Who would suspect that behind the small shop in the heart of Leiden with second-hand items lies a national organization with 23 million in its pocket to use in the fight against the exploitation of children? You probably know this organization by name: Terre des Hommes. But do you also know what the organization does?
- What does Terre des Hommes do?
- The start
- How does Terre des Hommes work?
- How does Terre des Hommes get money?
- What can you do?
- Is Terre des Hommes a good and reliable organization?
- Conclusion
What does Terre des Hommes do?
The themes Terre des Hommes works with are education, health, the fight against exploitation and guidance towards independence. Terre des Hommes does this with 300 projects in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Bolivia! The organization also provides emergency aid.
A head office in the Netherlands provides money, PR and guidance. Four regional offices in the countries mentioned provide guidance for the projects. Local partners devise and implement the projects. Terre des Hommes has been doing this since 1965.
The organization also participates in emergency aid actions in the countries where it is already present through the SHO, the Collaborating Aid Organizations, known from bank number 555. Apart from concrete projects, it also conducts a campaign for children’s rights. The organization certainly does not sit still.
The Terre des Hommes logo (a white drop on an orange background) is the symbol for the vision of the organization. The drop represents that a steadily falling drop erodes even the hardest stone. In other words : if we just persevere, we will eventually achieve our goal.
The start
Terre des Hommes was founded in 1965 by the Swiss Edmund Kaiser. He named the organization after the book Terre des Hommes’ by the writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. You probably only know this writer as the author of The Little Prince.
In the book Earth of People he writes about human dignity, responsibility and solidarity. These are the values that are central to the Terre des Hommes charity organization .
In 1966, an international federation of sister organizations in nine countries was founded.
How does Terre des Hommes work?
As briefly mentioned above, the organization works on raising money and awareness in the Netherlands. By participating in the international federation, actions are coordinated and expertise is shared. By working through the regional offices and local partners, we are well connected to local needs. After all, the local partners have the most knowledge of the culture and language. Moreover, this method promotes the independence and knowledge of local employees.
In concrete terms, Terre des Hommes works by developing, implementing and evaluating projects. There is a project guide on the club’s website : www.terredeshommes.nl. By entering a theme and a country, you will see examples of these projects. Sometimes this only results in a name, amount and a photo, but for other projects you will also find specific information.
For example, there is an education project in the slums of Jakarta. By providing financial support to parents and children, the children can go to school and vocational training. If all goes well, children will not only be educated, but they will also have a chance of a job and thus financial independence through vocational training.
How does Terre des Hommes get money?
The organization is largely dependent on private individuals and companies for money. Money from private individuals comes in as gifts or through the shops of Terre des Hommes. Part of the money comes from structural subsidies from the Dutch government and the European Union. The National Postcode Lottery also supports Terre des Hommes. In 2010, this organization had 23 million to spend. In 2014 they reached more than 450,00 children.
What can you do?
You cannot miss it when you visit the Terre des Hommes site: you can give money. That is why there is a donation button on every page.
Sometimes you can also become a volunteer. Most of the volunteers – around 1200 – work in the shops of Terre des Hommes. A few provide information at schools. In these stores, second-hand goods brought in by private individuals are selected and resold. There are 27 of these stores. If you live in one of these cities with a store, you can also support us by donating old but still good items. This includes old books, CDs, toys, clothing for small children, crockery and, for example, jewelry. Large furniture is not useful because the shops are not big enough for it.
Is Terre des Hommes a good and reliable organization?
An important question, because people are often willing to give money as long as they are sure that the money will end up well. Moreover, many people need concrete examples of assistance.
Terre des Hommes certainly meets those needs. Through the example projects on the site and by providing a lot of information through the site and through their magazine Terra Magazine. The
organization’s working method also makes a good impression: collaborating with sister organizations in other countries and carrying out projects through local partners. And the finances are audited every two years. 72% of the money donated goes to the projects themselves. The rest of the money is used to keep the organization running.
Finally, you can see on the site that the organization meets certain quality requirements, including the CBF quality mark, which is important for charities.
Conclusion
Now that you know what Terre des Hommes does and how they work, you can hopefully better assess whether the money you donate really ends up well.