One by One

After successfully supporting 2,200 life-changing medical surgeries for children, Amway Vietnam is expanding its reach.

In a new partnership with the Department of Child Protection and Care under the Ministry of Labor, children and families in Thanh Hoa will receive medical aid, educational support, vocational and agricultural training.

Thanh Hoa is an economically-challenged province in the North Central region of Vietnam with a large area, rough terrain, an under-developed transportation system and a high rate of households in poverty. Thanh Hoa also has a significant number of children who are abandoned, disabled, HIV-infected or dioxin-infected.

Efforts to help children in Thanh Hoa have achieved some success, but there is still much to do to stabilize the community and provide opportunities for children.

Through the Amway-Ministry of Labor partnership, three communities will be targeted with phases of data collection and need assessment, raising awareness, and providing direct support.

Amway Vietnam has committed 3 billion Dong ($144,000 USD) to kick off the programs, and expects to support approximately 2,000 children. The partnership kicked off in November, and the work is already underway.

Learn more and follow our progress on the Amway Vietnam One by One Facebook page.

Thanks to Dang Ngoc Thu Ha for sharing this story.

Heliópolis is located in the southeast part of São Paulo, in Brazil. The community is divided into 14 plots called “glebas,” where tens of thousands of people live in crowded spaces. It was considered one of the largest slums, or “favelas” in Brazil, but through a process of urbanization, it is improving and now has the status of a neighborhood district.

Amway volunteers have been helping to speed up the development of Heliópolis by remodeling homes for families in need, working with Habitat for Humanity. Last month, 36 Amway Business Owners, employees and suppliers joined Habitat to remodel 15 homes, working alongside the home owners.

Here is a short video documenting their efforts:

Thanks to Nancy Cortez for sharing this story.

During our research for the publication of our 2011 Global Citizenship Report, we noted a lot of activity around disaster response. Many natural catastrophes devastated the communities of our friends and colleagues last year.

What hasn’t received nearly as much attention is an emphasis around prevention.

In India, the Bihar State (adjacent to Nepal) is recognized as a multi-disaster-prone territory with a history of moderate to severe earthquakes.

Amway India is partnering with the Bihar Disaster Management Authority to help residents take measures to mitigate the risk of a future earthquake, and using the Bihar Centenary Day celebration to create awareness.

They installed posters and created pamphlets, teaching local leaders about earthquake resistant construction technology and teaching the general public basic tips for what to do in the event of an earthquake.

While these efforts may not make global headlines like an actual disaster, they may in the end be more impactful and save even more lives.

Thanks to Raj Narain for sharing this story.

We often talk about actions in terms of new programs, buildings and numbers. But we don’t always get to follow the people who benefit from investments of Amway and our distributors and employees.

Today is an exception.

Meet Priyanka Agarwal, a student with 90 percent vision loss, who was seeking meaningful work. She was shortlisted for advanced training at Tata Consultancy Services, but had to decline the training when her grandfather passed away.

Priyanka did not lose hope. She came to the AOF-NAB Centre for Excellence in Kolkata, looking for help, and help was given.

Following her training, Priyanka was found an excellent job with IBM in Bangalore, making a competitive salary using her new skills.

The hard work and dedication of Priyanka is a shining example of what is possible when we invest in the potential of people.

Thanks to Raj Narain for sharing this story.

Last year, we introduced the Nutrilite Little Bits program to Amway Business Owners and employees in Mexico, in partnership with Un Kilo de Ayuda.

Victor and Eli Estrada, Victoria Cervantes and Francisco Medina were our Star Sponsors recognized for their outstanding participation in the program. They were recently invited to make a delivery of Nutrilite Little Bits in Villa Victoria.

That day, children received check ups from Un Kilo de Ayuda health staff, monitoring the children’s weight, size and hemoglobin content in blood.

Currently, 357 children participate in the program, and we plan to expand our reach when the sponsorship program is renewed this summer.

Thanks to all of the dedicated Amway employees and business owners who are making a profound difference in the lives of these children.

Thanks to Nancy Cortez for sharing this story.

It has been two years since the devastating earthquake in Haiti. At that time, Amway and its employees and distributors rose to the occasion with an outpouring of generosity for several causes, including the building of a new SOS Children’s Village Home. Following is an update from SOS on the recovery efforts.

Dear Jesse and All Amway Employees and IBOs,

Two years after the earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince, killing over 200,000 and deeply impacting the lives of nearly 10 million survivors, SOS Children’s Villages staff remain dedicated to helping build a stronger Haiti. The generosity of Amway employees and Amway IBOs has helped us to develop programs to improve the lives of thousands of Haitian children and families. This report provides an update on the impact of these programs.

You have, no doubt, read the sad reports about the 500,000+ people still living in tent camps rife with violence, about the thousands of children who do not attend school, and about basic infrastructure projects that have not yet begun. Now I want to share with you some positive news…news about SOS Children’s Villages in Haiti.

I recently visited the Port-au-Prince SOS Children’s Village known as Santo on the second anniversary of the earthquake. At SOS Santo, almost 200 children are growing-up in safe, happy, family homes nurtured by very dedicated SOS Mothers. The true affection shown for these children by their SOS Mothers reminded me how the SOS model, developed over 60 years, raises orphaned children to be secure, responsible adults who value family and work to strengthen their communities.

Again and again, I witnessed scenes that reminded me of my childhood and could have taken place in any neighborhood in the world. I saw mothers serving wonderful meals to their hungry children who had just returned from school. They encouraged the children to concentrate on homework and monitored chores like laundry and bedroom cleaning. In their free time, the boys and girls played soccer and tag and interacted like any other brothers and sisters.

Across Haiti, we are providing long-term, family-based homes to children with no biological family to care for them. We have two established SOS Children’s Villages in Port-au-Prince and in Cap Haitien in the north. A third Village will be constructed beginning this year in Les Cayes, with help from our friends from Amway. A fourth Village in Port-au-Prince is in the planning stages.

Thank you again for your support.

Lisa Vogt

SOS Children’s Villages – USA

Young students in the village of Reeds Ciawi-Bogor in Indonesia are blending learning with play, while they blend up some nutritious drinks.

Amway staff and Independent Business Owners brought a supply of fruit, milk, protein powder and drink mixes to school for a fun day of experimenting with different tastes and textures.

Like any new food, the children were reluctant at first, but the flavors won them over, and brought milky smiles to their faces.

Working through the Amway Care Foundation, the volunteers and students agreed to make this a regular event at the school.

Thanks to Riana Nurwulan for sharing this story.

A group of Amway employees and Business Owners are making their annual journey to Zacapa, Guatemala, where they begin work on a new neighborhood of houses sponsored by Amway and Tim Foley.

This week, more than 120 Amway volunteers from the US and Central America - the largest Habitat for Humanity group ever in Guatemala – are working on the building of 10 homes alongside the homeowners and their families. It’s hard work, but great experiences for the volunteers and the families.

We will post an update next week!

Children in Japan who enter state protection following child abuse, or the death or incapacity of parents, traditionally have two paths: they enter a childcare facility or they are placed in a foster home.

Childcare facilities care for 30,000 children, while foster parents can only host about 3,600. Both systems are overwhelmed and it is becoming increasingly difficult to give children recovering from traumatic situations the care they need.

A new partnership model between Amway Japan, Crop Minori and the Japanese government is creating a solution that draws on the strengths and resources of each sector.

At the heart of the partnership is a Family Home for children. Family Homes are run by nonprofit workers and experienced foster parents, providing a home environment for a small number of children with caring adults who establish a stable environment where family-type relationships can flourish.

In 2009, the government created 126 homes across Japan. As part of this new partnership, the new Amway One by One Family Home has been established just outside Tokyo, near the mountains and ocean. The government will sponsor the needs of the children, Crop Minori will help to provide staff and programming and Amway will sponsor the rent of the home and provide volunteers.

Every institution has a role to play in the care of children. This innovative partnership blurs the lines of responsibility among business, nonprofit, government and volunteers, giving everyone a chance to create a bright future for children in need.

Thanks to Hideya Tateno for sharing this story.

After hearing news of so many disasters in 2011, few people heard of the heavy rains and flooding in the Philippines in December.

Hundreds of people died in the aftermath of Typhoon Sedong in Cagayan de Oro. It was the worst natural disaster in the Philippines in a decade.

Amway Philippines rallied to help. They packaged relief goods, with help from Amway distributors and employees. And they set up donation sites to help the families affected by the flooding.

Last month, Amway leaders turned over a check for P500,000 ($11,700 USD) to the Philippine Red Cross for the rehabilitation of victims of Typhoon Sendong in Cagayan de Oro.

We extend our appreciation to colleagues and friends in the Philippines for their generosity.