pONTEM foundation
Dream of an entrepreneur
“In order to contribute to a better world
we have conceived the idea to develop a new form of enterprise. A company that connects extremes: commercial directly with social, profit directly with non-profit, right with injustice, rich with poor. ” Read more…
Fabienne Reijnierse
Founder / CEO
Mission Pontem
Supporting, or initiating, projects
- that are committed to improving the living conditions and equal opportunities of vulnerable groups in society and the world. By “most vulnerable groups”, the Pontem Foundation means people who are denied their fundamental human rights as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948 and treaties resulting from it, ICCPR and ICESCR.
- that are committed to improving the environment by reducing emissions of harmful substances such as nitrogen oxide and CO2.
- that are involved in research into and development of ecologically sustainable food production and energy-neutral circular construction methods.
Pontem supports
Below you will find the different charity projects
supported by the Pontem Foundation.
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In an old nursery school in Masis around 25 families are being taken in, including a couple (see photo) with three children. The man, Aram, told with pain in his voice that he had had to leave behind a large farm with more than 100 dairy cows. Now he has nothing left. But despite all the pain and sorrow, he is combative. He hopes that he will soon be assigned a home for his family. He is determined to build his own life again.
The Mensenkinderen Foundation has set up the project “Veld vol Voedsel” (Field full of food) with local partners to provide families with a Field-Full-Food-Package. This package consists of seed potatoes and vegetable seeds, enough for more than a year of food! In this way, they help these families with one of the first necessities of life: food. Other families in Armenia and Moldova, who have fallen into extreme poverty due to sky-high inflation (among other things), are also being helped with a Field-Full-Food-Package.
Armenia is the poorest country in Europe with very high unemployment. As a result, many people cannot make ends meet. The Mensenkinderen Foundation is committed to helping vulnerable people and families get through the winter by providing them with firewood.
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A stove, but no firewood.
Mother Roza lives in a small village in the north of Armenia. As the freezing winter approaches, she is very worried. Roza and her husband have no steady income. During the summer months, they have tried to earn as much money as possible with all kinds of odd jobs. They lived as frugally as possible to save money for the cold winter months. But that has not worked this year. Everything has become so expensive that there is no money for firewood or briquettes.
Moldova is the poorest country in Europe with very high unemployment. Due to poverty, many people have already left the villages to go abroad to look for work. Most elderly live alone and have no family to care for them.
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The pension is very low in Moldova. People cannot even pay the monthly bills.
The Mensenkinderen Foundation has been involved in work in day care centers and elderly care projects in Moldova for more than 5 years.
Together with local churches and with our partner organization OM Moldova they started a “food for the elderly” project.
Currently, 15 day centers are active, where a total of about 100 elderly people are served a hot meal from Monday to Friday.
Elephant grass as a good (cheap) alternative to firewood.
In Bosnia, many people use firewood for their stoves. However, firewood prices are rising every year, making it increasingly difficult for poor families to buy firewood.
The Pontem Foundation is therefore looking for a good and cheap alternative to offer people in need an alternative heat source.
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We, the Pontem Foundation, came across this idea through our conversations with the Mensenkinderen Foundation, who told us about their projects with elephant grass in Moldova and Armenia. They asked whether it was also something for Bosnia and we became excited. The Pontem Foundation is currently starting up a project in Bosnia.
About 11.000 children work in mica mines in Madagascar. It oftentimes concerns whole families who are carving out mica under difficult circumstances. They are continuously exposed to fine dust, which can lead to serious lung and respiratory problems. These children do not go to school!
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Lack of money is the main reason for making children work in the mica mines. There is serious exploitation.
Few people have heard of “mica”, but it is almost everywhere. The mineral provides the pearl shine in our eyeshadow, paint and car paint. Moreover, mica is used in laptops, mobile phones, cars and almost all household appliances.
Terre des Hommes is working on the development of a project in Madagascar that banishes child labor in the mica mines by collaborating with various stakeholders.
The Rocket (mass) Stove is a very efficient and therefore cheap way of heating. Thanks to the double combustion principle, you get about 90% efficiency from your wood and it is much less harmful to the environment. By connecting a mass of stone, clay or loam to the Rocket Stove, the heat in the mass can be captured. The heat stored in the mass is then gradually released to the environment. The type of heat that is released by the mass is experienced as very pleasant and is also called contact heat.
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The Pontem Foundation is supporting a study in Central Bosnia into the feasibility of building a (mobile) rocket stove that could possibly be offered as a construction kit. The Pontem Foundation hopes that this will also help poor families for whom fuel has become/is becoming unaffordable.