Projects and volunteer work
Project Take Care Africa 2
Country: Nigeria and Tanzania, followed by Kenya and Ghana in the coming years Partner: PharmAccess Status: Ungoing
Take Care Africa is the first pan-African online platform providing access to accurate and reliable health information. The platform is optimised for smartphones, taking into account screen size, processing power and data connection speed of entry-level smartphones that are widely used in Africa.
Content consists of news and information on preventive, remedial and curative health, as well as information on healthcare providers and healthcare insurance offers. The content is localised to respond to specific needs and problems in each market, similar to www.thuisarts.nl.
In Africa, smartphones are being used more and more widely. Through analyses of search terms searched via Google, it was found that many Africans search based on Health or Healthcare terms. The information they seek is often general and not geared towards specific local needs. There is doubt among Africans whether the sources they find are reliable. Take Care Africa aims to be the platform that provides accurate and reliable information on Health and Healthcare in Africa. The aim is to provide and disseminate accurate information so that people can become and remain healthy.
In order to realise this, Take Care Africa, in cooperation with partners (investors, local government, influencers, medical experts and medical organisations) wants to offer information on the basis of this expertise. The earnings model is based on the number of visitors to the website. It is therefore essential that the Take Care Africa platform be promoted to raise awareness. In addition, it is important that well-known organisations and governments provide a seal of approval and support this platform.
Project Kumbatia
Locatie: Sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi and Ghana with South Africa as optional addition Partner: GOAL 3 Status: Ungoing
GOAL 3 is a social enterprise with a vision of fair and accessible care for all. Their mission is to empower health workers where they are needed most. They want to achieve this through smart, data-driven and user-friendly technologies that help healthcare workers achieve more with less. Their first product is the IMPALA monitoring system for hospitalised children and newborns, which they developed together with leading opinion leaders and research institutes from Malawi, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. This system helps health professionals make better risk assessments and prioritise patients. This enables health professionals to offer better treatment to patients at an early stage and to use scarce resources more effectively.
Within the project ‘Kumbatia’ (Swahili for Embrace) GOAL 3 focuses on the first steps towards commercialisation of the IMPALA monitoring system. This is an essential requirement for a sustainable and scalable impact. The ultimate goal of this project is to find and build a unity in the market. This market will enable them to take the next steps towards commercialisation on a large scale. They will use a funnel approach to take the next steps in market exploration. The first step is an in-depth market survey in Kenya, Malawi, Ghana and Rwanda. These markets were selected based on desk research and interviews. This will lead to a better understanding of the market, market segmentation, understanding of the ecosystem and ultimately selection of the beachhead market with its business models. The second step is to establish a local branch, which is necessary for creating a local support organisation, handling logistics and imports, generating leads and finally sales and implementation. In this step, GOAL 3 embraces the culture, local staff, talents and opportunities of the market. In the final step, they want to sell and implement their monitoring systems to their first customers.
Niek Versteegde CEO GOAL 3: “At the end of this project, we aim to have 100 monitoring systems successfully running in 3-7 hospitals for a period of 6 months. In addition, we will have an in-depth analysis and plan for scaling up our business needed for future funding rounds and sustainable growth.”
Project Promote the Use of Legume Supply in Ethiopia (PULSE)
Locatie: Ethiopië Partner: EUCORD Status: Ungoing
Agriculture is the backbone of the Ethiopian economy and crop production accounts for the largest share. The agricultural sector plays a central role in the life and livelihood of most Ethiopians. Approximately 12 million smallholder households account for an estimated 95 per cent of agricultural production and 85 per cent of all employment. High poverty rates are leading to deteriorating health and nutrition, with 32% of the population malnourished. Legumes are the second crop, after cereals, and are an important part of the Ethiopian meal. In addition to the local market, sales for export are important. Food security and legume production are a priority for the government. The average yield is low and the marketing chain is long and inadequately organised. In addition, small farmers are not yet sufficiently aware of the export market.
EUCORD’s role is to train, advise, educate and help convince farmers to adopt better practices, and to encourage buyers to deal more directly with farmers' organisations. In addition, EUCORD is helping to gain support from other key stakeholders in the value chain, such as microfinance institutions (to provide input and output credit), the National Farm Bureau [Landbouwbureau] (to provide appropriate extension support to farmers), research institutions (in connection with new crop varieties) and other parties to contribute to the development of the legume value chain. EUCORD’s target group consists of 10,000 small-scale farmers with a specific focus on women’s and youth groups organised into cooperatives for both seed and sales marketing. The involvement of women and youth groups in agriculture lags far behind that of adult men in the production of staple crops. This while they constitute a higher percentage in the local community.
The leguminous crops value chain project aims to improve the food security and income of legume producers by improving their capacity to produce and sell to both domestic and international buyers. The proposed project targets both highlands and lowlands in the regional state of Oromia.
Project: Safe Water Tool (SWOT project)
Locatie: Refugee camps in Sudan, Tanzania and Rwanda Partner: Doctors without Borders Status: Successfully completed
In many places around the world, it is the most normal thing in the world: tap water that tastes like chlorine. Adding chlorine to water kills off pathogenic bacteria and viruses in the water. In refugee camps or in places where clean drinking water cannot be taken for granted, it helps prevent hepatitis and cholera outbreaks. It is a lifesaving chemical. But how do you determine how much chlorine should be added to the water for safe use? To deal with that, Jean-Francois Fesselet and Syed Imran Ali came up with a handy, self-learning web tool that could save the lives of thousands of people.
We need water to drink, to cook with and to wash ourselves. The impact of a lack of clean water is enormous. It directly affects people’s hygiene, health and dignity. When there is a lack of clean water, dirty water from the surrounding area is used. A disease like cholera is transmitted through contaminated water and poor hygiene and poses a significant health risk. Cholera is treatable, but under the wrong circumstances the disease can claim many lives.
Using chlorine, MSF teams purify drinking water in refugee camps. This is essential to prevent the outbreak of diseases. With the help of the Achmea Foundation, these teams have now developed a web tool that calculates the required chlorine content for the water in a specific area. Water and sanitation specialist Jean Francois Fesselet was one of the developers: “The Safe Water Optimization Tool can play an important role in providing drinking water in places where it cannot be taken for granted. This can save the lives of thousands of people.”
Refugee Talent Hub
Land: Nederland Programme Platform Voor Elkaar
The “Refugee Mentoring Programme” was created through a collaboration between Achmea, HR Cultural Diversity & Inclusion, the platform Voor Elkaar (Achmea Foundation) and the Refugee Talent Hub (RTH). Read the moving story of Yalcin Tok below.
Yalcin Tok (32) fled Turkey with his family. He is now building a new life with his wife and two children in Rucphen, Brabant, the Netherlands. But finding a job in an unfamiliar country is not easy. That is why he is happy that he got to know employee Madelon Engels through the “Refugee Mentoring Programme” that the platform Voor Elkaar started together with Achmea and the Refugee Talent Hub. They spoke to each other every week to help him find his way in the Dutch labour market.
You would not think it when you hear him speak Dutch, but Yalçin has only been in the Netherlands for three years. “I lived with my family for 16 months in five different asylum seekers’ centres”, says Yalçin. “We have now been living in Rucphen for a year and a half. We immediately started learning Dutch. I also wanted to learn more about the labour market and the business community here. So I signed up for the mentoring programme and I am extremely happy with what it has brought me.
"Yalçin studied at the police academy in Turkey and then worked as an inspector for five years. After the failed coup in 2016, things started going wrong. “Hundreds of thousands of civil servants were dismissed in Turkey at the time due to possible links with the Gülen movement. My wife and I were also fired and then had to go to court. We both received a six-year prison sentence. Our country was no longer safe and we fled. That wasn’t easy. We first had to go down the river to Greece. We stayed there for 2.5 months. From there, we travelled to Holland via Italy.”
The first edition of the “Refugee Mentoring Programme” ran from March to September 2021. One of the greatest barriers to finding work for professionals with a refugee background is the lack of a network. The mentor programme helps them to expand their network and learn more about Dutch business to enable them to more easily find a job.
Madelon Engels (Transformational Leadership & Strategic Communications) read the call on achmeanet at the beginning of the year. “I immediately indicated that I was very interested in participating. I think it is important to get to know people with whom I do not normally come into contact. Getting to know Yalçin has really enriched my life.”
The programme started with an online kick-off meeting. This was where the mentor and mentee met for the first time. The Refugee Talent Hub talked about the programme and its main goal: helping the mentee to find work. Madelon: “To achieve that goal, you can help with the creation of a CV or a motivation letter.” “Or help with the language. The latter was not necessary for Yalçin, because he learned the highest language level, B2, in a relatively short time. I find that very impressive.”
"Yalçin: "I worked as a volunteer for Humanitas and visited an old woman once a week who was very lonely during the Covid lockdown. In this way, I could be of value and practice my Dutch. With Madelon, I worked mainly on my CV and cover letter. For me, it is extremely important to get to know the Dutch labour market. We talked about that. But also about general things like taxes or cultural things.” “We talked online every Monday for 6 months”, says Madelon. “It is very important to get continuity in your appointments immediately. In the beginning, we often spoke for an hour, but later half an hour was also fine. We talked about his CV, about writing a cover letter, but also about current developments. I felt that he very much needed someone to be there regularly, a kind of beacon. That was very valuable for him.”
Yalçin certainly agrees that the programme was valuable. “We applied for jobs together several times. Unfortunately, without success. But applying and waiting together for a response was very special and unforgettable.
“In October 2021, Yalçin received fantastic news: at last, a job! He was able to get a job at COA and now works at the asylum seekers’ centre in Goes, the Netherlands. “We hadn’t even applied for that job together”, says Yalçin. “Of course we had prepared my CV, but I saw the vacancy and responded quickly. And it worked. That was a wonderful way to finish off the semester.
The future is smiling upon us now. Fortunately, we are doing very well. I try to have fun, to do my best and I want to contribute to COA. I now work as a temporary employee, but I hope to grow at COA.
Project Buddy to Buddy
Land: Nederland Programme Platform Voor Elkaar
The volunteer story of Eric Roeten. Caught up in a busy family life, a busy job, the desire to play sports and see friends, volunteering is something I put off. But also something I would like to do. I grew up in a life of privilege in the Netherlands and have been lucky with the opportunities I have been given. That’s not the case for everyone. I felt that I needed to put those advantages to good use. But how? I volunteer at my children’s sports clubs and cannot have a time-consuming volunteer job. I was looking for something that I could integrate into my daily life and that would allow me to really make a difference right away. Buddy To Buddy was able to offer me this. This is a foundation that helps refugees come out of isolation. I have signed up. It really made my kids laugh! Did you really sign up? How do you think you can add that to your plate? But the nice thing is that you are paired with a ‘new Dutchman’ based on your interests. It is manageable for 4 months and you can schedule your time yourself. Afterwards, you can maintain the contact yourself.
I was paired with Azoz, a refugee from Yemen, who came to the Netherlands via Saudi Arabia and Hungary. He is 22 years old and came to Europe when he was 16. He already has a residence permit, but still lives in the asylum seekers’ centre in Apeldoorn. He is ambitious, is learning Dutch, loves sports and wants to become a Java programmer. But also still very much searching. And that is precisely the crux of the matter! I can help him with that.
Refugees face very practical problems. Azoz is learning Dutch, but never speaks it! He is surrounded by people who speak Arabic or English and won’t find himself having difficulty in a shop. He is therefore very happy just to be able to practice his Dutch with me and my family. He wants to pursue an HBO (higher professional education) or WO (academic higher education) degree programme in IT, but does not know how to go about it. We have had his diploma accredited and are now looking for the best degree programme to follow. He wants to follow a Dutch-language degree programme, so he must quickly learn to speak better Dutch. He can already read very well. These are some practical matters, but just think what it must be like to be stuck together with six other men in a room in an asylum seekers’ centre for months, you have no privacy and don’t really like the food either. What must that do to you?
I have experienced that I can make a big difference for Azoz with very small things that I can integrate into my daily life. Just by going for a walk with him, showing him the library, taking him to one of my children’s sports matches or telling him something about our culture. He is always happy to do something, because otherwise he does not have much to do. He regularly eats meals with us, so he can practise Dutch. We play games and have nice conversations. He talks about Arab customs and we talk about Dutch ones. It is nice to see that my children are increasingly realising that not everyone has it as good as they do. Our cultures are different and we should not immediately condemn them. Just ask a question and show interest. You should have seen my daughter’s face when he started eating rice with his hands. But the question of why he did it immediately led to a nice conversation about our habits. It is precisely these cultural differences that make it fun and educational for my family, as well. By opening ourselves up, we learn. And everyone is happy when afterwards an app arrives from Azoz saying that he felt like ‘home’ with his family for a while.
I think that in the Netherlands we do not realise enough that loneliness is a pressing problem among newcomers. It is by no means a matter of course that a Dutch front door will open for them and friendly contacts develop. Of course, there are agencies and social workers who do good work, but a person or family that make you feel at home can be of great importance! With just one hour a week, you can make a big difference.
Nibud training ‘Help with your money matters’
Country: Netherlands Programme Platform Voor Elkaar
In 2021, Marcel Kroon completed the ‘Help with your money matters’ training course together with 100 other colleagues. In January 2021, the last group of colleagues completed the closing webinar of the Nibud training course ‘Help with your money matters’. This means that approximately 100 employees within the Retirement Services chain have the knowledge to help people in the area with (impending) financial problems. People such as our colleague Marcel Kroon.
Marcel works at Achmea Bank as Product Manager Savings. In this article, he shares his story about the training course. "I would like to broaden my knowledge and be able to help others. That is why I took part in the ‘Help with your money matters’ training course.
I was inspired to become a financial helpmate by a good friend. After completing the course, I will have the necessary knowledge to offer a helping hand to the people around me. The course is a great basis for me to understand a financial situation and help people close to me."
The evaluation showed that the course was given a rating of 8.3. The course gave participants enough knowledge and confidence to get started. The tools are clear, which makes it easier to start a conversation about finances.