 |
 |
|
 |
||
ABOUT US Community Concern |
Endowment to the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi White Cane Day and Louis Braille Day AOF And Child Relief And You (CRY) Computer Centre In a School For The Blind
Amway donated a state-of-the-art mobile dental clinic to the Rotary Club, Delhi Mid-town, for the use in slum areas in 1996. Operated by the Rotary Club, this clinic offers free dental check up and care six days a week, 52 weeks a year, to the underprivileged in and around Delhi.
ENDOWMENT TO THE FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI Amway made a significant endowment to the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Delhi University, in 1998. This led to the creation of the Amway Chair on Entrepreneurial Development at the FMS. This endowment had been made with the intention of encouraging entrepreneurial study.
AOFs tryst with the blind started in 1998, when it entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Delhi-based All India Confederation for the Blind (AICB). According to this MoU, AICB was to first ascertain the requirement of Braille textbooks for blind children studying in Rajasthan, and then print and distribute these Braille textbooks. This MoU which was to serve as the blue print for all subsequent work undertaken by AOF. AICB has a Braille printing press at their premises at Rohini, a suburb of Delhi. According to the AICB, a Braille book costs seven to ten times more than a normal book. Apparently, there are 16 Braille printing press in India, about half of which are not in proper working condition. More importantly of the 2 million blind children in India, only between six and eight per cent have access to Braille textbooks. This was the single-most important factor in deciding the direction of social responsibility undertaken by AOF: while prevention and cure for blindness is an integral part of the country's development plans, education for the blind, unfortunately, has taken back seat. After Rajasthan, the AOF-AICB combine turned its sights on Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and now, Bihar. In September 2000, AOF entered into another strategic partnership with the National Association for the Blind, India (NAB), a mumbai-based NGO. Both AICB and NAB are NGOs of national eminence. With the NAB, AOF has been able to ensure that blind children in Maharashtra and Gujarat have access to Braille textbooks. While AICB is to look after states in the north and the east, NAB is to concentrate on the west and the south. AOF plans to re-visit each state once in three years. Why? Because a Braille textbook has a three-year life span, after which it becomes unusable. Once a cycle is established, this will be maintained on a regular basis.
WHITE CANE DAY AND LOUIS BRAILLE DAY Since 1998, AOF has also been active in some other activities for the blind. AOF has, along with AICB, celebrated White Cane Day (October 15th) and Louis Braille day (January 4th). On White Cane Day, AOF supports AICB distribute white canes to blind children. On Louis Braille Day - held annually to commemorate the birthday of Louis Braille, the inventor of the Braille system - AOF supports AICB in conducting a unique event: the National Braille reading contest. Here, preliminary rounds are held on a regional basis. The winners from all different states are then brought to Delhi where the nationals are held.
AOF AND CHILD RELIEF AND YOU (CRY) The January 26th killer-quake that rocked Gujarat in 2001 devastated almost the entire state. Tens of thousand lost their lives, uncounted others lost their homes. A whole slew of aid-agencies rushed into the beleaguered state, offering first aid, medicine, food, blankets etc. After sifting through a host of possible partners through whom Amway could channelise its relief money, AOF proposed that CRY as a preferred partner. CRY is another well-known NGO that has an impeccable track record. As in most emergencies, it is the children who are often the worst affected, AOF took a conscious decision to channelise Rs. 35 lacs that Amway distributors, employees and Awmay as a company, had collected. An AOF representative traveled some 800 kms in the worst affected areas of Anjar (Bhuj) and Dhrol (Jamnagar) in areas where not even one building remained unaffected. With the funds Amway had sent them, CRY runs activity centres for children in the following villages in these two areas.
AOF has, in the past three years, held two painting contests for children of the Amway family. These contests take place in some 20 cities, where children of distributors, employees and other service partners participate. With the venue and all other infrastructure taken care of, the children have a field day giving wing to their imagination. All entries (four thousand plus) are sent to Delhi, where a rigorous selection system involving well-known painters and others, is followed. The first ten paintings then serve as impressions for Seasons Greetings, Congratulations and Thank You cards, which are then sold by Amway distributors. The proceeds of these cards form the bulk of AOFs annual budget. Thus, the Amway distributor is intricately linked to AOFs work, and hence has a significant share in Amway's social responsibility.
COMPUTER CENTRE IN A SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AOF has also helped the Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys Academy (RKMBBA), Narendarpur (Kolkatta) set up a computer centre. This is the first such computer centre for the blind in Eastern India. Set in a sprawling and green campus, this efficiently run institution has a host of facilities for its students, which includes music, crafts, vocational training, besides the routine classes. One of the various pressing requirements was a computer centre, which would enable students to pick up this much-needed skill.
|
 |
|
