The core emphasis of social commitment at AMPEG is directed towards supporting socially disadvantaged children. Projects countering child abuse and child labour as well as measures and initiatives for improving the upbringing of children, school education and professional and vocational training are included among this.

AMPEG is committed in two ways to social aid projects and organisations:

a) through donations and
b) by providing IT services free of charge.

The staff at AMPEG participates actively in the process of distributing the donations. Each year, the team makes a new decision on which aid projects are to be supported and with how much money.

In the following sections you can find out more about the social aid projects and organisations, which AMPEG currently supports:

- Aid for Maiti Nepal
- Kisumu Ex-Street Children Project
- Plan International
- Harz-Weser Workshops
- Bremen Clinic Clowns e.V.

Aid for Maiti Nepal

According to estimates, approximately 10.000 to 12.000 mostly underage girls and young women are torn away their families under a variety of circumstances and forced into prostitution in city bordellos.

Aid for Maiti Nepal is a social non-government organisation (NGO) with headquarters in Kathmandu, which has been addressing this taboo subject since 1993 and had taken up the fight against trafficking, abduction and child prostitution. Its founder Anuradha Koirala became aware of the problem of abduction and child prostitution through her job as a teacher.

The organisation helps desperate children and young women to free themselves from the vicious circle of violence and abuse and attempts to fight the causes at the roots by taking targeted measures and staging programmes for action. The set-up of information- and educational centres and educational campaigns has helped to spread the word concerning abduction and child prostitution, the false promises of traffickers and organised crime throughout Nepal.

AMPEG has been providing financial support for Aid for Maiti Nepal since 2001. The brisance of the taboo topic of child and youth prostitution and the remarkable work of the motivated German representatives of Maiti Nepal led to this long-term commitment to the aid organisation.

You can find out more about the work of Maiti Nepal on Bono web-site under http://www.bono-direkthilfe.org

Kisumu Ex-Street Children Project

The Kisumu Ex-Street Children Project was setup to give the children living on the streets of Kenya a new perspective in life. The founder, Dancan Omondi, was, himself, a street-child for 15 years. During this time, he lived rough, mugged people and was hunted by the police at night.

In a slum on the edge of Kisumu town, 29 children currently live in two rooms in a ramshackle stone house. Many of life's necessities such as mattresses, clothes and medicine are missing. The children manage to earn money for food themselves by singing in a gospel choir they have founded. They perform every Sunday at various congregations and collect donations.

The short-term aim of the project is to secure the basic needs of the children and allow them to attend school.

AMPEG has chosen to provide long-term financial support to the project to foster the children's development on an ongoing basis and create new perspectives for their future. The project was setup in November 2006 and is supported directly by the German Bono Direct Aid Association.

Plan International

The work of Plan International is designed to help create a world in which children no longer remain poor, are able to develop into healthy adults and flourish freely irrespective of the existing religious and political conditions. The aid projects in the Third World and Albania financed by sponsors are designed to improve the living conditions of children, families and whole communities permanently until they are capable of living without external aid.

Together with the manufacturer of anti-virus software TREND MICRO, AMPEG provides free anti-virus security and associated support for the computer system at Plan International. Some 4,000 users at Plan International have been protected from virus attacks worldwide since 2001 and receive support from the AMPEG Support Team regarding technical questions.

AMPEG managing Director Agnes Graf comments: “Acting responsibly – this is one of the fundamental corporate principles at AMPEG and one that is lived out intensively. Plan contributes to improving the living conditions of many children through a wide variety of projects. Which, in turn, has made supporting Plan an important part of our social commitment."

You can find out more about the work of Plan International on the aid organisation’s web-site under http://www.plan-international.org.

Harz-Weser Workshops

The Harz-Weser Workshops offers people with mental and physical disabilities living in the area between Harz and Weser the chance of occupational and social rehabilitation. The organisation finances workshops, homes and special institutions for disabled adults with well over 1,000 places.

The Harz-Weser Workshops have set-up a computer network with some 16 servers and 200 PC's for users at 21 locations for supervising around 1,250 adult disabled people in their workshops and homes. At the beginning of the year, the manufacturer TREND MICRO, SonicWALL and Websense support in common with AMPEG the disabled persons' aid institution with a comprehensive security concept specially tailored to the needs of the Harz-Weser Workshops.

Bremen Clinic Clowns e.V.

Can we come in? That's the first thing the Bremen Clinic Clowns ask before filling the lives of the children on the Oncology ward at Prof. Hess Children's Clinic with joy and bringing a smile to their lips for the first time in a long time. Soap bubbles float through the room and dance to the soft tones of a miniature barrel organ…

The Bremen Clowns have made it their job to promote and support the appearance of professional clowns in hospitals and other therapeutic institutions. Experience shows how valuable the presence of clowns is for healing. Laughing alone will certainly not make the children healthy, but it can positively support the healing process.

AMPEG supported the society at the end of 2006 with its annual donation for social projects.
You can find out more about the work of the Bremen Clinic Clowns under http://www.bremerklinikclowns.de (in German only).