Created by Marc Chmielewski
well:fair (Neven Subotic Foundation) and Movendo. About the development of a partnership.
Access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH for short) is the basis for children being able to attend school regularly. Education is the key to a sustainable future and offers children the chance to lead a self-determined life. Together, we are committed to a world in which everyone has the opportunity to shape their own future. In the following article, our Managing Director Marc Chmielewski explains how the collaboration came about.
What was your first point of contact with the foundation?
As a Borussia Dortmund fan, I first became aware of the Neven Subotic Foundation in 2017. In 2019, I was invited to have coffee together at the foundation’s office in Dortmund and Shari (Shari Malzahn, member of the foundation’s board) showed me the communities in Ethiopia where my donation had been used for projects using GPS coordinates on Google Earth. I was immediately impressed by the closeness of the foundation team and its work. That same evening I read the foundation’s report in full and from then on it was clear to me from the paper how well thought out and effective the WASH projects are. Of course, the 100% promise convinced me, because I can be sure that every cent of my donation will be invested in projects.
When did you realize that it was going to be a long-term partnership? That it would simply ‘fit’?
Since 2019, our path together has had many overlaps. During the coronavirus lockdown, I started supporting the foundation team with virtual team building sessions and this has become an ongoing collaboration to this day. Personally, I am fascinated by how easily and effortlessly we all switch between the various roles in our different forms of contact and collaboration, from professional support to committed cooperation and constructive support to personal friendship.
After participating in a project trip to Tanzania in March 2023, it is absolutely clear to me: the focus on supporting people in their human right to access clean water is absolutely vital and the approach of the well:fair foundation in its participation and sustainability is exactly what Movendo stands for with its work. That is why I am convinced, not only as a private individual, but also as an entrepreneur in general and as the owner of Movendo in particular, that our social commitment and the multifaceted cooperation with the well:fair Foundation are important, right and appropriate in order to fulfill our responsibility to some extent.
What emotions did the contact with the foundation arouse in you?
In recent years, I have been able to get to know both the foundation team and the foundation family much better and have experienced how enriching it is when people with the same values come together, exchange ideas and move issues forward. I experience an immense amount of mutual appreciation, with which we also share our highly emotional experiences from the project trips. In my travel group, a group hug has been established for this purpose, during which we have absorbed many individual tears together.
As access to clean water is still not guaranteed for too many people, we at Movendo continue to collect donations. If you would like to support people in their right to access to clean water, we would be delighted to receive your donation (it is said that €50 gives one person access to clean water):
We are building a well!
Author
Marc Chmielewski
Managing Director
