Simone Töllner, President of swisspartners Charity, talks about the association’s work with charitable organisations.

Foto © Marco Gaiotti
 

Do good and spread the word … You may know swisspartners as a renowned financial services provider with Swiss roots, but did you also know about our charity work? For over 13 years, we have been supporting projects and non-profit organisations both domestically and abroad with our independent association “swisspartners Charity”. Our work focuses on humanitarian aid, environmental protection and animal welfare.

I have been the new president of the swisspartners Charity since May of this year and I am really excited to be working with a highly motivated team to support five important projects, each of which has a connection to Switzerland.

1. Since 2016, we have been sponsoring ONG Bouge – an organisation based in Bénin, West Africa, which was founded in 2007 by Swiss-born Irmgard Meier. The donations are used to expand the availability of apprenticeships in Bénin and to purchase school books for orphans.
2. We have also been supporting the Future for Children organisation since 2016. Its mission is to help disadvantaged people in Bali, Indonesia. Founder Daniel Elber visited us in Switzerland this July and gives us an update about his work and the current situation in Bali on pages 20 and 21.
3. swisspartners also has a big heart for animals. Since 2019, we have been supporting two organisations in this area: Four Paws Switzerland and BOS Switzerland (Borneo Orangutan Survival Schweiz). Vier Pfoten (in 15 Ländern vertreten) zählt zu den wichtigsten Tierschutzorganisationen. In der Schweiz setzt sich die Organisation für Heimtiere, Streunerhunde und -katzen, aber auch Wildtiere und ihre artgerechte Haltung ein.
4. Since it was founded in 2004, BOS Switzerland has been committed to protecting the remaining orangutans in Borneo and preserving their habitat, the rainforest, which is under severe threat.
5. People with physical disabilities have as much right to a free and self-determined life as anyone. The Zurich-based organisation Leben wie du und ich (Living like you and me) makes this possible. It helps people to live in their own apartments, work creatively and realise their dreams – and is also supported by swisspartners Charity.

Our management board and the organisation are made up entirely of swisspartners Group employees – all working on a voluntary basis. And here’s the good news: if you want to make a small contribution that will have a big impact, you can become a member too!

Membership starts at just 100 CHF per year. All membership fees are used entirely to support our projects.

FIVE PROJECTS, ONE GOAL TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

ONG Bouge

FOUR PAWS SWITZERLAND & BOS SWITZERLAND

Borneo Orangutans

LIVING LIKE YOU AND ME

FUTURE FOR CHILDREN

Helping people help themselves in Muntigunung, northern Bali

A report by Daniel Elber, founder of the organisation “Future for Children”
 

Picture © Heinz von Holzen
 

Future for Children was founded in 2004 with the aim of fighting the poverty experienced by the 6,000 inhabitants of Muntigunung in northern Bali, and building a better future for the children there. The Muntigunung region is extremely dry. Hardly any rain falls between May and December, and there are no natural sources of water. To get the water they need to survive, the residents have to spend up to five hours each day collecting water from Lake Batur or from the northern coast. This work is mainly done by women and children. The children don’t have time to go to school, and the families live without any regular income. Most of the beggars in Bali come from Muntigunung.

The Future for Children organisation is actively working towards four goals: To build a water-supply infrastructure to help the inhabitants win back time for productive activities. To create the conditions required for sustainable, paid work in “social enterprises” in the future through adult training programmes. Our goal with this step is to ensure that, with their improved financial foundation, the families will be able to send their children to school in the future. Aside from that, improving hygiene and health education will significantly reduce malnutrition and child mortality in the region. These four measures create a foundation that helps the inhabitants to help themselves.

Thanks to the close cooperation with swisspartners Charity since 2016, Future for Children has been able to supply 35 villages with water and to significantly improve the health of the local population. Both malnutrition and the high child mortality rate have been practically eliminated.

In addition, we have three social enterprises that employ around 200 inhabitants – they have all received intensive training and gained the skills required to create high-quality products. Furthermore, nearly 700 farmers supply the raw materials that these small factories use to produce cashew nuts, rosella tea, brown palm sugar and other food products. Trekking tours led by former beggars bring guests over the mountains to Muntigunung. By having tourists visit the villages, we are creating a connection between the local population and the outside world, while allowing interested visitors to share in the positive developments that have been achieved so far. We have built a foundation that will allow us to create even more jobs in the years to come, as well as to ensure that all children can overcome the challenges and graduate from school.

The cooperation with swisspartners Charity is based on a shared long-term vision. This makes planning and carrying out sustainable activities so much easier for us as an organisation. We stay in touch and keep each other up to date about the results of our shared activities. For us, it’s been a perfect example of a positive collaboration!

the swisspartners Charity Team (from left to right) Marco Di Canio, Andrea Stalder, Caroline Fiala, Nick Jenni, Daniel Elber, Simon Knörzer, Simone Töllner, Sanjeev Premchand