Yesterday the Zambia team finished their investigation and research in the field of education on Nutrition. Gaining insight in the situation of the most vulnerable children in Zambia was a impressive experience. It energized us…but not for ourselves! We feel that we are now ambassadors of those children who cannot speak and those who cannot hear and are completely dependant on aid of many people.
We interviewed all of them … teachers, social workers, pastors, parents, doctors, researchers, managers, and last but not least the children themselves. But as an African wise men said…it is better to teach men how to fish than to give him a fish…However moving from aid to investment in a world of poverty is a real challenge. The best investment for any young child is education. It’s a responsibility of us all, as an individual, the private sectors and government’s world wide.
All members of the Zambia team are very proud that DSM and the WFP gave us this unique opportunity to invest in this project. Investment must be sustainable so we wish the next team in October a very fruitful preparation.
Thanks for all the people of WFP who trained us. Thanks!
Vikram, Marianne, Carolien and Adri
Saturday, June 28, 2008
From aid to investment!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi, my name is Carolien van Heerebeek, 25 years old and I work at DSM Sourcing at Sittard, the Netherlands for the department (Bio) Chemicals.
I lead the site Human Resource (HR) function for the manufacturing facility of DSM Anti-Infectives India since 2005. Besides the core functional aspects of HR, I have keen interest in Social Responsibility/ Sustainability and have been actively involved in various initiatives at the local level (for instance fundraising for victims of natural disasters, organizing run for AIDS awareness, village development schemes around the DAI manufacturing site, blood donation camps etc.); Torch; Water 4 Life (
I am Marianne Kuppens and work since January as a chemical engineer for DSM in Geleen (DMC – DME). 
I work as R&D Chemist at the Analytical Department of DSM Resins in Zwolle (Netherlands). The Analytical team is a shared service for research, marketing and customers' service for performance materials world wide. It's really challenging to accelerate innovation with our knowledge base. DSM Resins in Zwolle is a beautiful site with a wide variety of business groups such as Neo Resins, Powder Coating Resins, Composite Resins and New Business Development. More information look at our website
1 comment:
I cannot agree with you more: moving from aid to investment is indeed crucial to make development sustainable in most countries in sub Saharan Africa. Even amid poverty, only investment is what will entail a long term solution. Obviously, there has to be a balanced between ensuring long term investment and meeting the day to day needs of marginalized communities. In the absence of such a balance, development projects will fail to make it. In particular, children need attention because they are voiceless. And there is need for us to stand on their behalf. You are very right that education is a key to resolving some of the fundamental dynamics that promote poverty.
Post a Comment