MAN and SOS Children’s Villages: A Global Success Story

The massive earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010 had disastrous consequences. Many people lost everything; even providing them with the bare necessities proved extremely difficult. As one of Europe’s leading commercial vehicle and mechanical engineering companies, MAN decided to send two used heavy trucks valued at € 10,000 to assist in the rebuilding efforts. What started as a spontaneous offer of emergency assistance sowed the seeds for a long-term partnership with SOS Children’s Villages in Haiti, which has benefited numerous local children and young people.

Rebuilding in Haiti

Thanks to MAN’s help, at the beginning of 2015 a new SOS Children’s Village was opened in Les Cayes in southern Haiti. It comprises 14 family houses and currently provides some 60 children with a place to live and recover. In the SOS Children’s Village in Croix-des-Bouquets, which is located to the east of Port-au-Prince, MAN has been contributing € 40,000 each year since 2013 to pay the living and care expenses of seven children. In addition, the company covers the costs for five teachers at the SOS Herman Gmeiner School in Santo on the outskirts of the capital city. More than 700 children receive their primary and secondary education at the facility.

The disaster relief activities in Haiti and the resulting partnership are a clear illustration of MAN’s social responsibility approach. “It’s our aim to make a lasting difference in the lives of children and
young people and help them achieve a brighter future through education,” says Jochen Schumm, Chief Human Resources Officer of MAN SE and MAN Truck & Bus AG, who heads up Corporate Responsibility in the MAN Group. And as he explains, emergency aid projects that provide basic supplies following a natural disaster often mark the beginning of a partnership.

Disaster relief around the globe

MAN has repeatedly partnered with SOS Children’s Villages to help people around the world in times of acute crisis. Most recently, the company donated € 75,000 to SOS Children’s Villages to help cope with the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. SOS Children’s Villages offer targeted assistance in a total of 10 locations in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia – including the provision of emergency aid, preventive measures, and long-term assistance such as caring for orphaned children.

MAN made € 50,000 available following the 2013 typhoon in the Philippines. In this country, SOS Children’s Villages provided assistance by means of several programs, including aid packages, rebuilding, daycare facilities, school materials, and income-generating activities.

In 2011 the company provided € 125,000 in funding to the long-term disaster relief program in Kenya, established in response to the East Africa drought crisis. Here the activities focused on water supplies, school meal programs, basic food aid to affected villages, and medical assistance.

Another project in 2011 was the expansion of SOS activities in Japan following the disastrous earthquake in that country. A donation of € 125,000 provided initial funding for an SOS Children’s Village in Fukuoka, which offered a home to orphaned children.

A jump start for mechanics in Ethiopia

The partnership between MAN and SOS Children’s Villages has its roots in Ethiopia. In 2008 MAN began providing funding to the SOS Vocational Training College (VTC) in Kality. This assistance allowed for the financing of two vocational programs – engine service and maintenance, and drive-system and automotive mechanics – as well as the construction of an additional college building. Not only has MAN contributed financial aid totaling € 600,000 for investments and maintenance, but professional support and knowledge transfer as well. This means that the accredited vocational college has access to a MAN expert as a teacher for special training courses, not to mention MAN equipment – such as a truck, an axle drive, or truck instruments – to practice with in classes. This wide-ranging assistance allows the young adults attending the VTC to receive a top-notch vocational-technical education, paving the way for a better future. Almost 60 graduates have now started promising careers as automobile mechanics, for example.

Vocational training sponsorship in Nuremberg

Providing vocational training opportunities for young people is also one of MAN’s priorities in Germany. Since 2011, MAN has been sponsoring up to five vocational trainees at a time at the SOS Vocational Training Center in Nuremberg. At this facility, young people can earn qualifications as carpenters, construction mechanics, and administrative assistants. The program targets socially disadvantaged teenagers who, in many cases, are struggling with the consequences of personal crises or addiction. Due to their educational histories, they are usually no longer eligible for a place in the state system. So a sponsored vocational training program is often their last chance to gain a foothold in the labor market.

Giving back to the community in Germany

In addition to sponsoring vocational training in Nuremberg, MAN and its employees are working together to help children and young people throughout Germany. Volunteering and financial assistance to SOS Children’s Villages extend from school mentoring and educational programs to activities to promote integration.

For example, since 2013 MAN employees have been volunteering as SOS school mentors at the SOS Family Assistance and Support Center in the Riem district of Munich. Once a week they help children, especially from immigrant backgrounds, to study and do their homework. At the Family and Daycare Center in the Neuaubing neighborhood of Munich, MAN provides funding for a qualified employee to work 12 hours per week, offering educational programs that are open to the community.

By organizing excursions to places such as museums, for example, the company provides the participating children with important opportunities for early learning. In addition, MAN employees also lend a hand at a lot of different events – organizing summer festivals, baking with the children, or doing yard work.

For the SOS Mothers’ Center in Salzgitter, in 2014 MAN covered the costs – totaling € 21,000 – for a “green classroom,” a green space where the children can study in peace and quiet. MAN employees donated a further € 6,000, the proceeds from a raffle at the MAN Family Day. And each year, all vocational trainees from the MAN plant help set up the local SOS Christmas village.

MAN funds the SOS Hochfeld Family Center in Augsburg to the tune of € 10,000. At this facility, children from immigrant families get help developing their language skills. Once a week, an educator leads a group consisting half of German-speaking and half of Russian-speaking children between one and three years old.

New projects mark anniversary year

SOS Children’s Villages in Germany is proud to celebrate 60 years of providing assistance to children and young people in this country. Since it was founded, more than ten thousand children have grown up in SOS Children’s Village families, and hundreds of thousands more around the world have been helped by the non-profit association.

MAN has partnered with SOS Children’s Villages on many of these projects and intends to continue its support in the future. To mark the anniversary year, a visit to the VTC in Ethiopia is planned. Employee volunteering will also be stepped up in Germany, with MAN expanding its activities to work with the SOS Children’s Village in Augsburg, which is also home to a MAN Diesel & Turbo site. At the kickoff event in March 2015, the head of the MAN cafeteria in Augsburg showed single mothers how to cook healthy meals on a low budget. MAN vocational trainees installed a weatherproof donation basket, which is traditionally located at the entrance of each SOS Children’s Village – marking the first step in a long-term partnership to assist the children and young people in Augsburg.