Samsung Electronics Helps Brighten Children’s Worlds in Myanmar

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live your life in darkness? To be unable to experience the light and color that surrounds us? It seems like a very bleak prospect, doesn’t it? We all appreciate beautiful scenery, green mountains, red roses, white clouds, blue seas and colorful rainbows—imagine what life would be like without all of these things. Life shapes us all differently, and while some of us have been gifted with sight, others have another destiny.

This year, the Love and Care Employee Volunteer Program, which included employees from the Samsung Myanmar Office, visited the School for the Blind (Kyimyindine) in Yangon. The school acts under the jurisdiction of the Department of Social Welfare.

The main aim of Samsung Love and Care Program is to enrich underprivileged communities across Southeast Asia and Oceania. They hope to improve their quality of life, particularly in regard to education and the environment, so every year, since the program was launched in Myanmar in 2015, Samsung Myanmar has organized activities and events to help and care for communities in Myanmar.

“We are very happy to see Samsung employees visit our school as these activities mean a lot to our kids and all of the children have been very excited to welcome the volunteers,” said Daw Khin Nyo Tun, Principal of the School for the Blind (Kyimyindine). “Even though they may not be able to see very much, the children are smart kids who can enjoy every moment to the fullest. They always like spending the day with the volunteers who understand them and can cater for their needs. The children do not like being treated like they’re different.”

The School for the Blind (Kyimyindine) provides educational and vocational subjects for kids and teenagers with visual disabilities as well as teaching students a way to lead independent lives with what they have learned. There are currently 190 students attending the school and receiving excellent help and guidance from the school principal and teachers.

“It’s my great pleasure to participate in this annual Love and Care Program because it gives us the opportunity to give something back to the community,” said YoungSeok Ham, Samsung Electronics Myanmar. We really want to make bigger, positive changes for everyone in Myanmar, so this kind of volunteer program is a special chance for all of us to earnestly contribute to the communities in this country.”

During the program, Samsung volunteers served lunch to the blind students and gave them basic medical check-ups. They observed how the kids learned braille and studied their school lessons. As part of a fun collaborative project, the volunteers also helped paint the classroom partition walls.

“I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this annual Love and Care Program as a Samsung employee. Being able to volunteer here and engage with the blind kids was very special and very rewarding. It was also very enlightening as we came to see the importance of kindness and a good quality of life for the able or disabled … we just need to try our best to achieve our dreams,” shared Khin Wai Lwin, IM Retail MCS Operation Manager at Samsung Myanmar.

As part of this year’s activities, Samsung Myanmar donated braille sheets, stationery, rice bags, a Samsung TV and snacks worth around 8 million Kyats (5,000 USD).

“I’ve been here in Myanmar for nearly 2 years now and we know that we still need to do a lot for the communities in Myanmar. This annual Love and Care Program is one of our key CSR programs being carried out in the country. Yes, we will try to give more back to the people here,” Ham added.

The Love and Care Program has given the Samsung Myanmar employees lots of opportunities to help the local community over the last few years. Initiated in Myanmar in 2015, the Love and Care Program began by helping out at Pann Pyo Lett Monastic Education School. Then, in 2016, the program was held on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and the program focused on assisting the Myanmar Network for Persons with Disabilities. Last year, 2017, the program took place at Aung Myay Monastic Education School in Dagon Seikkan, which is a town near Yangon. This year, in May 2018, the Samsung Myanmar employees did something a little bit different and donated their blood to the National Blood Center in the hope that they may be able to save some lives and help those in need.

This project is also a part of the annual Samsung Global Volunteer Festival held in October, a broader approach for Samsung employees to positively impact communities around them.

Reporting by Soe Thura, PR and Citizenship Manager, Samsung Electronics Myanmar, edited by the Samsung Newsroom team