Our recently released Amway 2012 Global Corporate Social Responsibility Report is filled with amazing stories. We wanted to highlight one of them for you.

This video explains what happened in South Africa when we launched the Township Strategy, bringing the Amway Business Opportunity to the rural communities.

Here’s an excerpt from the report:

We used innovative strategies and alternatives to product sizing, pricing and bundling that resonated with individuals in these outlying communities. Physical presence and mobile marketing positioned the Amway Business Opportunity as viable and vital for this more financially challenged population.

In just three years, Amway South Africa has accomplished two significant results: increasing business and helping people to move up the economic ladder. Thanks to the Township Strategy, the Amway business in South Africa leapt by more than 200 percent and showed many low-to-middle class members of society a way out of poverty.

A distributor from Soweto featured in the video describes it like this: “From my personal experience, I can say that Amway is helping us to create real change in our lives, in our families, in our communities and across the world,” she said. “In previous years, Soweto was seen as nothing more than a holding area for cheap labor. … Now, Soweto is changing. And with Amway’s assistance our lives are changing. We are going up in the world.”

Watch the video to see the full story of empowerment.

YouTube Direkt

YouTube Direkt

Did you know that Amway employees and distributors have volunteered more than 2.5 million hours to make the communities where they work and live a better place?

Read about our ongoing efforts around the world in the 2011 Amway Global Corporate Citizenship Report published today, or in the Amway One By One blog.  That blog, by the way, was recently honored as the “Best Corporate Social Responsibility” blog by PR News.

This week, the United Nations intensified its cry for support for aid for more than 12.4 million people in the Horn of Africa facing a  food crisis that some believe puts an entire generation at risk of starvation.

Amway has answered the call, announcing that through its One by One Campaign for  Children it will provide US$100,000 in assistance through CARE, a leading humanitarian organization with a strong record of providing relief in the region.

But saving this generation from starvation will require the efforts of many. Please consider supporting CARE in bringing relief to those suffering in the Horn of Africa, so that they’ll not only survive this famine but someday thrive.

Soweto, just outside of Johannesburg, is home to more than 3 million people and is the most populous black community in South Africa.

Now Amway lives there, too.

Amway recently opened two Mobile Sales Centres (MSCs) so that Soweto residents – many of whom struggle with the availability of affordable transportation – do not have to commute long distances to see and test Amway products, learn about the business and receive training.

MSCs are a combination of an expo hall and meeting rooms that are modular. They’re designed to live in one location for as long as necessary, but can easily be moved.

Soweto’s MSCs are located in areas that are hubs of business and entrepreneurship, but they did cover uncharted territory.

“When we requested permission to open these facilities, it became clear to us that the city had never received a formal application by a company wishing to respect all local laws and comply with water safety, emergency and other procedures,” said Amway South Africa’s  External Affairs Manager Makhaya Manie.

Other companies simply set up shop. In what may seem like a small gesture, Amway waited. Doing it right took two years, but now that the ball is rolling, the vision is to place 90 MSCs in black communities all over South Africa. Residents will be able to walk or cycle to them and they’re intended for much more than selling.

“The goal is to give people a place to gather, discuss community needs, watch broadcasts of important local, provincial or national events and more,” said Manie.

In other words, we plan to be a good neighbor.

Ke Nako is a Sesotho phrase meaning “it’s time.” It’s also the theme of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Kicking off in just seven short days, the entire world will be watching the opening match between the South African national football team, Bafana Bafana, and Mexico. 

Employees of Amway South Africa will certainly be watching – and making quite a bit of noise, too. Six months ago, Amway purchased Bafana Bafana jerseys and stadium horns called vuvuzelas for the entire staff. They held a press conference publicly pledging their support of the home team, garnering media coverage in Kickoff Magazine as the first corporation to do so.

Since then, the vuvuzelas have gotten louder and the excitement has been building. “Ke Nako” was chosen as the theme because “it’s time” for South Africa to do more than host the world’s most passionate fans, but also, to show the beauty and opportunity that can be found in this nation so young in its unification.

Because we’re a global company, Amway employees have favorite teams all over the world – from Japan to Chile and Italy to New Zealand. But don’t be surprised to see many of us, if only in the back of our hearts and minds, rooting for South Africa.

Makhaya Manie, Amway South Africa external affairs manager, practices his vuvuzela skills in preparation for next week.

Just as we would on Twitter, we can describe the events of this past weekend in Soweto, South Africa’s Freedom Square in small talk of 140 characters or fewer:

Amway launched products in miniature sachets – cleaner, two laundry products and Dish Drops. Why? To meet the needs of this marketplace.

Want more information? Follow @AmwaySA and @TalkingAmway on Twitter for quick updates on all of Amway South Africa’s endeavors.

It may be small talk, but it’s a big deal to us and our business in South Africa.