On March 17, 2009, employees of Sumitomo Corporation and Group companies volunteered their time after working hours to prepare picture books to send to children in Laos. Organized by Action with Lao Children, an incorporated NPO, the activity is conducted with the aim of providing children in Laos with popular Japanese picture books translated into the Lao language. Volunteers are requested to perform the work of hand-pasting translated texts onto each page. This year marks the 10th anniversary since Sumitomo Corporation began supporting the activity in 2000. During this year's session, a total of 100 copies of picture books with Lao translations were prepared: in addition to 10 copies each of five general titles, employees helped paste translated texts into 50 copies of Triton the Dolphin, an original picture book created in connection with Harumi Triton Square, where Sumitomo Corporation is headquartered.

Ms. Chanthasone Inthavong, a representative of the NPO Action with Lao Children, explained, "Picture books are still very hard to come by in Laos, compared to Japan, so children do not get into the habit of reading. We have been working to establish library rooms in local schools to distribute more picture books, and the total number of these facilities is gradually increasing. Japanese picture books are illustrated beautifully, so they are very much appreciated."

The author of Triton the Dolphin, Mr. Makio Fujioka, also participated in the volunteer activity, saying, "It is quite exciting to think about how children in a foreign country will feel about my book." As well as pasting the Lao translations into copies of his book, Mr. Fujioka signed his autograph in Lao language and drew self-portraits in them.

One employee who participated in the activity reported, "It gave me a rare opportunity to learn about Laos," while another said, "It's worthwhile to take part in this kind of activity after work." An employee who was taking a photo of the picture book he made with his mobile phone, commented, "Lao characters are so different from Japanese characters--I can't even tell which way they're facing. But, after attaching the translations and signing the last page, I was filled with a sense of accomplishment. I got really attached to the books." The two hours of enthusiastic activity passed swiftly, and finished up with Ms. Chanthasone giving a reading of one of the books in Lao.