TELUS International Philippines Participates in GK Bayani Challenge 2011

In photo: (L) TELUS International Philippines team member carries a sack filled with construction materials; (R) The TIP team at the GK Bayani Challenge in front of the house which they built in five days.

Manila, Philippines – As part of its commitment to build and sustain strong communities, top contact center and outsourcing services provider TELUS International Philippines (TIP) joined this year’s Gawad Kalinga (GK) Bayani Challenge, April 4-9 in Bantayan Island, Cebu.

This is the first time TIP participated in the Bayani Challenge, although its partnership with GK goes back to 2007.

“Through our long-standing partnership with GK, our team has enjoyed the opportunity to build new homes to support a fresh start for families throughout Manila, said Javier Infante, TIP president. “Joining the GK Bayani Challenge in Cebu this year allowed us to do even more to support this organization’s important work of enhancing lives of other people in other parts of the country.”

Started in 2006, the GK Bayani Challenge is an annual five-day test where teams from a wide range of organizations take on a task that helps create a community and foster friendships among GK partners. This year’s challenge, called “Kalinga sa Bayan,” aimed to set an example that every Filipino can build a nation by showing acts of volunteerism and bayanihan.

Thirty teams of 15 members each participated in the challenge, with each team tasked to build a house that will benefit the 30 families in Bantayan Island. The TIP team is composed of 13 TIP members and two current residents of the TELUS GK Villages supported by TIP. Participants were selected based on the frequency of their participation and volunteerism efforts in 2010 towards building TELUS GK Villages, island greening, school and farm building, lectures on nutrition and feeding for Village residents, medical check-up and consultancy, story-telling, games and sports, and a clinic for the children. To support team members’ participation in the challenge, TIP provided the participants’ transportation, lodging, food and drinks, as well as the construction tools needed.

According to Mr. Infante, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is part of the TELUS corporate culture. “We want our team members to take pride in their contribution to a broader cause, not only to the company. Our partnership with GK allows us, as a company, to support our ‘we give where we live’ philosophy and play a part in reducing poverty and building a better nation.”

With the partnership with GK, TIP built the first TELUS GK Village, which has 71 houses and a community center. Last year, the construction of the second TELUS GK Village started with 10 houses, which were completed and turned over in December. TIP has committed 200 houses by the end of 2012.

About TELUS International Philippines, Inc.
TELUS International Philippines, Inc. is a leading Philippine-based provider of contact center and business process outsourcing solutions. It is a subsidiary of TELUS Communications, a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $9.8 billion of annual revenue and 12.3 million customer connections including 7 million wireless subscribers, 3.3 million wireline network access lines, and 1.2 million Internet subscribers. For more information about TELUS International, please visit telusinternational.com.