Creative journey
Share4more
Many Rabobankers are familiar with the
activities of the Rabobank Foundation and
RIAS and how they assist cooperatives and
banks internationally. Rarely, however, do
you get to see an artistic portrayal of the
impact Rabobank's contributions have made
to a business or to a community, family, or
individual.The bookazine, entitled, The
World in Your Own Hands' tells the stories of
RDP-assisted people in India, Honduras,
Egypt, China and Tanzania through the eyes
of artists. Writers, photographers and artists
were sent to these countries to experience
the daily lives of these people and to be
inspired by what they have made for
themselves with Rabobank's assistance. The
bookazine is written in Dutch with some
paragraphs in English and will be launched at
the Annual General Meeting in June.
In an outpouring of sympathy at the beginning of
this year, Rabobank employees and the Managing
Board together contributed over €1.9 million for
emergency relief in tsunami- struck areas. The day
after the tsunami, we contacted Rabobank
Foundation's long-standing partners to see if they
needed emergency relief and we were able to
distribute money immediately. Recently, we have
asked for their plans for rebuilding. We are still
waiting for replies from Aceh, and have kept some
funds for when they contact us,' says Charles Ruys,
Manager of the Rabobank Foundation. Since the
disaster, Share4more has returned to its original
plan to operate as an employee fund in which
employees can donate directly from their salary
every month. So far, the amounts are too small to
donate. 'It's difficult. Many people donated a
substantial amount to the tsunami relief because it
was so devastating. Now we are asking for money
on a continuous basis for rebuilding in Asia as well
as other development projects internationally, such
as an orphanage in Kenya. Many people have given
as much as they can for the year, but there will be
next year. I am sure that as more people know it is a
permanent fund, they will contribute,' says Ruys.
The Word 13
