Storytelling Corner, Makati City

Amway Philippines, a global direct-selling company that has been providing the Amway business opportunity to Filipinos since 1997, has always recognized its responsibility to contribute to the communities where it does business.

Amway Philippines has been actively involved in philanthropic work since its launch in 1997, supporting a wide range of worthy causes involving government agencies and NGOs through product donation and financial support. Amway Philippines knew that it had the potential to be a powerful force in advocating the good, with its social responsibility efforts scattered across several organizations serving the full spectrum of causes.

In a bid to further strengthen its identity as a responsible corporate citizen, Amway Philippines decided to centralize its social responsibility efforts to a single cause. Amway Philippines locally implemented the One by One Campaign for Children, a global initiative that aims to enrich the lives of young people all around the globe.

In April 2004, on the occasion of its 7th anniversary of operations in the country, Amway Philippines launched the One by One Campaign for Children. Foregoing a glitzy celebration, Amway Philippines employees and Independent Business Owners (IBOs) teamed up with the Damas de Filipinas Settlement House, a temporary institution for orphaned, neglected or abused children, in providing these children an afternoon of fun and rides at the Enchanted Kingdom. This one-day affair touched the children’s hearts and certainly made an impact in the lives of the Amway Philippines’ employees and IBOs. However, Amway knew that it could do more.

In 2005, Amway Philippines, with the help of its public relations counsel, Perceptions, Inc., sought to embark on a long-term, sustainable commitment to children in the Philippines and to reinforce its position as a company that champions the cause of the youth. Thus, for its One by One Campaign for Children 2005, Amway Philippines has partnered with the Museo Pambata with their Children’s Advocacy Program and Mobile Library Program aimed at helping children understand their roles in their families, schools, communities and society, and to address the alarming decline in reading abilities and literacy in the country, particularly among the public school children.

II. Methods

Amway Philippines initially wanted to contribute to the community where it operates. Having just relocated its headquarters in the Makati Central Business District in April 2005, Amway Philippines deemed Makati City was the most appropriate venue for the company to launch its One by One Campaign for Children. Through Perceptions, Inc., Amway Philippines asked for the assistance of the Department of Education in selecting a beneficiary for its program. The Department of Education – Makati Division then endorsed F. Benitez Elementary School as the institution with which Amway Philippines would launch its One by One Campaign for Children.

Storytelling is Amway’s main instrument in this campaign. On June 2, 2005, Amway Philippines conducted a one-day storytelling workshop for its employees and IBOs at the Amway Philippines headquarters in Makati City. Also invited to participate in the workshop were several parent volunteers from F. Benitez Elementary School. By involving its employees, IBOs, and the parents in the campaign, Amway Philippines left no stone unturned to ensure the efficient implementation of the campaign.

A module was specially created to enable the participants to realize the importance of storytelling to children and to equip them with various techniques and methods that will make a good storytelling session. Aside from this, the participants also engaged in teambuilding activities that strengthened the camaraderie among the group.

The storytelling workshop served as an effective catalyst through which internal momentum was built. At the end of the day, the workshop left the participants with a renewed dedication for the campaign and a greater sense of belonging to the Amway family.

On June 28, 2005, Amway Philippines hosted a Learning Festival for F. Benitez Elementary School, its first major event for the One by One Campaign for Children. Amway IBOs, employees and the Museo Pambata staff played Ates and Kuyas for a day to over 400 public school children in an afternoon filled with fun, excitement and learning as kids were treated to a program consisting of an arts and crafts session, a magic show, and the most anticipated storytelling hour.

Equipped with their newly acquired storytelling skills, the Amway I B Os and employees took time out of their busy schedules to spend a day with the children of F. Benitez Elementary School.

To help develop the children’s love and appreciation for reading, Amway Philippines also donated a storytelling corner, which was unveiled during the Learning Festival, to be located at the school’s main Learning Resource Center. The storytelling corner, painted with the lively colors of the One by One Campaign for Children logo, was patterned after a castle – a symbol of fantasy, magic and imagination. The design is such to make the storytelling corner the liveliest and most interesting part of the library.

Amway’s One by One Campaign for Children at F. Benitez did not end with the Learning Festival and the unveiling of the Storytelling Corner because Amway knows that one day is not enough to instill in the children the love and appreciation for reading.

The Storytelling Corner soon became the venue of the regular storytelling sessions which Amway, together with its volunteer IBOs and employees regularly conduct in the school every fourth Wednesday of the month since the campaign was launched.

While Amway promotes the importance of reading and learning, Amway also puts a premium on the significance of a healthy learning environment. Cleanliness has always been an issue in the public schools in the Philippines. Wanting to help sustain a cleaner and healthier learning environment, Amway Philippines donated  Pursue Disinfectant Cleaners to the school during one of the regular storytelling sessions. This product, a one-step, multi-application disinfectant cleaner concentrate, kills germs and odor-causing bacteria and fights against fungi and common viruses.

To further ensure the sustainability of the campaign, Amway Philippines is currently organizing a storytelling workshop for the volunteer parents of F. Benitez Elementary School. These parents are members of the school’s Parent’s Brigade who are actively involved in the school’s extracurricular activities. As Amway Philippines moves on to implement the campaign in another key city where it operates, Cagayan de Oro, these parents from the Parent’s Brigade will carry on the task of storytelling and will be the ones to pass on their knowledge to the future parents.

III. Results

In October 2005, a few months after the campaign was launched, Amway Philippines sat down with Dr. Emilie Zamudio, principal of F. Benitez Elementary School, to evaluate the effect of the campaign in the school children. In this meeting, Dr. Zamudio affirmed that the children have been visiting the library more frequently to stay at the Storytelling Corner. Although most of them are not yet very good readers, the principal has observed an increased interest in the first-graders to open the storybooks and picture books that are in the Storytelling Corner. Students from other levels have also started hanging out at the area during their free time.

In a letter addressed to Mr. Ador Bonquin, Amway Philippines senior country manager, Dr. Zamudio, stated that reading level of the first-graders have noticeably improved since the launch of the One by One Campaign in the school. Consequently, this increased their achievement in academics.

Furthermore, Amway learned through the school’s principal that the parents whom Amway invited to the workshop also took the initiative to ensure that the children got their regular treat of stories and learnings by holding their own storytelling sessions in the library every Friday.

In this campaign, Amway Philippines’ IBOs also showed an increased participation for the company’s One by One activities. These IBOs also work in offices and run their businesses and it is usually difficult for Amway Philippines to convince them to participate in these activities which would require them to take a leave from their usual routines. However, after the launching of the campaign and more importantly, the storytelling workshop, the IBOs exhibited an increased enthusiasm in being part of the campaign and working with their fellow IBOs and Amway employees.
The IBOs have been sending emails expressing their gratitude for the opportunity to be involved in this campaign. More than just being able to take part in enriching the lives of the children, this campaign presented the IBOs, as well as the employees, with an opportunity to nurture their own spirits and realize that happiness with the company is not just about achieving a good turnout of sales or being able to go on incentive trips. Amway is also about helping people live better lives.