By Lee Hyo-sik
POSCO, the world’s third largest steelmaker, has been carrying out a wide range of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities here under its spirit of ``giving back to communities.’’ The company has also taken that spirit abroad to help the unfortunate who desperately need help from outside to live like a human being.
In cooperation with the Raphael Clinic, which runs a free clinic for migrant workers, POSCO operated a “clinic camp” for residents in remote villages of Mongolia from May 3 to 8. It dispatched a 22-member team, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and volunteers.
``We have sent a medical volunteer team to Mongolia twice a year since 2007. It was our 10th such visit,’’ a POSCO spokeswoman said. ``Most villagers there do not benefit from modern medicine. We are just grateful that we can be of help to villagers, many of whom suffer from a wide range of illnesses.’’
The company plans to dispatch a volunteer team to Mongolia in September. In November, another medical team will head to Nepal where many citizens grapple with respiratory problems.
In Africa, the steel firm has earned a strong reputation for its CSR activities centered on improving living conditions for children. The POSCO Children Development Center _ a welfare facility to help impoverished children, was opened in Zimbabwe on Jan. 30.
The center provides education for children and offers medical services for those who suffer from HIV/AIDS. In addition, the facility also gives lectures on child rearing to parents of poor families and community leaders.
POSCO also completed an agricultural training center on the same site, which offers advanced farming technology and leadership programs to nurture about 100 agricultural leaders that will manage collective farms and raise high-yield crops.
The firm opened another agricultural center in Mozambique on Feb. 2. It plans to expand social contributions to Ethiopia by repairing old houses and tackling poverty there.
In Asia, POSCO has been organizing and sponsoring a volunteer group made up of university students. The group, ``Beyond,’’ has been buildings houses for the homeless and improving basic infrastructure in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia since 2007.
Last December, 120 volunteers were dispatched to two remote villages in Vietnam to construct houses and undertake other community improvement projects.
``Volunteers and employees of POSCO Vietnam engaged in a wide range of community-building work for a week. On top of volunteer work, they showcased traditional Korean dances and K-Pop performances for villagers,’’ the spokeswoman said. She also said some of the villagers were later invited to tour a POSCO plant in Vietnam and learn more about the steel maker.