The partnership, first established in 2013, sees Samsung provide housing support, water, sanitation and education support in countries where Habitat operates.

As part of the deep-reaching and impactful Samsung-Habitat collaboration, house construction efforts have borne fruit in Egypt and South Africa, while in Vietnam in 2014, ICT classrooms with thirty computers were built for two schools, while refurbishment was carried out at three schools and water sanitization projects completed at two more.

Meanwhile, in Zambia, the project has seen houses built, as well as an innovative Solar Powered Internet School.

Samsung and Habitat are currently constructing 50 houses in Argentina, in addition to a community center. Houses were also built in Vietnam, while in Kenya, new technology using interlocking stabilized soil blocks was put to use in the building of a school.

You can take a look at some of the places that Samsung and Habitat’s emotion-filled journey has taken its many participants to thus far in the gallery below:

Republic of South Africa

A Solar Powered Internet School

In 2013, Samsung built the Solar Powered Internet School in a village in South Africa, allowing students from neighboring towns to enjoy a tech-rich education experience.

Building Residential Homes

Samsung and Habitat built 28 houses in Pelican Park, a new settlement north of Cape Town, South Africa. Construction began in July 2013 to mark Nelson Mandela International Day, and was completed in January 2014. A group of Samsung employees participated in the five-month building program.

Vietnam  

Digital Classrooms

A group of Samsung employees went to the Vietnamese town of Phuc Thuan in 2014. They set up three digital classrooms equipped with thirty PCs with monitors and a digital display. The project was part of an effort to offer ICT education to students from three schools including Phuc Thuan High School. After construction was completed, Samsung employees continued to pay regular visits, acting as teachers for a day, educating students and performing IT maintenance.

Constructing Homes

Samsung employees paid a visit to Khe Sanh, a village in Vietnam, in August 2014. They worked with residents over a period of two days to build six homes.

A Kindergarten for the Community

When Samsung employees visited Thuy Hoa, a village in Vietnam in August, 2014, they performed a large-scale building renovation. They also fully furnished the interior, resulting in a kindergarten with a capacity of 300 children.

Zambia  

Children’s Hygiene Education Scheme

In 2014, Samsung employees travelled to Makululu, a village in Zambia, as part of a hygiene education program. The sessions saw them demonstrate to residents the way that micro-organisms work.

Homes for the Residents

Samsung employees took part in a building project in Makululu, a village in Zambia in 2014. The effort saw 13 houses constructed for village residents.

Wall-painting in a School

Samsung employees went to Nyama, a village in Zambia in 2015. They painted a vivid mural for an elementary school.

Building Schools and Homes

Samsung employees conducted a geological survey in Nyama, a village in Zambia in 2015. Construction of a school and homes for residents is slated for completion by the end of 2016.

Argentina

Home Building

Samsung volunteers built a seed house in Bueno Aires, Argentina, in 2015.

Since 2015, Samsung has been working on a construction project in Nanum Village, Gran Chaco, Argentina. The company will complete the construction of 50 new homes at the site by December 2016. In 2015, Samsung carried out a construction survey for a water collection system at the site.

People who’ve bought a Galaxy device want to be sure they’re getting the most out of it, which is why Samsung has introduced the Samsung Members app. Samsung Members is an all-in-one app that offers a wide range of benefits and customer communication and troubleshooting services for the loyal and passionate users of Galaxy devices around the globe.

Feedback

Samsung Members offers a variety of feedback and troubleshooting services. There are FAQs for common problems; 1:1 Questions, where users can ask expert advisors; and Error Report, where users directly report suspicious activity on their devices and get fast feedback.

Support

Support offers three tools to keep a user’s Galaxy device working optimally. Device Diagnostics lets people select a number of tests to run on the device, including on the battery, Bluetooth, Wifi or sensors. Depending on the results of those self-diagnostics, the support app may be able to take actions to repair issues automatically.

Smart Tutor lets users get in touch with a live customer service agent for advice and help in analyzing and fixing technical issues. Technical experts can even take control of a device remotely, to perform necessary fixes and changes.

For people who need to get to a service center for more in-depth help with a device, the A/S Center option lets users find the nearest support center and book a reservation.

Community

Community provides a forum for Galaxy users around the world to talk freely with each other about anything related to Samsung products. People can post reviews, tips or just about anything that on their mind about Galaxies on the Free Board. There is also a Suggestion screen, where users can send their advice and ideas to Samsung.

In addition to that range of solution services, Samsung Members offers a rewards program with a variety of benefits and coupons in select countries. Customers can earn various “levels,” and as a user goes up levels, the benefits increase. The Benefits page offers a wide range of coupons that can be used for discounts on repair services at customer service centers or to purchase accessories at Samsung stores.

The Samsung Members app can be downloaded via the Galaxy Apps and comes preloaded on new Galaxy S7 and S7 edge in select countries including the China, Spain, Russia, Brazil and UAE. It is expanding to more countries around the world.

* The Samsung Members app service may vary by country and device.

The students experienced a wide variety of STEM activities, ranging from analyzing cave walls to determine past climate patterns to learning how to code mobile apps and exploring the relationship between technology and physical fitness. Many said they were exposed to fields of STEM they never knew existed and were excited about the possibility of exploring those fields in college.

While I had the pleasure of witnessing the students engage with the program on many levels, one thing that stood out to me was how these students expressed interest in things outside of the curriculum.

For instance, Denzel, who begins his freshman year at Trenton High School this fall, was very concerned about his career. He asked me lots of questions such as what I did for Samsung and how I got there, intrigued by the seven years I spent as a middle school teacher. But one of his questions that really stuck with me was: “Is it ok that I don’t know what I want to do with my career?”

I told him that he had plenty of time to figure that out and programs like Summer Science are important because they help students like him do just that. By exposing them to a wide variety of fields that are available for them to study, Samsung makes it a point to help young people explore opportunities they may not have had otherwise.

The program culminated in an awards luncheon at the end of the week where every student presented a storyboard of what they learned. All students were awarded a completion certificate with their families and program facilitators in attendance.

Samsung also awarded $2,500 scholarships to two college-bound alumni of the Summer Science: Talia Lawrence and Aliyah Jackson. Talia, who attended the program for two summers, will begin her freshman year at Saint Michaels College this fall to study biology. Aliyah, a three-year veteran of Summer Science, will begin college at Rowan University to study forensic science.

There is a great sense of pride in knowing that the place where I work makes possible such scholarships for students who have a passion for STEM. I look forward to many more opportunities to reward hard-working students through my role in Samsung’s Citizenship efforts.