Schoolchildren in Haiti to get € 30,000

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary in September 2010, the two German Grundfos companies, the sales company in Erkrath and the pump factory in Wahlstedt, created the non-profit Niels Due Jensen Foundation, named after the group chairman.

The goal of the foundation is to carry out projects giving people the education and training they need to take care of themselves. The philosophy behind the enterprise is that concentrating on achieving a leading position in technology and product innovation related to pumps and pumping systems is not enough. A cornerstone of the company’s values is to act responsibly, both in business and society.

Now the foundation is financing its first big project: The school buildings at the Don Bosco Mission in La Saline, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, which were destroyed by earthquake in January 2010, are now to be replaced with temporary schoolrooms. For this purpose, Grundfos Managing Director Ralf Brechmann gave Don Bosco Jugend Dritte Welt e.V. Project Consultant Claudia Moll €30,000 in December. The money will be used to build seven new classrooms of wood, so another 560 boys and girls aged 3 to 12 will again be able to attend school.

It is important, Ralf Brechmann says, to enable the children to return to school as soon as possible.

This is what the Niels Due Jensen Foundation is all about, giving children a good education so they will later have a solid basis on which to provide for themselves thereafter.

In the long term, the Don Bosco Mission intends to have the same number of pupils in school as before the earthquake – back then, 1000 children were in pre-school and grammar school classes, and a total of 4,000 children, young people and young adults were cared for in La Saline.

Each classroom will cost a bit more than € 3,000 because they will be functional, easy to build and perfect for the local climate conditions. They will have a brick foundation, plywood for the walls and partitions between the classrooms, and a roof made of corrugated sheet metal. In addition, the Niels Due Jensen Foundation is helping to keep school running for a year, and financing school uniforms for the children as well as educational material.