Chun Woytera, APAC Region President (fifth from right), and Mark Brinn, Country Manager SEAJ, (third from right) with the management team from Thailand deliver the tractor to Mr. Pitak Mahaboonpachai，Director of the Board of Pakdee College.
Sowing the seeds of success
We can see the positive impact of our education initiatives. And our efforts have not gone unnoticed by others.
Recently, the Ministry of Education gave us the 2023 “Best Contribution to Thailand’s Education” award.
We’re committed to educating the next generation of agricultural experts. And the proof is in the projects we’re leading – and the recognition we’re receiving.