Senegal: Solidarity after the fire

January 3, 2010. A fire starts in the village of Tenkoto, in the Kedougou region, Senegal. A fire with such violence had never occurred in this region. In a few minutes the whole village was destroyed: 400 huts were burned, 3 women died and more than 7,000 people were injured and homeless. How to prevent a similar disaster from happening again?

Our Group, through the ArcelorMittal Foundation, is helping rebuild the village. It was initially composed of straw huts and precarious housing. This contributed to rapidly spread the fire.

Our Group’s donation of 10 millions CFA (21,400 US dollars) as requested by the Senegalese government, will contribute to reconstruct the village, this time with safe and sustainable houses.

With the collaboration of other mining companies, funds were raised and will be managed by a committee for transparency.

The mining delegation in charge of the fund raising, local authorities and population expressed their gratitude to our Group. Our colleagues on the spot say they are proud to rebuild a safer Tenkoto.

Collaboration: Oumhany Sy, Corporate Responsibility, ArcelorMittal Senegal
Picture: One child in front of his burned house (tambacounda infos)

Research… in the kitchen!

Agathe Gillet, a dilatometry and metallurgical technician at the Gandrange research centre, France, has proved her talents as a cook in the popular M6 French TV show “Un dîner presque parfait”, French equivalent of the BBC show “Come dine with me”. The show places 5 candidates in competition each week, each in turn hosting a dinner party for the other contestants. The guests then give their comments and rate their host’s performance.

To rival the week’s other four candidates, Agathe prepared a very colourful meal.

She started with appetisers to accompany the aperitif: creamed beetroot with fresh goat cheese, mirabelle plums stuffed with salmon, champagne soup and other savoury dishes. 

For the main meal, Agathe prepared marinated salmon on a bed of avocado as a starter, grilled prawns with honey and sesame served with 3 purées for the main course, and for dessert, a raspberry “Seventh Heaven”.

The entertainment was also very vibrant and helped whet the guests’ appetite, with a short African dance demonstration in traditional costumes.

“I really enjoyed this experience; behind the scenes it’s unbelievable! Lots of technical equipment, and also a lot of people during the filming, but I had no difficulty coping with it. And over the 5 days, I met people who are very gifted cooks, with a degree of experience that I hope to acquire one day,” said Agathe.

“Un dîner presque parfait” featuring Agathe is broadcasting from 18 to 22 January (with Agathe hosting on the 21st) at 17:50 CET on the French TV channel M6. From the following day and for a period of 1 week, the show can also be watched within metropolitan France on http://www.m6replay.fr.

Publication date: January 20, 2010

Collaboration: Sylvie Gindre and Sylvie Vernédal, Global Research and Development, ArcelorMittal
Picture: Courtesy of ‘Le Républicain Lorrain’

Supporting the victims of the Haiti earthquake

“I know that you all are very worried about what has happened in Haiti. Our Company, through the Foundation, is going to be there!” These are words of Felicidad Cristobal, Managing Director of the ArcelorMittal Foundation, when she announced that our Group will send 100,000 US dollars to Haiti. A few days later, our Company increased its aid to a total of 1 million dollars. This donation will be given in both cash and kind, offering assistance in new housing projects to rebuild Haiti.

This is our way to support an intervention from Médecins sans frontières for the victims affected by the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The donation will enable this MSF-intervention which aims to address the needs of around 70,000 persons affected by the earthquake.

“We were all very shocked when we saw what has happened during this terrible earthquake and felt we had to do something to support the population,” Felicidad says.

The MSF intervention on Haiti will concentrate on reducing the morbidity and the mortality among the affected population in the Ouest district of the Island.

This decision was taken by our Group Management Board only 2 days after the devastating earthquake. It is becoming a good tradition at ArcelorMittal to help people who are affected from big natural disasters like this: before Haiti, it was the case of the Italy earthquake (April 2009), the cyclone in Myanmar (May 2008) and the sustained support to the region affected by hurricane Katrina in the US (2005) - 4 important actions of our young Foundation.

Picture: © Stefano Zannini, Courtesy of Médecins sans frontières