According to World Disasters Report 2018 by the Red Cross, more than two billion people have been affected by natural disasters over the past decade. Natural calamities like earthquakes, floods, cyclones cause large scale destruction to human life and infrastructure - physical & social. This calls for a need for the government, corporate and non-profit organizations to collaboratively work towards rebuilding & rehabilitating the communities in the aftermath of disasters. This is where SAP’s enduring vision to help the world run better and improve people’s lives, provides us the direction & serves the purpose of Nation Building. In times of crises, SAP has always been at the forefront in enabling the support for rehabilitation and comprehensive community & economic development.
In 2001, a massive earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale struck near the town of Bhuj, Kutch district in the western Indian state of Gujarat, claiming thousands of lives and destroying over one million buildings - the social & physical infrastructure were completely destroyed. With our enduring vision & purpose, SAP sprang into action immediately. SAP in India partnered with HOPE Foundation in a bid to restore normalcy and build education infrastructure to support children and young adults in Bhuj. SAP and HOPE Foundation, more than a decade of collaboration to covers immediate relief and subsequently, a rehabilitation through education & digital transformation.
First Step towards rehabilitation: Education for the children
With the Mission of “Powering Opportunity through Digital Inclusion”, our aim has been to ensure quality education is immediately restored and continuously provided.
In 2003, SAP and HOPE Foundation set up a primary education school in Bhuj in an effort to provide quality STEM education to children in this region. Children are the foundation blocks of building a powerful dynamic future for the nation. Thus, putting quality and robust education systems in place is vital for building the economy.
SAP has furnished the HOPE Foundation school with modern computer labs and science labs to provide access to technology and world class learning facilities. Being able to tinker with tools and equipment in the science lab and computers in the computer lab act as a catalyst in opening up their minds to immense possibilities. SAP conducts distance learning programs for these students through video conferencing setup installed at the school, enabling the students to connect with educators beyond the boundaries of the school, state, and even the country.
5,032 students have passed out of this school since its inception in 2003.
It is noteworthy that the students not just are obtaining quality education, but after passing out from the school, they are able to pursue higher education, and are able to enroll into engineering, medicine and other higher education courses.
Adapting the Change with time: Introduce the Digital Education
SAP set up Digital Literacy classes in the school for the children, and simultaneously a Code Unnati Software Training Center in Bhuj in December last year. Ten months later, this October, 300 students graduated from the institute and 89 of them are already gainfully employed.
Powering UN Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations laid out 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to transform the world’s economy, society, and environment. SAP integrates many of these goals to convert purpose to impact through sustainable action.
“Partnerships are pivotal as they build on complementary strengths. The years have shown us there is tremendous value in acquiring first hand insights, reaching out to the community to obtain perspective and in collaborating with the local administration or armed forces.” - Ian Correa, Director - Development, Member - Global Coordinating Council, HOPE worldwide.
We believe in combining our strengths with that of our partners’ to jointly impact the communities positively through interventions such as STEM Education and Code Unnati, towards Economic & Community Development.
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