update! - Lehnkering

18 update! 10/2010 Chemical Manufacturing Services
Hidden talents
Two disabled staff members working at CMS in Wolfenbüttel
In our society we look on involvement in a working life
as an essential element in the development of the personality.
Work provides a means of self affirmation, independence,
social recognition and life in the community.
People with disabilities want this recognition, too. Since
six months back two of them are working in the Chemical
Manufacturing Services (CMS) Division of LEHNKERING
GmbH in Wolfenbüttel.
The Chemical Manufacturing Services (CMS) Division in
Wolfenbüttel provides customers from the agricultural and
fine chemicals industries with a wide range of services,
including formulation, packaging, and labelling of containers
of all kinds. In 2008 LEHNKERING took over the former
location of Bayer CropScience. In the same year Helmstedt-
Wolfenbüttel Care for the Disabled bought the former Bayer
location fire-brigade station and converted it into a workshop
for the mentally disabled.
The close proximity of the two locations soon turned out to
have advantages for both sides: the workshops undertook
initial small jobs for LEHNKERING. As a result, Care for
the Disabled contacted Christian Horn, head of production
and technology, and asked whether the company would
have any interest in employing two young men on
a long-term practical placement. They were
indeed interested; so, on 1 November
2009, 27-year-old Timo Mummert and
23-year-old René Jonigkeit had their first
day of work at LEHNKERING.
“Both employees soon found their feet; they
earned praise from the permanent staff and
carried out their work with very great care”,
reports Christian Horn. “This means we
René Jonigkeit (left) and Timo Mummert bei CMS in Wolfenbüttel
can employ them in any of our teams.” In their teams Timo
and René are given lighter groundwork which is not directly
connected with production. That is mostly simple manual
work, such as labelling empty containers, packing goods into
cardboard boxes, or getting materials ready.
Both employees are enthusiastic about their work, which they
enjoy. “Having work means taking part, finding recognition
through your own efforts, testing yourself on challenging
tasks, and developing beyond your own limitations”, says
Axel Kossmann, a social worker at Helmstedt-Wolfenbüttel
Care for the Disabled. “Work provides a structure to life and
gives leisure time a value.”
Because disabled people frequently need special support if
they are to cope with the personal, social and practical career
demands of a working life, integration into the working world
is aided at Care for the Disabled by supplementary facilities.
These include educational courses such as sport. Timo plays
football, in the German National Team of the Disabled. In
2006 he took part with his team in the Football World Cup
for People with Intellectual Disability in Germany. Now, along
with his work for LEHNKERING, he is preparing for South
Africa. There, from 21 August to 12 September 2010, the fifth
World Cup for People with Intellectual Disability will be held
by the INAS (International Sports Federation for People with
Intellectual Disability).