One by One

Amway distributors from Australia and New Zealand shared their celebration with the local community at the annual Achievers incentive trip in Thailand last month. In addition to donating sports equipment, distributor leaders donated their time to help renovate a local school in Phuket. They volunteered more than 1,000 hours painting dormitories, restoring the sports field and building a new welcome garden.

As Michial Coldwell, General Manager of Amway Australia & New Zealand shared, “Hundreds of Amway distributors from across Australia & New Zealand have qualified and worked really hard to come to Phuket on a great business trip, yet they are here in a school in Phuket giving up their time in order to help paint and renovate this school which was affected by the tsunami. This is all about unifying people across cultures to accomplish one common goal: helping children.”

Click here to see the full photo album. Thanks to Antonia Krunes for sharing this story, and congratulations to all of our Achievers!

Our global review concludes in Southeast Asia, where the work for children is as diverse as the many Amway markets in that region.

Amway Australia continued to roll out the partnerships identified during its 40^th anniversary celebration year, featuring programs like neonatal equipment donations, sports equipment for children with special needs (delivered by cricket superstar Adam Gilchrist), and therapy for children with Autism. Amway distributors on an incentive trip to Fiji also took time to help renovate a flood damaged school, with more than 300 participating.

A partnership in Indonesia that started six years ago was still going strong in 2012. After a devastating earthquake struck a remote area in 2006, Amway Indonesia partnered with local employees and distributors to focus on rebuilding two elementary schools. The partnership continues to last, as Amway employees and distributors support the ongoing education at these two schools, providing uniforms, books and shoes for the students, and visiting once each year.

In Malaysia, Amway leaders launched a new partnership to help children in remote areas learn through the act of play, using musical therapy. An organization called Hands Percussion started the Balik Kampung (Homecoming) as a way to support local communities. Amway distributors are taking part as both volunteers and contributors to make the program a success.

Amway Philippines celebrated its 15 year anniversary and marked the occasion by reading and telling stories to young students to improve their literacy skills, and to build a passion for reading. Over the past several years, Amway Philippines has donated books and mobilized volunteers to read and tell stories.

Amway Singapore continued its support of the Singapore Children’s Society to enhance self-esteem, improve math skills, explore personal interests and translate life values into daily values for young children.

Two innovative programs were launched in Thailand last year, both focused on literacy. The first utilized a phone app to allow users to send books to remote areas of the country. The second was a mobile library, 70 of them to be exact, that were sent to schools across the country by Amway.

In Vietnam, Amway extended its support for children with health care needs by partnering with the government to provide medical aid, educational support, vocational and agricultural training in the economically challenged Thanh Hoa province.

Expect to see more in 2013, with some big announcements coming later this week!

Almost one in five people in Australia have some form of disability. This issue has been a focus of Amway Australia through the Freedom Wheels program over the past few years, providing modified bicycles for children with disabilities.

Recently, Amway and champion cricket player Adam Gilchrist extended their support to a new program, 4 Learn and Loan, which provides sports equipment packs so children with disabilities can play with safer sports equipment.

Adam Gilchrist, Amway’s Nutriway Ambassador in Australia, was on hand to present a donation to the West Australia Disabled Sports Association at the Carson Street School.

“Playing sport can help keep you happy and healthy and everyone should be able to have a go,” Adam said. “I was thrilled to meet some of the students … some real champions here!”

The equipment packs give children with disabilities the opportunity to participate in sports and recreation activities with their peers. The equipment is designed for children with high support needs but can be modified to cater for all children.

Thanks to Kevin Lowe for sharing this story.

Early intervention therapies for children suffering from Autism can not only be difficult – they can be downright expensive.

The Amway One by One Foundation in Australia is giving a boost to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) by supporting 4 ASD Kids with a $10,000 gift as one of its 40^th anniversary partners.

The funds will help provide access to early intervention therapies to families. It will also assist with the supply of iPads with learning apps, learning support equipment therapy with speech therapists and sponsorship of early intervention teachers and programs.

“This funding will go a long way in helping families to access early intervention therapies which they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford,” said Mat Rogers and Chloe Maxwell, co-founders of 4 ASD Kids.

Thanks to Kevin Lowe for sharing this story.

The Queensland Floods of 2010/2011 was one of the worst disasters to ever hit Australia. Since then we have seen many communities rebuild, such as the small flood ravaged town of Grantham.

Visiting the town of Grantham nearly one year later, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh officially opened the new Grantham Estate. A part of the new estate is the Grantham Park Memorial Shelter, a place for the community to remember and enjoy each other’s company.

Amway donated $50,000 to help the people of Queensland recover from the floods, half of which went specifically towards the Grantham Park Memorial Shelter.

“After all the tragedy and devastation it’s inspiring to see the strength and resilience of the Grantham community,” said John Haines, head of Sales for Amway Australia. “The local community, through the leadership of the Mayor and people such as Amway IBOs and recipients of the Pride of Australia medal for their services to the community Derek and Chris Pingel, has achieved so much in such a short period of time. It was a pleasure to be able to contribute to the Grantham Park Memorial Shelter and we appreciate the Queensland Premier being able to attend the official opening.”

Thanks to Kevin Lowe for sharing this story.