Blog BNP Paribas | The bank for a changing world » Netherlands

Smile Train, giving children a second chance

Marjolein Boers — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:02:39 +0000

Since last year, I’ve been supporting Smile Train, an international charity which helps cure children born with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate, a congenital defect. Smile Train provides medical interventions for these children in 78 developing countries.

In the Netherlands, children with a cleft palate are operated right after birth, but in many poor countries there is no money to do so. Without an operation these children are exposed to having a very tough life, as they cannot eat, drink or talk properly. In many cases, they are teased, abandoned, hidden out of a sense of shame and sometimes even killed.

The great thing done by Smile Train is that one simple operation, which often takes 45 minutes and costs 200 euros, can completely change the life of a child.

Smile Train is one of the most effective charities in the world; they work to solve one concrete and solvable problem and are highly successful at doing it. Thanks to its support, hundreds of thousands of children have been helped since 1999.

Smile Train also enables local doctors and hospitals to carry out the operations themselves. This means that experience is gained locally and costs remain low. A surgeon at the Smile Train partner hospital in Mukumu, Kenya, for example, can operate up to 22 children in one week.

Today, there are probably about four million people with untreated cleft palates around the world. A lot more money to cure them is therefore required.

I support the foundation by helping them deal with practical issues, such as arranging insurance or organising networking receptions. In fact, it is an extension of my job here at the Bank Insinger de Beaufort, BNP Paribas.

On his side, Maurits Schouten, Chair of Smile Train Nederland looks forward to providing the means to operate 25,000 children. To make it happen, the foundation aims to collect 5 million euros.

Donations can be made online . Because, what greater satisfaction is there than giving a child the opportunity to live a better life by helping in such a simple way?

Pro Juventute Nederland benevolent fund – helping young people find their way

Jan de Vink — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:17:44 +0000

In The Hague, there is a great project for girls from disadvantaged backgrounds: Prachtmeiden (“beauties”), run by the Kleurrijke Karavaan (“colourful caravan”) foundation. About thirty girls who have not had an easy start in life meet weekly to sing, write poems and dance. Under the guidance of a female poet, they put their ideas and feelings onto paper, and the well-known singer Astrid Series turns them into songs. The girls then perform in youth centres and on stage and they record CDs.

These are girls who come across very few inspiring role models in their own circles. The project gives them a great experience. They get the chance to develop their talent, meet other girls from different cultures, experience a sense of responsibility and boost their self-confidence.

One of the financial backers of this project is Pro Juventute Nederland benevolent fund. This fund derives from the ‘Pro Juventute’ Dutch Confederation of Associations. These associations, founded at the end of the nineteenth century and financed by private individuals, were aimed at combating crime among youngsters. Association members provided legal aid to delinquent children and help for their parents.

The Pro Juventute associations were the first institutes for guardianship and family guardianship, and organisations for volunteer mobile child welfare. They were the forerunners of today’s child welfare bureaus.

The fund provides money for innovative activities for children and young people in difficulties, preferably in mobile child welfare services. In order to support academic research into and university teaching on child protection, Pro Juventute is the founder of the Child Protection chair at VU University Amsterdam. It has been the driving force behind a substantial improvement in the methods used by family guardians.

It also focuses on helping increase awareness about child protection by supporting a series of articles on the work of the Child Protection Board in a professional journal for social workers, which were later published collectively under the title “Liever bondgenoot dan bemoeial” (“Better ally than busybody”). The fund also subsidized a film about a shelter for young homeless people in Rotterdam, and an educational film on child abuse.

The fund donates money on an ad-hoc basis to projects such as Prachtmeiden, one-off projects which are highly unlikely to receive structural funding. The fund usually tries to support initiatives which have the potential to truly make a difference.

Also active abroad, Pro Juventute has helped set up a youth centre in the Surinam province of Nickerie, supported projects for street kids in South America, and supported a project in Israel which brings Israeli and Palestinian children together.

The Mzamomhle Foundation: Childcare in South Africa

Loek Reijns — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:04:05 +0000

High-quality and safe childcare enables parents to go to work, earn money and build a future. Additional care and education also offer children a sound basis for their own lives.

In brief, this is the reasoning behind the activities of the Mzamomhle Foundation (Xhosa for “good effort”). Mzamomhle works on behalf of childcare projects in townships in South Africa. The initiative dates back to a 2006 Habitat construction trip to build six houses in Wallacedene, Kraaifontein, one of the townships near Cape Town.

During the trip, our team encountered a local, poorly-housed ‘backyard’ crèche, which went by the name of Mzamomhle. Together with the determined woman behind this crèche, we decided to create safe and decent premises. After all, houses alone are not enough on which to build a future.

As of 2010, the Foundation’s objective is to implement one childcare project a year in one of the townships around Cape Town. The most recent is Mfuleni ECD Centre, which was inaugurated in September 2010. It provides 180 children a day with safe surroundings, care, education and a hot meal, so that their parents can work and build an economic existence.

The aim is for each childcare project to become independent as quickly as possible, embedded in the local community in a financial, pedagogic and organisational sense. After a period of support, the idea is that the crèche is of sufficient quality to generate income from parental contributions and local subsidies. Finally, Mzamomhle Foundation encourages the development of other sources of income, such as tailoring services or a soup kitchen.

The Foundation is involved in a project financially, via loans and donations, and via pedagogic expertise for a limited number of years (3 to 4 years). The Kinderrijk childcare organisation in Amstelveen is a major partner in this: it is after all just as important that the children learn while playing. To achieve this, the Foundation works together with a number of local sustainable development organisations in South Africa’s Western Cape, which are anchored in the local township communities.

In the Netherlands, Mzamomhle has a growing group of “Friends of Mzamomhle”, who provide a major financial contribution to our activities.

Each year, the Foundation for the Friends of Mzamomhle organise a construction trip to a childcare project, during which participants spend a week working on the building alongside local builders. As donors, the friends do not just contribute financially to a project but get actively involved; indeed, the motto of Mzamomhle is “to go beyond giving”.

The original colours of the Jan van Scorel polyptych restored

Sophie Bonnaud-Le Roux — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:36:15 +0000

As a dedicated patron of the arts and well-known museum sponsor, the BNP Paribas Foundation has sponsored the restoration of a 16^th century polyptych painted by the Dutch artist Jan van Scorel.

Don’t miss the opportunity to see it at the Fondation Custodia/Institut Néerlandais, where it will be on display until 22 May 2011. A unique opportunity to admire this masterpiece before it is returned to the Musée de la Chartreuse in Douai!

Originally created for the abbey in the French commune of Marchiennes, the polyptych – a painting that is divided into multiple sections, or panels – traces the life and martyrdom of St. Jacques le Majeur and St. Etienne. Bursting with colour and detail, it is emblematic of Italian Renaissance art in the Netherlands.

The restoration campaign lasted more than four years, uniting restorers, curators, art historians and scientists around the nine compositions out of the original ten that have survived, despite the polyptych’s turbulent history, until the present day. This impressive collection has finally regained its full lustre.

Solidarity run in the Netherlands

Rob Gerritsen — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:45:35 +0000

On November 18th, 2008 Han van Eijk, CFO (in the middle of the picture), and Chantal van Oss, Head of Human Resources of Cardif, a BNP Paribas subsidiary, attended a wheelchair tennis training, organized by the Tennis on Wheels foundation. They were there to hand in €2,500 worth of donations.

The money was raised through voluntary actions. During the Brease Singelloop marathon in October, Cardif’s employees decided to use this big sports event in order to help another sport, which enjoys a lot less popularity: wheelchair tennis. They sold lottery tickets, and 18 of them even took part of the marathon, all crossing the finish line.

The Tennis on Wheels foundation, recepient of this donation, organises numerous sports events for young and senior wheelchair tennis players. It also runs a stimulation fund, devoted to helping wheelchair tennis players afford their preparation and practice their favorite sport.

Disabled tennis players encounter a lot of difficulties when it comes to trainings. Often times they have to travel far away to find suitable conditions to play. The parents of many disabled children, who want to play wheelchair tennis, cannot afford these expenses.

At the end of the training session, the award was given to coach Gerard van Leusden (right on the picture) and Rody de Bie (left on the picture). Rody, who just turned 14, is already listed number 18 on Men’s tennis ranklinst in the Netherlands.

Net4Kids

Rob Gerritsen — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:39:47 +0000

BNP Paribas The Netherlands aids underprivileged children in India and Gambia through Net4kids.

India: sustainable help to street children in Tirupur
A sustainable ecological park has been selected as a tool to rehabilitate street children. The park will provide food, shelter, education, training and recreation. It will cultivate the habit of an ecologically sustainable living style. The energy of street children will be converted into positive action.

Gambia: Marie Bennetts Skill training centre
This training centre is a good example of such a positive action. Every year in Gambia hundreds of children either drop out of school due to pregnancy, lack of funds or leave school without any prospect of employment. In rural areas and suburbs there are virtually no affordable skill training centres. Youth and women have no place to acquire skills in order to earn a living for themselves and their families. The Marie Bennetts Skill training centre helps them out.

To follow the building process and to read more about the progress of Net4Kids’ project supported by BNP Paribas The Netherlands, visit http://www.net4kids.org/bnpparibas

Paintings restoration in Museum van Loon in Amsterdam

Rob Gerritsen — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:43:05 +0000

The BNP Paribas Foundation and BNP Paribas The Netherlands support financially the restoration of 18th century panels painted by Juriaan Andriessen at Museum Van Loon in Amsterdam. In 1976 six wall paintings by Jurriaan Andriessen have been installed in the historical canalhouse, now the Museum van Loon in Amsterdam. The panels were originally made for the hall in Drakestein castle near Utrecht, home to then Princess —later Queen- Beatrix. Since the installation of the panels in the museum, the painted room was henceforth known as the Drakestein Room.

About the painter
Andriessen’s depiction of an Arcadian landscape is —of only six remaining works- the only one accessible to the public. Already at the time of installation the painted panels were in bad shape.
Through lack of financial means it was decided not to restore, but to repaint large parts of the original panels. The paintings were in dire need of a proper restoration.

Who restored the panels
The initial restoration is executed by Bert Jonker and was closely monitored by the Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands Department of Restoration RDMZ, the Netherlands Institute for Art History RKD and the Amsterdam Bureau for Monuments and Archaeology BMA.
About the Museum
In 1973 professor Maurits van Loon and his wife Ghislaine van Loon — de Vallois opened the doors to their family’s house to the public. Since then the Van Loon Foundation has custody of the collection of family portraits, furniture and porcelain and organises exhibitions on both historical subjects and contemporary art. The museum is pleased with the steady rise in visitors and media attention in the last years. The richly decorated rooms bear a distinctive French character. This is not surprising as France has set the tone in fashion and interior design for centuries in the Netherlands. By selecting fabrics and wall decorations from her native Nimes, Ghislaine van Loon — de Vallois has left her mark on the house to this day.

Helping the homeless through the winter in the Netherlands

Rob Gerritsen — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:32:04 +0000

Some employees of BNP Paribas in the Netherlands donated their Christmas gifts to the homeless through the Salvation Army. Every year, the employees of BNP Paribas have several options to spend their Christmas gratification. In 2007 and 2008, more than ten percent of the employees of BNP Paribas in Netherlands donated their money to the homeless, the poor, the destitute and the hungry in Amsterdam City Centre.
Although there is a wide spectrum of social services in the Netherlands, many homeless people keep their distance, sometimes because of their long history of distrust, sometimes because of denial of their individual problems. Social sciences have done extensive research on the subject of homeless people, but still their behaviour often remains a psychological enigma. The homeless want a `normal life’ but many of them nevertheless 0.2 % of them in the Netherlands remain in on the streets. The Salvation Army tries to fill this gap. One option these homeless people have is to knock on their door.

What happened with the money donated be the employees?
The amount was spent on socks, underwear, gloves and food. You might find that strange, but this is what the homeless desperately need to keep themselves warm during the cold months of winter. That is the most difficult time of the year for the homeless have to spend outside on the streets.

Why socks and underwear?
People often donate to The Salvation Army cloths like coats, trousers and sweaters, but seldom the badly needed underwear and gloves.

We donate the money through the foundation ‘Henny Tinga Fonds’ to De Haven. Koen Hendriks (the man with the blue shirt on the photograph) was team leader of De Haven in 2007. Koen bought the clothing, so desperately needed by the homeless for the winter months, at a wholesaler.

The address of De Haven is Hekelveld 8-10, Amsterdam. Hekelveld 10 is a very central place and opposite Central Station in Amsterdam. Hekelveld 10 is a side street between Nieuwendijk, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and Spui. De Haven means ‘the harbour’ or ‘the entrance’, and they provide immediate care for people who just found themselves in on the streets. De Haven is a place where daily 55 of the homeless can stay for the night. Beside previous facility (De Haven) The Salvation Army helps the homeless with soup runs, breakfast clubs and provision of food and clothing, bath and shower facilities.