What is Vietnam POSCO Village?

On November 27th, POSCO-Vietnam and Habitat for Humanity Vietnam (HFH Vietnam) held a ceremony for an 85-house project at Tan Hoa commune, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. The ceremony was attended by local provincial leaders of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, representatives from POSCO-Vietnam and about 100 local households. Consisting of low-income families, the households are mostly informal settlers by the river or on unclaimed lands. These groups of the underprivileged will restore hope by being helped into decent homes in the ‘Vietnam POSCO Village’.

“I am sure that local authorities and poor households are very happy since the POSCO-Vietnam has initiated as from today. This is a magnanimously deep and compassionate action of POSCO 1% Foundation. This will also encourage local authorities to implement agreements with POSCO for helping residents living under difficulties for a better life”, stated Mr. Huynh Van Danh, Vice-chairman of Tan Thanh District.

The 18-month ‘Vietnam POSCO Village’ project will be implemented in two phases. Initially, phase 1 (from September 2014 to June 2015) will provide 45 low-income households with safe and adequate housing with water and sanitation facilities while phase 2 (from July 2015 to February 2016) will support another 40 households.

“This is the most beautiful moment in my life because I am going to live in the house that I have wished for a long time; no one has supported me until POSCO.  Other poor households and my family are deeply grateful to POSCO for funding and constructing these houses for us. I promise I will teach my children to have a better awareness that POSCO had helped us, and we need to work hard to lead a better life to thank POSCO”, said in tears, elderly Pham Van Phuong, 83, one of the family members funded by POSCO.

What to Expect for the Future

“With the aim to increase the living standard of low income households, this project partnership will achieve the dream of a decent home to those without proper shelter. With the generous funding provided by Global POSCO, HFH Vietnam will oversee the construction and provide valuable construction technical advices.” said Ms. Kelly, Director of Habitat for Humanity Vietnam.

When the ‘Vietnam POSCO Village’ project is completed and comes to operation, the underprivileged families at Tan Hoa Commune will have stable and adequate homes for staying in and the homes are also bases for them to build a happy family, earn for living and have a better life for their children in future.

“I hope that this project will bring a home of their own to the local poor people. Just as the proverb, “Stable home, stable business”, I hope the project will support and enable them to rise and overcome difficulties. So that they can shape a life of adequateness, comfort and happiness”, said Mr. Yun Yang Su, General Director of POSCO-Vietnam.

Other CSR Activities of POSCO-Vietnam

Not enough with only building a village, POSCO-Vietnam has been putting efforts to maximize improvements in local community’s well-being. In links below, you can learn more about POSCO-Vietnam’s steps toward cultivating the better future that were introduced in our previous posts.

(1) POSCO-Vietnam to Grant Scholarships to Local Students

In academic aspect, POSCO-Vietnam is supplying scholarships for local student 

(2) POSCO-Vietnam Shares the Holiday Joy with Local Children

In social aspect, POSCO-Vietnam celebrates Vietnamese holiday with local children.

Ms. Võ Thị Hồng Vân is one of the female managers at POSCO Vietnam. She is active and devoted to her work without losing her bright face. Currently, every CSR activities conducted by POSCO Vietnam are managed by her. She restlessly visits many regions where POSCO Vietnam can give a helping hand. Once she finds out where to, and what to, do for socially neglected people, she discusses the matter with local authorities and undertakes surveys to actualize feasible CSR plans for volunteering activities.

How It All Began…

When we asked how she first started working at POSCO Vietnam, Ms. Võ Thị Hồng Vân said it was almost like a destined path. “Working for POSCO Vietnam began as a coincidence and now it has become my destiny. In the beginning of 2008, I was working in Korea and I heard that POSCO Vietnam was recruiting secretaries. I was quite busy then so I couldn’t think of anything else than my tasks.” A year later, she finally joined POSCO Vietnam and started working as General Director’s secretary. “Over the two years I worked at the position, I had opportunities to develop my relationships with decision makers and top-level officers at Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, where POSCO Vietnam is located.”

It was later that she transferred from General Director’s office to Logistics Department as an assistant of General Manager. “I always love to have new experiences and this is why I was transferred. In my opinion, changing work position is a way to have new opportunities and challenges to learn new things and to study new knowledge.”

She added, “I loved the work at Marketing Logistics Department because I learned about trading and business, which I could also leverage with my experience from Korea. It helped my ability to coop with the works I was assigned to.” After a brief period, Ms. Võ Thị Hồng Vân was named as CSR Team Manager and moved to where she belongs now, POSCO Vietnam’s External Relations Department.

Becoming POSCO Vietnam’s CSR Team Manager

‘Hello, POSCO’ asked how working for the company’s CSR activities differs from her past work experiences. She smiled and said, “Regarding CSR activities, it was a big work and a new area to our company. CSR activity is not simply a concept but also needs to be carried out to give positive impacts on our surroundings, customers, partners, employees and communities. Therefore, this work needs specialized knowledge of all fields.”

We asked more questions about the quality one needs to become a professional CSR manager. Ms. Võ Thị Hồng Vân replied, “If you have a narrow set of experiences and knowledge for CSR, this work can be a challenging one. To fulfill all the roles required in this department, you need to study more about CSR, and master the principles and strategies of POSCO. This can help us to brainstorm how to engage the current social demands we face. If you succeed in meeting the demands, the result will naturally lead into building up a good image of POSCO Vietnam amid local communities.”

Awareness and Social Responsibility POSCO Vietnam Holds For Local Community

POSCO Vietnam is keeping its pace up to meet more economically and socially challenged people in local communities. “The principle of POSCO Vietnam is ‘Always Cooperate and Grow with Local Community – Business Go with CSR Activity.’ For the past few years, POSCO Vietnam has actively been implementing a wide range of social activities. This includes granting scholarships to the poor students who cannot afford their school fees and building houses with love for the households who have no shelters.”

“We also collected garbage at the beach to protect the environment and gave supports for the senior citizens, physically challenged people and children without parents. These CSR activities are all undertaken to contribute for the awareness and responsibility POSCO Vietnam conveys in the local community. The ‘POSCO Dream Village’ project is a great illustration of the purpose as well.”

Something To Be Proud Of And Worthwhile

Now, it was time to listen to her story: what she feels when working as POSCO Vietnam’s CSR Manager. “I have participated in almost all CSR activities at POSCO Vietnam since I joined. Each campaign has its own beautiful meaning, portrayed in different places and different moments. One of the beauties I witnessed was when the board members and POSCO Vietnam’s employees joined hands to collect garbage for drainage of Tan Hoa Commune.”

“It was a really hot summer day, burning everything underneath the Sun. Not to mention the awful smell we had to endure! However, the volunteers from POSCO Vietnam did not turn around. We continued our work there without losing smiles on our faces. The feeling I received at Tan Hoa Commune touched me and it is an unforgettable experience. “

Throughout the interview, we could see Ms.Võ Thị Hồng Vân’s face with full of joy and the sense of accomplishments. She truly believed that what she was doing for the local communities will open up bright future for those who received supports from POSCO Vietnam. We must say, she is not the only one counting for the change, because we all know POSCO’s global CSR activities will deliver a wonderful path for everyone around the world.

As a part of ‘Habitat Vietnam’ project, the houses were built over the past two months by the volunteers from POSCO Vietnam, the experienced participants from Habitat Vietnam and the students who were granted with POSCO’s scholarship in Vietnam.

Houses with Love Deliver Shelters for Many Locals

Tran Minh, one of the local residents who can now live in the houses built by POSCO expressed his gratitude. “I am really happy to receive such a beautiful house. From now, I don’t need to worry about rain or flood any more. This will be a happy home and I would like to send POSCO a deep gratitude. This will change my life completely.”

POSCO SS VINA’s General Director, Ryu Ju-yeol also shared his overwhelming feelings during the ceremony. He said, “POSCO has always been proud to support local communities, as we did in Gwangyang and Pohang. For our overseas operations, POSCO also puts its best effort for the community development.” “I hope that the lives of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province residents get better via this house-building project,” he added.

Launching IT Room For Tan Hoa Commune

POSCO Vietnam also launched an IT room to provide job trainings for socially neglected residents at Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province’s Tan Hoa Commune. POSCO sponsored eleven computers and other necessary equipment for the facility in order to train IT skills for the locals.

Upon the launch, Manager of POSCO Volunteers, Yang Weon-jun said “I would like to thank POSCO volunteers for all the effort they have put to make this project come true. This IT facility will help the local residents to earn their own livings with the knowledge from the trainings they will receive here.” The IT room will be managed by Kim Kwang-seok, a general manager of representative office of POSCO ICT in HCMC, Park Yong-nam, a deputy general manager of POSCO ICT and other POSCO employees.

Bringing the sharing culture of POSCO to Vietnamese Students

25 POSCO Scholarship students from the Vietnam National University of HCMC (VNU) and University of Da Lat participated in this project and they played a major role in building love-houses at Tan Hoa Commune.

When I asked Phan Nguyen Vu, a 3rd year student from VNU, about his participation in the project, he told me, “I am not used to the voluntary activities in Vietnam. I think it’s very interesting to take part in and to find the profound meanings of this activity.” He also said he would like to thank POSCO for giving him a chance to be part of the heart-warming project.

In the near future, POSCO Vietnam will organize more volunteer campaigns with the local Vietnamese students in various areas. I will keep tracking POSCO’s humane supports for Vietnam and also share the moments with you at ‘Hello, POSCO.’

For a Better World

With a slogan “For a Better World,” POSCO Vietnam visited Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. In Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Tan District, Marketing Division of POSCO-Vietnam paid a visit and delivered food for around 120 the disabled, poor and homeless people.

A group of 34 POSCO volunteers gathered at the Elderly and Lonely Caring Center of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province’s Long Dien District, a home of the happy house for 105 homeless old people. Understanding the difficulties of the elderly at the center, POSCO volunteers cleaned the facility for a fresher and cleaner environment. They also held a small session to guide them on how to maintain daily hygiene. After the housekeeping, our volunteers served fresh and nutritious food for the elderly living in the facility as well as presenting gifts. It was a truly heartwarming scene as both POSCO employees and the people in the house sincerely expressed their happiness for the activity.

Cleaning up the lovely beach of Vung Tau

While they were working for the happy house in Long Dien District, another group of POSCO Vietnam volunteers took the responsibility of collecting the waste at Vung Tau beach. The beach is well-known for its fine sand seaside, longer than 10 kilometers. The lovely tourist attraction is always filled with excitement and busy with local and foreign visitors.

Although the hot summer of Vietnam was boiling hot on the day, 40 volunteers from POSCO Vietnam still went along to the place and actively picked up all the waste left by tourists. POSCO Vietnam’s employee, Ms. Hanh said, “This is the first time I participate in POSCO Family Volunteer Week. Although it was really sunny and hot, we still went for the cleaning up process along the beach to protect the environment. I would like to help and share more with the poor and needed people. I am really happy that I was a part of this initiative.” Mr. Lee Kwang Yung, General Director of POSCO Vietnam, who also took his part in the voluntary work told us, “POSCO Vietnam and POSCO SS Vina will offer more social activities for community development and make our efforts to implement successfully to our CSR activities for diverse local communities.”

POSCO Vietnam will continue marching on across the country with good wills

During ‘POSCO Global Volunteer Week,’ POSCO Family in Vietnam also visited An Lac Orphanage of Dong Nai province, Hai Duong Social Patronize Centre in Hai Duong Province and Dong Nai Province’s Nhon Trach Industrial zone to clean up, take care of babies and children, offer daily hygiene equipment and repair run-down facilities for the locals’ health and safety.

I heard POSCO Vietnam will kick off a new scheme called ‘Dream Village Project’ in this year. By joining in ‘Beyond Vietnam’ and ‘Habitat Vietnam’ projects in July and December, POSCO Vietnam will build a total of 24 houses for the poor and socially neglected people at Tan Hoa Commune and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province’s Tan Thanh district. We will also establish the Tan Hoa Public Education Center for local students so they can have easy access to the IT training classes and scholarship. When these are done, ‘Hello, POSCO’ will be the first place I will write to so our global readers can be updated with POSCO Vietnam’s latest achievements.