Solidarity and human rights initiatives

ARGENTINA

A total of 2,079 textbooks and children's and adult literature were donated to various institutions working in rural and disadvantaged areas. Books were donated to more than 50 primary schools, over 30 secondary schools and neighborhood libraries, and other social and cultural organizations. Participating institutions included the Fundación Banco Provincia, the Avellaneda Social Inclusion Program , Malimán Project (for schools in border areas), Sisters of the Cross of Santiago del Estero and Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.

Agreement with INADI . An agreement with the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) to ensure that our books reflect the commitment of Santillana to this issue..

In the wake of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010, the company carried out a campaign involving all employees to raise funds for UNICEF Argentina.

BOLIVIA

Santillana carried out a number of book donations in Bolivia over the past year, among them the Donation Potosí, a donation to the Municipal Government of Potosi to mark the bicentenary of the city.

41,618 textbooks made up the donation to Cooperación Española. Other initiatives included the donation to the "Simón Bolívar" teacher training college of 269 textbooks; a donation to the Marka Burgos Foundation: and a donation to UPAE (Public University of El Alto) of 3,856 textbooks.

BRAZIL

Donation of books to the Living Library Project in Hospitals, , an initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Abrinq Foundation and Citibank. It aims to promote mental health development, stimulating the creativity of the both inpatients and outpatients.

CHILE

Bicentennial Christmas, united in the reconstruction.

Santillana supported Chile’s First Lady in this initiative and was part of the 13-day road show that toured 41 districts in O'Higgins, Maule, Biobio and Araucania, with more than 60 performers and 40 production personnel. It was a huge effort to bring a little of the magic and joy of Christmas to the areas that suffered most from the earthquake and tsunami.

Energy program for education: provision of classroom libraries to schools in Maule. This new CSR initiative by Endesa Chile fosters and promotes reading habits among children in the country. Titled “Energy for Education”, it is supported by the hydroelectric project Los Condores and Grupo Santillana. It has provided six classroom libraries at four schools in the Maule region.

These libraries are intended for students in kindergarten through to eighth grade at the schools La Mina, Los Alamos, Paso Nevado and El Colorado, benefiting a total of 323 students.

Solidarity Campaign Region VII and VIII. Under the slogan "Santillana is always with you ... and now stronger than ever," Santillana launched a charity campaign for the regions most affected by the earthquake. The campaign goal is to contribute actively to the reconstruction and development of these areas within the field of education, by offering a 50% discount to all parents and customers of these regions when purchasing Santillana and Richmond textbooks.

Opening of the Dichato Modular School, in the context of the post-quake reconstruction in February 2010. The educational material that students received was donated under the umbrella of "Libraries for my school," a campaign by the company Nivea in collaboration with Grupo Santillana. The initiative specializes in creating educational and cultural content and aims to stock the libraries of schools damaged by the earthquake in Chile in 2010.

COLOMBIA

The publishing house provides annual donations of classroom libraries for low-income educational institutions and for rehabilitation institutions that require these materials.

COSTA RICA

Participation in the program "Partnership for improved road-safety awareness". The initiative aims to "create a new culture of road-safety awareness among the student population at preschool, primary and secondary levels that encourages a cultural change for future generations of users of the transit system, while promoting road safety throughout the country. "

SPAIN

Numerous donations to foundations and nonprofit organizations, including:

• COMET Foundation: educational material for children in Kabul.
• BOBATH Foundation: educational material for children with paralysis and brain damage.

2010 also saw the publication of the special edition La balsa de piedra (The Stone Raft) by Jose Saramago in aid of earthquake victims in Haiti and through the Spanish Red Cross.

Lighter Backpacks Campaign (Campaña Mochila ligera)

Medical experts have warned of the problem of heavy school backpacks and the educational community has turned to the textbook publishers for answers.

Santillana takes its responsibility seriously and has tackled the issue both head on and by organizing awareness campaigns. With its Lighter Backpacks Campaign (Campaña Mochila ligera), Santillana textbooks are divided up by quarterly terms at a primary school level or thematically at a secondary level to lighten the load borne by children. The campaign was well received and extended to Chile.

PARAGUAY

On April 23, 2010, a donation was made to disadvantaged schools and libraries in indigenous and border areas. 103 school libraries benefited from the initiative in different regions of the country. Materials were in the areas of communication, social and natural sciences, mathematics, Guaraní and English.

PERÚ

45,000 books donated in 2010 to various institutions

PUERTO RICO

Adoption of the Secondary School Antonio R. Barceló in Culebra – Donation of a total of 906 texts and workbooks for all subjects for levels 7 to 12.

Campaign for children at the Children's Hospital at the Medical Center of Puerto Rico. We visited the hospital along with the character Tutorín and gave out 667 books on all subjects from 1st to 12th grades to 50 hospitalized children.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Donations to disadvantaged schools of notebooks and textbooks through Cometas de Esperanza, a Spanish NGO, and the NGO Educacción digital en marcha..

Grant of scholarships to teachers to participate in local seminars organized by the University APEC.

URUGUAY

Project Salir Adelante. Together with a group of companies, we provided resources to a group of students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have good grades at school.

Support for a women prisoners’ education campaign with textbooks for inmates studying both both at primary and secondary level.