BellSouth Injects Passion, Ownership of Cause
When BellSouth International started to expand its Latin American operations in the late 1990s the telecommunications company worked to identify one specific cause that all of
the Latin American countries with BellSouth operations - 10 in all - could rally around.
Up until that point, each country, including Argentina, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, had its own community cause. But having bet that Latin American will be a large part
of its future growth, BellSouth insisted on a program that was uniform. "If we were going to say we were a community-minded company, we had to prove it," says Maria Schnabel, PR
manager for BellSouth International.
The company batted around a few community relations ideas, such as sports or the arts, but they all fell by the wayside since BellSouth would be hard pressed to "own" any of
said categories. "We didn't want to be faced with the question, 'Why are you getting behind the arts when you have all of these children who need food?'" Schnabel adds. Local
BellSouth managers in Latin America suggested supporting an issue that everyone could agree on: providing corporate assistance to the high number of Latin American children (an
estimated 21 million kids) who have to forego an education because they often have to work full-time to help their families.
"We were seeing many children working in the streets and it appalled a lot of us," Schnabel says. "We're not talking about kids working at McDonald's. But children who are
working from sunrise to sundown, shining shoes, selling gum, cleaning windshields, performing tricks and doing God knows what" for money.
The program, called BellSouth Pronino ("pro-child") was formulated in 2000 by a core group of PR reps and managers from BellSouth, BellSouth International as well as the
BellSouth Foundation. A request for proposal was then distributed to NGOs in all of the participating countries. "They are strict standards to the program that all countries
needed to adhere to," Schnabel says.
So the program would not be one-size-fits-all, NGOs in each of the participating countries established different guidelines for all of the various neighborhoods benefiting from
the program.
Under the auspices of the BellSouth Foundation, the program launched throughout January/March/April of 2001 to coincide with the beginning of the school year in participating
Latin American countries. The program represents a $6 million, five-year commitment to help educate working children in Latin America. It identifies working children from needy
but otherwise intact families and grants the children scholarships that include tuition, books, school supplies, uniforms, transportation, tutoring, meals in some cases and family
counseling. The money is being allocated according to the needs of the children in each participating country.
Schnabel says the program has so far been working out well and has served as a "wake-up call" to local media outlets throughout Latin America about the plight of many children
in the region who are forced to work in exchange for education. "We're very pleased with the results but we can't solve the problem alone," she says. "What we can do is show
leadership and serve as an example of community involvement to other large, multinational companies."
BellSouth's PR continues to plug the program throughout the participating countries, often in concert with the respective country's Ministry of Education. Indeed, half of the
battle is getting the children's parents on board to convince them that having their kids go to school today -- rather than working in the streets, often in dangerous conditions
-- could create a better tomorrow. BellSouth employees in Latin America have volunteered their time and effort to help get the word out.
For example, at a center for the program in Buenos Aires parents were invited to spend time with their children and taught how to sew pants so they could set up a micro-
business - a business that BellSouth officials eventually pointed out could earn them more money than having their children resort to enforced labor, according to Schnabel. "We're
trying to teach the parents to improve family life," she says. At the same center, medical equipment was shipped in to provide free check-ups for the parents.
Another event promoting BellSouth Pronino: BellSouth donated several computer labs to a middle school outside of Managua, Nicaragua, this summer and brought in BellSouth IT
specialists to teach the students how to be computer literate. But planners had to be careful to pick a school that had power -- a rarity in a country as impoverished as Nicaragua
- pointing to the importance of having local managers execute the plan.
Schnabel is confident the program will be renewed in 2006. "There's a great desire to make this program continue and not have it be a one-shot deal," she says. "It's doing too
much good both externally and internally."
How One Community Relations Program Makes A Huge Impact
The BellSouth Pronino program is creating change in the community. More than 8,000 children can attend school thanks to the program. Eleven NGOs are bringing expertise in
this endeavor. More than 11,000 BellSouth employees in 10 countries serve as ambassadors in the community. Numerous media and civic events, many of them attended by government
officials, opinion leaders and the media, have helped to bring attention to this problem and encourage involvement by others.
BellSouth Pronino was developed from the ground up: by the employees of BellSouth in Latin America, who were aware of the issue. It's still managed by local BellSouth
employees, with help from their selected NGOs, and in many countries supported by BellSouth volunteers, who donate time and money to help children return to school
The program represents a significant improvement in the lives of its beneficiaries. Children who used to work from sun up to sun down making bricks, selling gum and other
goods in the streets, who shined shoes and worked in the fields, are now going to school, getting an education and playing with other children.
Guided by the philanthropic policies of the BellSouth Foundation, BellSouth Pronino is being audited annually to ensure the transparency of the operation and to make sure the
goals of the program are carried out.
BellSouth Pronino is leading to the development of other community projects. For example, in several countries (Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Panama) significant employee
volunteer programs have been created. In Argentina, the program has led to the development of micro-industries where the parents of the Pronino children are able to generate
much-needed income.
Source: BellSouth International
Ring Them Bells
10 BellSouth Latin America affiliates in 10 countries are participating in BellSouth Pronino
|
Country
|
Children Enrolled*
|
| Argentina |
1,750
|
| Chile |
187
|
| Colombia |
1,815
|
| Ecuador |
650
|
| Guatemala |
900
|
| Nicaragua |
500
|
| Panama |
300
|
| Peru |
1,850
|
| Uruguay |
100
|
| Venezuela |
250
|
| TOTAL: |
8,302
|
| Number of children vary by country depending on needs and characteristics of each program. | |
Contact: Maria Schnabel, BellSouth International, 404.249.4877, [email protected]