Samsung-United Way, Schools of HOPE.

Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys, in his well researched and very readable book, ‘Imagining India’ observes, “The poor used to talk about education in a very vague sense ten years ago. They saw it as something that was ‘good’ to do. Being educated was like being pious – it added value to your character. But now there is a real sense of what people lose in incomes and opportunities from not attending school. This shift is driving some remarkable changes in our education policy”.

United Way has built on this line of thinking to launch two government recognized, English medium schools, in Nagapattinam. The schools which started from ground zero now have 625 students and serve children from 14 villages. In the previous academic year, 89% of the students (from the 1st to 4th standard) graduated to the next class.

Samsung's Leadership

When news of the tsunami spread to Samsung employees in Asia, their colleagues in South Korea immediately began a fundraising campaign to help those whose world had literally been washed away. In about a month, the employees alone raised $2 million. With the corporate contribution, that puts total Samsung tsunami reconstruction support at $3 million. That's not all, however. Even before the waters receded, Samsung employees in affected countries rolled up their sleeves and joined the clean-up and crisis response work. Samsung's commitment to rebuilding the communities and livelihoods of those who survived the tsunami is a natural expression of the company's and its employees' fierce commitment to social responsibility and community building.

United Way Auditorium Project

Citizens of Lake County, Illinois, USA were horrified at the news reports coming from the tsunami-affected areas. After more than $68,000 poured in from generous donors in their community, the United Way of Lake County realized they had enough to make a real difference. They approached United Way Worldwide for help in using the funds effectively, and with the guidance of United Way Mumbai, India, we decided to build a community center and auditorium in the village of Pharang Namgi, Tamil Nadu province. Since United Way home rebuilding projects were already under way in this village it made sense to express the commitment of United Way to community building and collective self-help by providing the village with a venue to come together for school events, workshops and training, weddings and other celebrations, town meetings, and more. The auditorium will stretch across 4,000 square feet of land when completed. Construction began September 2005 and is expected to be complete the first week in February 2007. The other projects in progress in this village will provide housing for 800 people, a school, and vocational training center.

AIG 100 Homes Project

The AIG Disaster Relief Fund supported a home rebuilding project in Poompuhar Village, Tamil Nadu, India. The work was overseen by United Way Mumbai and implemented by their local partner, Suvai. With their engineering and construction expertise, Suvai directed the construction of 100 houses with strong foundations, sound design, electricity, running water and indoor plumbing that are intended to withstand any future natural disasters. Although much more expensive than the typically fragile houses in local villages, these disaster-resistant homes express the commitment of United Way to bring donors and partners together to improve living conditions in the long-term. One of the guiding principles of United Way disaster recovery projects is to leave communities better off than before. All homes were completed at the end of September 2006.

Join hands with United Way that is committed to advancing the common good, creating opportunities for a better life for all, by focusing on education, income and health.

Write to us to explore partnership opportunities at uw@uwofindia.org