KinderLachen Charity Project

Is there anything better than to look into a happy child’s face?

I am grateful to have been born into a society in which the majority of people don’t suffer from hunger and thirst every day, don’t face cold and illness and don’t have to fight just to survive. We all know that this is not the case throughout the world. I don’t want to just accept that as normal anymore, but offer my own small contribution of help and support to some of the many people gripped by poverty. While working in Sardinia in 2010, I met Antje who told me of her "KinderLachen009" Project. Doctors Antje Coordt and Doctor Michael Druse founded the initiative in 2007. Deeply touched by the tragedy of Third World childrens’ destiny and dissatisfied with the work of established charity organisations, the doctors developed the concept of everyday people giving donations and combining private commitment with personal assistance at the grass roots level. With specialized medical care and provisions and the direct delivery of the same to people in need, this project organizes help right where it is needed the most. During her work in 2009 with “Medicine Sans Frontiers” (“Doctors Without Borders”), Antje and Michael discovered the Orphanage, the St Benedict Nursery of St Scholastica’s Convent at Chittagong, Bangladesh was in dire circumstances. Although the nurses caring for the children were dedicated, owing to extreme financial pressures, the future prospects for the children were exceedingly grim and in fact, their very lives were at risk.
Some of the poorest people in the world live in Bangladesh and especially vulnerable are orphaned children facing poverty, illness and neglect without any adult protection. Sadly, girls are often repudiated and spurned by their families as they are considered more of a liability than sons who can participate in providing financial assistance for the family. Since 1883, the facility at St Benedict Nursery has cared for orphans, widows and unwanted girls. At the beginning of 2009, there were insufficient funds to continue this vital work. The reality was that forty to fifty babies and very young children would have been returned to the streets of Bangladesh with little hope of survival. The doctors who founded "KinderLachen009" poured their funds into St Benedict Nursery and prevented this tragic outcome. Ever since that time, KinderLachen has consistently engaged to support this facility.
By making my own dreams come true – touring the world on my bicycle – I am also supporting this project. For me it is a way of showing my appreciation for the opportunities life is offering to me. I hope I can infuse others with the joy of doing something for others and encourage them to participate.

My personal aim is to actually take the donations on my journey to Bangladesh and to look into the eyes of the children who are being given a more hopeful future because of this wonderful charity. The sooner there is a respectable amount of funding, the earlier and more frequently I’ll be travelling to Bangladesh!

You will find more information at www.kinderlachen009.de.