When Wrigley Germany manager Christine Schreier heard about the MAP assignment to India, she felt compelled to apply.

Christine was assigned to the Snehalaya shelter in Chandigarh, India, which houses 350 homeless children, aged three to 17. She used her degree in agricultural marketing to teach the children and teens about farming and sustainable gardening and give them enough practical horticulture skills to help put food on the table. Together they established a Garden Corner learning center with posters of plants and their English names and a kitchen garden to grow fruit, vegetables and fresh herbs.

Saying goodbye was hard, but Christine took solace from knowing she’d left a mark on the children’s lives. “A garden doesn’t mature after just a month, nor will the children’s challenges be resolved in a short time. But it was deeply rewarding to know I’d left behind some skills and knowledge to help improve their lives now and in the future,” she said.

MAP: Teaming Up to Teach

Through MAP, a team of seven Mars IS Associates from around the world traveled to Ecuador to teach cocoa farmers basic computing skills with the Rainforest Alliance. Over the week, the team trained the farmers to manage their resources more effectively.

To ensure the training was relevant, the group visited farms and cocoa-production facilities to understand what the farmers do on a daily basis. They learned about the entire process from the field to the processing plant. With this knowledge, the group was able to use real-life examples in the training.

The group puts its success down to teamwork. “It felt like we've known each other for years,” said Nele Lievens, from Western Europe. “Everybody was so considerate, and everybody contributed in his/her own way.”

Andre Owens, from the U.S., echoed the sentiment. “The group worked extremely well together. It was just like seeing old friends that you had not seen in a while. For what we accomplished, I am really proud to be a Mars Associate!”