Traineeship Report I
Programme
Descritption
The traineeship programme developed by Bayer holds a complete introduction to
environmental protection, giving the trainee the possibility to know the organization
and get into the department in a systematic way: During the first two weeks,
the traineeship took place in Leverkusen where we learned about the laws and
rules regulating environment protection and the systems that Bayer uses to audit
it. The next three weeks the traineeship took place in Dormagen. There we saw
the options for waste management (burning - waste deposit - cleaning) with an
administrative-technological method, which meant we spent more time on the administrative
system, having as a important point the planning and the process. The following
three weeks, we worked in Uedingen, where we were shown the options for waste
management with a technological-administrative method meaning, in turn, to spend
more time in the way the machines work and in the chemistry reactions. Finally,
we also learned about the material groups and the management of these materials
in the world. This order of study the subject proved to be highly interesting
and gave us the opportunity to both create expectations and evaluate our own
progress.
The Bayer AG - AIESEC Realtion
AIESEC is the world's largest international students organization represented
in more than 80 countries. Having the goal to give the students from all over
the world the opportunity to make a traineeship in another country improving
their knowledge and their background, the traineeship that Bayer offers provides
a special experience to the trainee. Some of the opportunities that the Bayer
traineeship gives to the students are:
- To know the company and learn about the products. This was done in a way that
created a feeling of being part of the company, doing things with commitment
and wanting to tell everybody how good everything in there is, and the wish
to spread this around the world.
- To work on a specific subject related to the student's background, which can
be learned and studied as a special area, with information given in a systematic
and professional way.
- To experience work in different places of the company. This shows the integration
- with similarities and differences - of a same department in a big company
like Bayer AG.
- To have the chance not only to hear how things should be done, and how things
work, but also to see the results explained by an expert.
- To meet each day a different person from the same country but with different
styles gives the student the possibility to know deeply the culture.
- To see the exciting time that the co-workers have when they meet an international
student, which also give gave me the opportunity to answer the questions about
my country and make an cultural exchange.
- To experience the management system from a development industry in a development
country having the same rules and benefits that every worker have.
- To meet experts and enter a dialog or a discussion that can bring results
for both sides.
- To do the work that the co-workers do everyday and live work with them: "Learning
by doing".
- To visit some of the productions sites, learning about the products and the
process.
- To improve the language and learn the specific vocabulary for the subject.
On the Future
In Germany is possible to think ahead some 20 years, but how to ask a Colombian
that cannot get out his town because of fear of getting killed, that he or she
should think about a future environmental problem? The background the traineeship
gives, got me in another position in my country and makes me do a compromise
with my region and the natural researches that we have. Colombia is the second
country in biodiversity in all the world but we need people that get interested
in the subject and that can work for the a future farther than tomorrow, in
a place where the regional conditions are different and where the social problems
provide for a culture of short-term thinking. Moreover, the world regulations
for industry already ask for certifications provig that the production does
not affect the environment.
As a Colombian the responsibility placed upon me with this traineeship is immense:
Only 20% of the population in my country have the opportunity to go to the university,
and only 0,2 % can continue with postgraduate studies. Yet how many people have
the possibility to make a traineeship in other country? And how many people
have the possibility to know the environmental protection system from a development
industry like Bayer? Must be almost zero...
Environmental protection is a responsibility of all the people all over the
world. So the contribution that I would like to give to my country, is to work
in a team and look for a solution that cannot be the same as the solutions in
a development country, but must be a solution that Colombians can pay for and
that results in a more sustainable development.
This Sunday, October 22, 2000, finally, in Colombia we have started the global
environmental dialogue, to improve the skills from environmental leaders. Seeing
that the development has already started makes it time to get working on...
The world is a house for all of us, and is important that companies like Bayer
are not only concerned for following the rules, but also are concerned of creating
in other people from other countries the expectations of working for the sustainable
development.
Julia Ines Ocampo
Trainee, Colombia