Students
Story and experiences
Students
Story and experiences
Corporate Social Responsibility and Team Bonding
In collaboration with Salesforce and corporations
At Bamboo Builders, the education gap in ASEAN is an issue we hold close to our hearts. This gap is especially prominent in rural Vietnamese communities: Limited resources, outdated systems, and rote learning methods continue to prevent youth from reaching their true potential.
Over years of volunteering and experience in the region since 2017, we have recognised the pressing need to equip these students with 21st century competencies to prepare and empower them for a brighter future.
AT A GLANCE
50+
Corporate Volunteers Recruited
300
Students Impacted
8
Years of Experience
AT A GLANCE
Why Building Social Enterprises?
Learn Tried-and-Tested Social Entrepreneurship
Methodologies
Develop New ASEAN Friendships
Gain Exclusive Access to Social Entrepreneurs from ASEAN
Gain Career-Relevant Skills and Experience
What Goes On?
Programme Outline
Online Session | Hands-on Project Activity
Conducted in international classroom setting
1
Social Entrepreneurship in ASEAN
Understand how PES factors influence social enterprises differently in different countries.
2
Empathy in Social Entrepreneurship
Understand how empathy impacts the way we view both customers and the social issues we try to tackle.
3
Creative Problem Solving
Understand how to craft business ideas that solve real customer needs in ASEAN.
4
Final Presentation
Learn how others have built on similarities and exploited differences to produce innovations.
Fajris Zahrotun Nihayah
Indonesia
"I urge you to not hesitate because it is actually a very fun program! There are so many things that you could learn from this program and meet people from different countries - you get to know the insights of many social causes or many social problems around the world. So join in, it's very fun!"
Nattanich Lecksiwilai
Thailand
"This program gives me many inspirations to initiate my own social enterprise (to help with) Thai people's livelihood.
I will definitely use Design Thinking and also (my) great experience from this program to start my own social project!"
Yit Kang Yordan
Singapore
"My experience of going through the design thinking stages is going to stay with me for a long time to come. It might even colour the way I approach some of the problems that I face, the way I address or ideate problems nowadays. The process, the framework, and the learning down when it comes to thinking of solutions."
Yew Jun Huo
Malaysia
"I would say that it is meaningful, the experience, even though this exchange was quite short for me. It brings a lot of impact, for example, I got to collaborate with different people from different backgrounds and countries. From here, I got to learn from their perspective of looking at particular issues around the world."
Goh Si Xuan Kymberly
Singapore
"It was an unexpected experience because I signed up for this without much expectations with what I was going to go into or get out of this program at the end of the day. To be quite honest, initially, I thought this program was to learn about the business aspects behind social entrepreneurship. But somehow it became creating my own social entrepreneurship project with a bunch of other teammates from the other ASEAN region. So I thought that was quite interesting that I got to network with other teammates from the ASEAN region so I thought that was quite interesting. Tt was quite fun overall, to meet like-minded people who are passionate about social issues."
Our Approach
As such, we aimed to bridge this education gap through our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes. At Bamboo Builders, we work to empower those who want to contribute but aren’t quite sure how; hence, we connected Salesforce, as well as other corporate volunteers, to rural students.
Our corporate volunteers tapped on their expertise to conduct enriching and meaningful lessons for rural students. They empowered our beneficiaries with future-ready soft skills and mindsets, as well as digital literacy and entrepreneurship skills among many others! Over three iterations from 2022 to 2023, our CSR programmes have successfully enhanced the education of 300 rural students in Vietnam.
At the same time, our programmes aim to enhance participants’ understanding of ASEAN cultures. Our itinerary was not just insightful, but exciting — our corporate volunteers had the chance to try authentic Vietnamese food, visit durian and guava plantations, and cycle on bamboo bicycles!
Fundamentally, our CSR programmes serve to expand our volunteers’ horizons and give them the chance to use their knowledge for good.
Our Testimonials
Caster Calma
Partner Advisor, Salesforce
It was an honour to have been involved with Bamboo Builders’ philanthropic work. The effort and messaging that has gone into the program is so impactful to the students and their future success.
Tan Jie Ying
Capital Reporting, DBS Bank
What Bamboo Builders provided me was not just the chance to be a volunteer, but the encouragement to step out of my comfort zone. This trip has changed me, and I have discovered so much about myself!
Pratyay Jaidev
Technical Consultant, Salesforce
The scale and sustainability of this programme was truly inspiring. Now, I'm envisioning new ways to contribute to the community beyond typical voluntary work, and hoping to create long-term impact.