October 11, 2016
On September 21st in Madurai, India Ergobaby celebrated our 100th order with Penguin Apparels, our India vendor, which has been like a family to us. The day was spend celebrating with traditional dances, personal accounts from Penguin Apparels team members and community outreach events which included dedicating a new water treatment system to a orphanage as well as donating medical supplies and equipment to those in assisted living homes within the community.
In great India tradition, this "small" gathering included over 500 people, an elephant, cake cutting and lots of delicious food.
We were honored to celebrate this milestone with them as a representation of our partnership over the last 8 years. With a partner so dedicated to community outreach, we look forward to many more years of collaboration. We recently sat down with Yassin Deo, from our supply chain team, and he told us about this amazing trip. Watch the video of our entire conversation with Yassin here.
Yassin:
I felt honored to be able to visit this factory. The kids allowed me to sit in with them to watch performances. By the end of the day, after being so shy when we first met, the kids opened up to me with high-fives to say goodbye!
Yassin:
This is Ms. Mariappan the wife of the factory owner, and mother of the managing director. Ms. Mariappan plays one of the biggest roles as the HR director of a factory who employee’s 97% women, and in changing the mindset of women being able to work. We heard a story from an employee who previously left after she got married. Shortly after, her husband passed away and she was left a widow with 2 children, Ms. Mariappan brought her back and increased her salary so she can support her family.