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.

Tet Trung Thu Festival in Vietnam for Children

In Vietnam, the Mid-Autumn Festival, known as Tet Trung Thu, is the country’s second most important holiday, after Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. Tet Trung Thu usually takes place on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. This year, the holiday was on the 7^th of September. The traditions of this holiday date back to thousands years ago. Having a significant meaning on children, the festival was originally considered as a celebrating period for parents to catch up with their children after summer harvest was completed. Also, believing that children are innocent and pure, people thought that children are the closest connection to the sacred and the natural world.

Today, we would like to introduce what POSCO-Vietnam did with local children during the festival.

POSCO-Vietnam’s Tet Trung Thu Performance  

As the lively atmosphere of Mid-Autumn Festival spread out throughout the country, POSCO Vietnam and People’s Committee of Chau Pha Commune organized the Full moon Festival for more than 100 children on the 5^th of September at Chau Pha Cultural House. The Festival was attended by the representatives from Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s Union of Friendship Organization, Tan Thanh People’s Committee and Directors Board of POSCO-Vietnam and leaders of Chau Pha Commune as well. The festival started with hand-crafted animal figures’ bouncy dances to the sounds of a drum and cymbals, providing traditional entertainment for the Full moon night. Ong Dia, a grinning clown-like figure who represents the Earth God, danced along with the lion figures. Wearing a large pink mask, Ong Dia danced while holding his fat belly with one of his hands and waving a paper fan with the other. All performances were prepared by POSCO Vietnam’s employees and local people.

Sharing Warmth with the Local Community

POSCO-Vietnam offered about 50 gifts to the children in need at Chau Pha Commune. We hoped that the poor children could also have a happy holiday because children are the most deserved to receive the gifts on a special day. “It was incredible how much the children seemed happy after receiving my gifts”, General Director of POSCO Vietnam, Mr. Yun Yang Su said. “I feel really happy because this is the first time I join a Full moon Festival in Vietnam and I would like to send my best wishes to the children of Chau Pha Commune.” He added.

A 5 year-old, Nguyen Tieu Kiet said after receiving gifts, “I have never participated in a more exciting festival than this. I was very happy to play so many interesting games at the festival. I would like to thank the company for organizing this festival and giving gifts for us”

On behalf of Chau Pha Commune, Mr. Le Thanh Lam, Vice president, sent gratitude to POSCO Vietnam and hoped that Chau Pha Commune would receive more care and support from sponsors to help poor children overcome difficulties and study well.

More CSR Activities of POSCO Vietnam

• For a Better World: 2014 Global Volunteer Week at POSCO Vietnam
• A Tết to Remember: POSCO Volunteers & Habitat for Humanity in Vietnam

Ba Ria Hospital Charity Kitchen

POSCO Vietnam’s volunteer campaign, which took place in 3 areas of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, was carried out under the theme “Protect the Environment and Aid the Disheartened.” To this end, POSCO Vietnam employees visited Ba Ria Hospital on June 10 to congratulate its 30^th anniversary and serve food to its patients. Ba Ria Hospital has only 300 beds, but POSCO Vietnam prepared food for 700 people in order to serve not only the patients but also their relatives.

“This is the first time I’ve taken part in volunteer work in Vietnam,” said Mr. Yun Yang Su, a newly appointed general director of POSCO Vietnam. “It makes me happy to see the patients’ faces when they’re enjoying their food. I think they haven’t had anything to eat for hours,” he added.

“This is the most delicious food I’ve ever had since I was at this hospital. Thank you POSCO Vietnam so much for my full meal,” said Mrs. Tran Thi Tam, 69, a patient who lives 40km away from the hospital. Despite her old age, Mrs. Tam lives in a tattered home and labors day after day to make a living. Much of her hard-earned money goes into the treatment and medicine for her heart disease. The rest is spent on bare necessities. Because she does not have enough money, she eats much less than she should, and her health condition is getting worse day by day. Mrs. Tam was not the only one in such a plight, and POSCO Vietnam employees felt mixed emotions of joy and sadness while aiding the patients and their relatives at Ba Ria Hospital.

Community Repair Services at Chau Pha Commune

POSCO Vietnam also visited Chau Pha commune of the Tan Thanh district. The destitute commune was facing three problems: First, there weren’t any handrails in the neighborhood’s two bridges which made it dangerous for the locals to cross. Second, the rainy season was expected to arrive in the end of the month, but most houses in the neighborhood had leaky roofs. Last, several houses lacked sufficient lighting for daily activities and for the children to study.

Repairing the community was a challenge, but POSCO Vietnam faced it with unparalleled enthusiasm: In just one day, the volunteer team finished installing handrails for the two bridges, fixed the roofs of 5 houses, and installed lights in 10 houses.

“Today, the POSCO Vietnam volunteers worked over noon to finish these bridges,” said Mr. Tran Van Lam, a resident living near the bridge. “When it rains heavily, the bridges often get flooded and people can’t see anything. Now with the handrails installed, my children aren’t in danger anymore when traveling to school crossing this bridge. I thank the volunteers so much,” he said.

Apart from performing general repair work, POSCO Vietnam volunteers visited the family of Mr. Nguyen Van Phong, who suffered brain and leg injury while working in a factory. Though Mr. Phong labored all his life, his earnings were meager. After becoming disabled, he stays in bed and depends on his wife for survival. POSCO Vietnam employees promptly visited the Phong residence after hearing about Mr. Phong’s plight. They fixed the leaky roofs and concreted the walls with thick nylon in case of heavy rain. They left with promises to come back in the near future to build an adequate home for Mr. Phong and his family.

Cleaning Up Long Hai Beach – the newly discovered beach of Vung Tau City

Long Hai is a newly discovered beach at Ba Ria-Vung Tau province with beautiful transparent water which attracts thousands of tourists who come and enjoy every weekend. It would have been nice if these tourists enjoyed the beach without any environmental consequences, but the truth is that they leave a lot of garbage and waste such as plastic cans, nylon bags, and paper.

Although Long Hai is 50km away from the POSCO Vietnam office, it did not stop the enthusiastic volunteer team from jumping in to pick up the waste and garbage along the beach.

“It was so hot today, so we arrived early to collect the waste and garbage,” said Mr. Huy, POSCO-Vietnam’s manager of Training and Education Team. “Our goal was to raise awareness of protecting the environment to the local people and the tourists,” he said.

Moving Forward For a Better World

POSCO Vietnam aims to build a “POSCO Village” this year at the at the resettlement area of Tan Hoa commune in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. Beginning in September 2014, the planned project consists of 85 houses for people in need to be built within the next two years.

For POSCO Vietnam, doing business does not simply mean generating profit. Quoting general director Yun Yang Su’s comments on corporate citizenship: Cultivating ties with the local community via practical CSR activities is equally important, making the company mature with stable growth.