Employee Volunteers from Samsung Southeast Asia & Oceania Extend Love and Care to Local Community in Cambodia

- Love and Care is a regional volunteering initiative in the region, and one of the key initiatives for Samsung Group’s Global Volunteer Festival 2016
- 56 employees from 11 countries spent quality time with more than 2,800 children in Cambodia

Phnom Penh, Cambodia – [28 October, 2016] – For the second year running, volunteers from across Samsung Electronics’ Southeast Asia and Oceania offices participated in ‘Samsung Love and Care’, the company’s annual regional employee volunteer programme. In line with Samsung’s continued commitment to create positive differences in communities, the programme harnessed technology and other resources to address pressing educational gaps and social issues in Phnom Penh, Cambodia this year.

As part of Samsung’s annual Global Volunteer Festival, the Samsung Love and Care programme involves employee volunteers from all across the region. Kicking off on 24 October 2016, a total of 56 volunteers reached out to more than 2,800 children in the local Cambodia community over the course of three days.

“At Samsung, we are always committed to go beyond business achievements and to contribute back to the communities. Following last year’s success and earnest positive feedback from volunteers, we are excited to be in Cambodia this year for this meaningful initiative. We believe that technology can go a long way in empowering youths. By addressing the local needs and focusing on the children’s well being, we want to make a positive difference. For our employees, this is our chance to give our best to the community in Cambodia,” said Irene Ng, Vice President, Corporate Marketing, Samsung Southeast Asia and Oceania.

Together with non-governmental organisations Pour Un Sourire D’enfant (PSE) and People Improvement Organisation (PIO), Samsung’s volunteers organised educational and interactive activities for the Cambodian children, building ties and bringing joy to the community. Using Samsung tablets and mobile learning apps, the volunteers bonded with the children over interactive learning games, teaching them numerical and literacy skills. Volunteers also helped with simple refurbishments for the schools, such as giving a fresh coat of paint for the classroom walls and tables. Tree planting – where the children were taught how to care for the environment – and cultural exchange were other notable highlights of the programme.

“We are very grateful for Samsung’s support in outreach efforts towards the underprivileged children of Cambodia. It is inspiring to see such remarkable effort and enthusiasm from the volunteers, dedicated to making a positive change. The use of technology is certainly pivotal in addressing the challenges that we usually face in providing education to the kids, and it magnifies the positive impact that we have made,” said Madam Elisabeth Bardon-Debats, Interim General Director Board Member of PSE.

“Our children really enjoyed themselves very much as they interacted with the volunteers. This is a rare chance as they hardly get to meet people from other countries, and learn from other cultures. We hope to work with Samsung in the long run, to continue providing for the children,” said Ms. Phymean Noun, Founder/CEO of People Improvement Organisation, PIO.

Dita Puspawathy, PR Manager of Samsung Malaysia Electronics, commented, “It was a fulfilling experience! It may have only been three days, but I am certain that the little contributions that we have made add up to make a bigger difference in the lives of these children. I look forward to participating again next year.”

Ongoing Citizenship Outreach Efforts in Cambodia

In addition to the Love and Care programme, Samsung is also driving a pipeline of community initiatives in Cambodia. Samsung sees education as the seed of innovation and works to create programmes that support youth education and job training through the use of our technology, services and expertise. In line with this approach, Samsung Cambodia has participated in three citizenship initiatives over the past few years:

• Samsung Tech Institute
  Established in 2014, the Samsung Cambodia Tech Institute is a vocational training institution where young people can learn fundamental IT and engineering skills. It was created to help provide youth with the opportunities to create a better future for themselves and to address the industry shortage of technical talents. To date, the Samsung Cambodia Tech Institute has trained over 190 students, providing them with the best in-class training environment and practical lessons, all in order to prepare them for the workforce.
• Fairy Tale Book Donation for Kids
  In a bid to cultivate good reading habits in children in primary school, Samsung Cambodia donated 5,000 fairy tale books to the Ministry of Education, which were then deployed to primary schools within the different provinces. This initiative was created due to the lack of adequate reading materials for children still in primary school and to date, over 15,000 students from 50 different primary schools in Cambodia have benefited from this initiative.
• Supporting the Angkor Wat conservation project
  Samsung Cambodia also partnered the National Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA), to aid in the conservation of the temples of Angkor Wat. With the launch of the Galaxy J Series in Cambodia, Samsung Cambodia localised the devices to include a picture of the temples of Angkor Wat on the boxes, along with an Angkor Wat theme for the phone. Additionally, Samsung Cambodia will contribute KHR10,000 (US$2.50) to APSARA for every unit sold. Contributions from the sale of the Galaxy J Series are expected to reach US$100,000 by December 2016.