10 Years of HelpAlliance

Since its founding 10 years ago, HelpAlliance has initiated, coordinated, and assisted in a total of 19 long-term projects, 24 short-term projects – so-called supported projects – as well as 19 emergency relief projects. Every HelpAlliance member is personally involved in one or more projects, for example supporting business start-ups, projects for street children, schools and educational institutions, orphanages and bush hospitals. The operational areas are concentrated on the southern hemisphere in Africa as well as in Asia, South America, and also in Romania. Almost all projects are typically supported by a charity registered in Germany, with the applicant being a member of the board. This applies to HelpAlliance members as well as to Lufthansa employees who apply for funding.

The projects of the aid organization include long-term HelpAlliance projects, supported projects – for which any Lufthanseat can apply to in order to fund specific measures – as well as emergency relief projects after natural disasters. HelpAlliance focuses its work on providing education, health, and nutrition to children and youngsters. “The best way to escape the poverty trap is access to education or a job training,” says Rita Diop, HelpAlliance’s chairwoman since 2005. This often means that the aid organization has to accommodate basic needs of the people first, in order to pave the way for education.

HelpAlliance focuses on assisting those who do not even have the bare minimum available to support themselves or their families – especially in developing countries. Collecting donations and assigning them in a meaningful manner is the major task of this non-profit organization. In order to substantially improve the living conditions of the needy, all measures follow the guiding principle “Helping people to help themselves.”
In September 1999, 13 Lufthansa employees (called Lufthanseat in Germany) from all divisions of the group founded HelpAlliance e.V. – Lufthanseat engagieren sich (Employees Lend a Helping Hand). In 2009, the employees’ politically independent and non-denominational organization celebrated its 10th anniversary. The organization is looking back on more than 60 successfully finished or still-running projects and numerous supporting operations. Emergency aid, such as for the 2004 tsunami disaster, is also part of HelpAlliance’s short history.

HelpAlliance supports a broad range of long-term projects. The absence of reliable water supplies is among the problems frequently encountered. In Africa, HelpAlliance has already bored wells and established water supply systems for educational institutions. In a joint venture with the HelpAlliance project “Orphan Aid Nigeria” at the Lagos lagoon – where the association also supports a school – a well was put into service that provides the inhabitants of the island of Iba with clean drinking water. The same goes for the construction of the girls’ hostel in Djougou, North-Benin, where a well was bored first. Without water, this construction would not have been possible at all. However, the neighbors of the project and the herdsmen passing the grounds with their cattle also benefit from the newly exploited water source. A pumping system feeds the water into big storage tanks on the roof of the hostel. A steady water supply was also established for the Blue Bell kindergarten project at Mtwapa, Kenya, in 2008. 170 children now have unrestricted access to water fit for drinking or sanitary purposes. Rain is also being collected in two water tanks, each holding 4,000 liters. The water is purified in filter systems to ensure the necessary quality level for drinking water.

In Mali, West Africa, a Lufthansa Technik employee supported by HelpAlliance looks after a school project in Dogonland, which is located in an extremely dry and rocky region. Dryness plagues the country and causes regular crop failures. The school did not possess a steady water supply until a few months ago, after a well-boring project was finished. There used to be a large clay jug in each classroom that had to be filled on a day-to-day basis with water from a distant well. The children helped themselves with a ladle, which eventually posed health risks due to germs infecting the water. Then HelpAlliance funded the well-boring project near the school. The terrain is extremely difficult and the well had to be blasted out of massive rock one bit at a time. The main purpose is not only to make drinking water available for the children and their families, but to allow for trees to be planted in order to provide shade and to facilitate the provision of school lunches through the cultivation of vegetables.

HelpAlliance’s activities mainly focus on children, because children are in special need of protection. To help them to the best of its ability, HelpAlliance’s work is based on the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact. “We always put emphasis on an in-depth dialog and we cooperate with the persons concerned to find solutions that suit the social environment best,” says Diop.

In order to guarantee the success of the projects, experienced and reliable partners offer on-site support for the Lufthansa employees. As a general rule, the aid organization does not accept external applications, as it cannot be verified whether funds are spent according to the rules; the same goes for projects in war zones. “As we cannot check what happens to the money in these cases, we will not accept any risk,” clarifies Diop.

The Lufthansa group has been supporting HelpAlliance from the beginning. The company has reassigned the chairwoman and another staff member from their full-time work along with a flight attendant to support HelpAlliance 10 days per month for administrative assignments and to assist in managing the on-board collection program. In addition, the association is provided with office space and the necessary IT equipment at Lufthansa’s base at Frankfurt Airport. Most importantly, Lufthansa supports the humanitarian engagement of its employees by providing free transport capacities. “If we had to pay for the transport of relief supplies ourselves, we would not be able to work the way we do,” sums up Diop. In addition, the company participates in the production of the annual report on the activities of the aid organization.