World Kindness Day is a wonderful reason for us to look back at 21 Years of RYTHM at QNET. Internationally observed on 13 November, World Kindness Day serves as a reminder to help make the world a better place by celebrating good deeds and pledging acts of kindness either as individuals or as organisations. Here’s a look into what we have undertaken under the principles of RYTHM over the past 21 years at QNET.
What Areas Do Our RYTHM Activities Contribute Towards?
We practice RYTHM in various ways – be it grant-making through the RYTHM Foundation, volunteer engagement activities organised through QNET Staff Social Responsibility days, or even investing in life-changing projects in communities in need. We partner with national and international charities to cover Asia, Africa, Russia and its Independent States, and the Middle East. All of QNET’s RYTHM inspired social activities are based on three priorities – education for all, gender equality, and sustainable community development. Every project, activity and staff social responsibility days contribute directly (or sometimes indirectly) to these three areas.
What Are Some Of The Projects That Help With Our RYTHM Values?
We aim to touch a billion hearts in the very communities we work in and where our IRs come from. The last 21 Years of RYTHM have seen us working consistently towards this goal. In this regard, we have partnered with local and global charities to bring about our vision for a better tomorrow.
Our Core Projects
- Taarana – Holding a very special in our hearts, this centre for children with special needs was established in Malaysia in 2011.
- The Maharani Programme – Initiated by RYTHM Foundation in 2010, the Maharani project has helped over 7000 girls between the ages 13-16 from poor and marginalised communities in Malaysia. The programme encourages girls to discover their strengths and skills, while enhancing their self-esteem, strongly advocating the philosophy that every girl is born strong and should stay strong.
- Staff Social Responsibility – RYTHM is our way of life – and it’s practised by both for our Independent Representatives and our corporate teams across the globe. Every QNET office has undertaken social responsibility projects that contribute towards our three priorities of education for all, gender equality and sustainable community development. While our activities happen throughout the year, our largest-scale projects occur around the holy month of Ramadan. You can read through all of our projects by visiting our RYTHM section in this blog.
Partnerships
QNET, with the help of RYTHM Foundation, has partnered with local partners in underdeveloped regions to provide direct services to those in need. Here are some projects we are involved in.
MALAYSIA
- In partnership with DHRAA, a local NGO in Malaysia that empowers vulnerable communities with equal access to healthcare and education, we have helped fund the education of 80 stateless children and youth.
- With TrEES (Treat Every Environment Special), we have reached out to 25 schools (200 students and 50 teachers) in and around Malaysia to implement 4Rs (Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) campaigns.
- We have sponsored meals for 79 poor pre-school children from local and refugee communities with the help of Dignity for Children Foundation.
- We funded a project by the Vocational Training Opportunity Centre of the YWCA to provide skills training like sewing, tailoring commerce etc for 97 young women and girls from economically disadvantaged families. We have also partnered with YWCA to roll out the Maharani Programme to around 100 young women between the ages of 15-25. These courses will focus on self-confidence, character building in addition to their vocational training.
INDONESIA
- Through a partnership with ASA Foundation, we helped introduce sports-based education methodology for enhancing youth health through athletic and personal development, promoting gender equality through sports. Over 30 teachers have participated in this programme with 1700 youths, who have benefited from their skills transfer.
VIETNAM
- We are currently working with ASIA Foundation to provide disadvantaged young girls with the opportunity to pursue and complete their secondary education. Through this partnership, to date, 40 girls have been identified and given a 3-year scholarship to complete their secondary education.
CAMBODIA, MYANMAR & LAOS
- We contribute towards a scholarship programme with Child’s Dream Foundation. The Child’s Dream Foundation is an NGO dedicated to empowering marginalised children and youth by constructing educational facilities, scholarship programmes, and funding life-saving medical interventions. Through the scholarship, 5 Cambodian students have been given help to complete their studies, and 5 children from Myanmar and Laos have been provided with life-saving operations.
INDIA
- Under a partnership with Cancer Patients Aid Association, we have helped 20 underprivileged children receive professional care and treatment for cancer. The funding has also supported projects to create awareness and early cancer detection for 3000 recipients.
- We have also supported three bright young entrepreneurs from rural parts of India through Manava Seva Dharma Samyardhani, an NGO that focusses on providing access to education and improving income opportunities to local rural communities.
- Through Parinaama Foundation, we have worked on many high impact projects that include health education for 5000 women, improving income for 200 families, and training of 150 disadvantaged women in tailoring courses for employment in garment manufacturing.
SRI LANKA
- A 20-month project that included working closely with 428 participants across 10 workshops, RYTHM Foundation helped to strengthen the capacity of communities on issues of child rights, child protection and child education in 5 districts. The stakeholders consisted of staff from the Provincial Council, Police Force, Child Protection Authority, Department of Probation and Child Care, Department of Education, and Ministry of Women and Child Care.
- We also supported Women’s Development Centre in running a community-based rehabilitation programme for disabled children, focussing on increased access to state services for children, adolescents and people with special needs. Capacity building and awareness programmes were also run, benefitting as many as 350 people in need.
GHANA AND KENYA
- Through a partnership with the Municipal Education Office (MEO), Ghana, we run a digital reading programme that impacts 45,000 students from 90 primary schools. We are currently in a 3-year partnership with the MEO to sponsor 3 schools, introducing the joy of reading to 150 students.
- We have sponsored 10 e-readers for the Wechiau Community Library and 100 e-readers for the Thika Girls Karibaribi Secondary School, with an aim to reach out to the underserved communities to promote the habit of reading.
An acronym for Raise Yourself To Help Mankind, RYTHM has been our lifeblood and our inspiration behind every charitable act we have undertaken over the past two decades. Whatever the project, in the past 21 years of RYTHM, we have and will continue to use every opportunity we get to serve and transform the communities we work in.
