Lessons in giving

The May 12 Sichuan earthquake may have wrecked their classrooms, buried their schoolbags, and killed classmates, but it will never destroy their faith in learning. More importantly, they are not alone. There is always somebody ready to help them.

After the National Day holidays, more than 700 pupils of Mianzhu Tumen Central Elementary School in Deyang, one of the most seriously hit cities by the earthquake, returned to school with brand-new schoolbags and supplies.

"I have never owned such complete school supplies," says Huang Dan, an 11-year-old girl at the school. "I have a beautiful writing case with pens, pencils, colorful rulers, a metal compass, and scented cartoon-shaped erasers. I even received a set of color pencils and color marker pens, which I have been dreaming of for years. My classmates and I have never seen such beautiful schoolbags."

The 10,000 items, which also included books and dictionaries, were donated by DHL employees in China's Small Schoolbag for a Big Future: DHL Dream Bag Initiative, a three-year educational charity program sponsored by DHL's Chinese joint venture DHL-Sinotrans and China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF).

DHL is a global market leader in the international express and logistics industry.

By using its logistical strength all DHL employees in China are helping children and teenagers in poverty-stricken areas to complete their basic education and to promote developing education for the future.

Small Schoolbag for a Big Future: DHL Dream Bag Initiative began in July, 2008. It marks the first long-term public charity program initiated by DHL-Sinotrans and DHL in China with a local non-governmental organization.

"We plan to deliver at least 30,000 schoolbags to students in poverty areas within three years," says Wu Dongming, managing director of DHL-Sinotrans. "Based on the recommendation by CCTF, employees from DHL-Sinotrans and two other DHL companies in China, DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Exel Supply Chain, voluntarily purchased school supplies and delivered them through the extensive DHL network."

This year, the campaign includes more than 20 schools in earthquake-stricken areas in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.

Since the project began DHL-Sinotrans employees from more than 200 offices of almost 100 branches in 18 operational regions across China responded to the company's call.

They collected and packaged school supplies during DHL Volunteer Day on Aug 11. Over 200 employees joined in a donation ceremony and an on-site school visit via an online registration process.

The 30-staff volunteers who went on-site handed out the supplies and played games with the children.

"We believes that only through motivating employees in actively fulfilling social responsibility can it enhance employees' sense of social responsibility and team spirit, thus providing momentum for corporate and social sustainable growth," says Wu.

The company also invited synchronized swimming twins Jiang Wenwen and Jiang Tingting (gold medal winners at the 2006 Doha Asian Games), and retired women's football goalkeeper Gao Hong to meet students.

"I am happy to see this program not only brought new school supplies, but also enabled students to experience happiness and build-up confidence by interacting with sports stars and DHL volunteers," says Song Liying, secretary-general of CCTF.

"With substantial input in rural areas from the government, the issue of education for poor children has been well addressed. However, problems with inadequate schools and a lack of school supplies are still bottlenecks that hamper the development of education in these areas. This is a reality that deserves attention from the entire society," says Wu.

"We believe that, as a qualified corporate citizen, the company's responsibility not only means providing physical and financial aid when natural disasters occur, but also means rendering sustainable support to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the afflicted areas and establishing CSR strategies to ensure the long-term, stable and sustainable return to society," says Wu.

Previous successful charitable efforts by DHL-Sinotrans include Football in a Box, which helped deliver sports supplies to rural children.

(China Daily 11/03/2008 page8)