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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As part of ‘Médecins du Monde’, Doctors of the World champions accessible healthcare in more than 70 countries, including the Netherlands. With their medical units on wheels they bring basic medical care to people without a doctor, who have nowhere else to turn.
Dental care is also provided, and the need is high: there are at least 1.5 million Dutch people who cannot afford the dentist, resulting in pain and shame. And in cases of mental health issues volunteer healthcare professionals stand at the ready with a listening ear in an attempt to prevent symptoms from worsening.
The situation in Gaza remains dire. And no matter how difficult, several organizations continue to bravely provide aid with their healthcare professionals, including the Dutch branches of Doctors of the World and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). Pontem helps, because donations remain desperately needed and welcome.
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Doctors of the World has been active in Gaza and the West Bank since 1995. Under extreme conditions, they provide medical aid, mental health care, and psychosocial support. Now that a humanitarian disaster has struck, this help is needed more than ever.
After two years of war, alongside a severe shortage of basic necessities such as water and food in Gaza, there is also a dire shortage of medical supplies, set against a huge number of wounded and displaced people in a largely destroyed infrastructure.
Doctors Without Borders also assists people in crisis situations, including in Gaza. Amidst the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, they point out the proportionally increasing need for victim support. With their teams and auxiliary supplies they bravely continue to provide medical care. They perform surgeries, help deliver babies and also provide clean drinking water.
Emergency situation in Sudan. Millions of people are fleeing ongoing violence. Families have left everything behind and are desperately seeking safety, water, and shelter. Pontem supports the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, which provides life-saving assistance.
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The crisis in Sudan is currently one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. Nearly 13 million people are displaced, many without safe shelter, protection, or hope.
Where possible, UNHCR is trying to provide the urgently needed assistance in Sudan and surrounding countries: protection and shelter, clean drinking water and food, as well as medical aid.
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Lamentably, Stevanija suffers from diabetes and rheumatic conditions, and years of battling life’s adversities have left their mark on her soul.
For years, she worked hard and honestly in the sawmill. She currently lives off a modest disability allowance, with occasional help from a visiting neighbor. The monthly packages she and others receive from Pomozi.ba offer a touch of warmth and provide a bit of comfort in a daily existence full of challenges.
Field-Full-Food-Package
In Armenia, 120,000 Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh are being taken in after they had to flee in a hurry to save their lives. They had to leave everything behind.
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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.
Firewood Campaign in Albania, Armenia, and Moldova. Winter is an extremely difficult time for poor families in Eastern Europe. Wood and coal are shockingly expensive. Chopping wood in the forest or gathering firewood is prohibited. Anyone who does so risks imprisonment.
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Some, like Igor, have found a few twigs in the garden. They are wet and barely burn. Still, he throws them into the stove, because something is better than nothing. But it doesn’t get really warm.
Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality for many poor families and the elderly in these countries. In their dilapidated houses, there is only a wood stove. And due to abject poverty, many cannot afford to buy sufficient or any firewood. And then it freezes just as hard inside as outside. So they put on as many layers of clothing as possible, stay in bed, and hope to survive, because every year people freeze to death. No wonder poor people are afraid of the winter…
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.
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.