“We believe in the human capacity to help ourselves. By encouraging entrepreneurship, we give people in poor parts of the world a chance to boost their self-sufficiency and participate in building and developing their neighborhoods. This will help prevent poverty and provide assistance to many families, even when relief organizations have left the area,” says Ann Lindell Saeby, EVP and Head of Corporate Relations at NCC.

The voting has ended, and Hand in Hand will receive our donation of 750,000 kronor. Engineers Without Borders and The Mutomo Project will share 250,000 kronor. This is a joyful announcement for both NCC and the winning organizations.

“We’re enormously excited about the money. For the 750,000 kronor, we can support two villages in India with 1,000 to 2,000 inhabitants over two years. We train women in self-help, so they become prouder, more confident and attain a completely different status in the village. This way of working with donations from businesses enables us to work long term,” says Anna Urban, manager of donor collaboration at Hand in Hand.

Hand in Hand’s primary mission is helping people out of poverty. Through education, training and access to micro-credit, women in particular can start small family businesses thus improving the long-term outlook for themselves and their families. Their goal is to create 10 million new jobs and villages free of child labor. Percy Barnevik is currently Honorary Chairman of Hand in Hand International and represents a driving force in the organization, with operations in India, Africa and Afghanistan.

Engineers Without Borders

 “This money will allow us to increase our support of Engineers to Engineers. This project provides qualified engineers among newly arrived refugees the opportunity to quickly transition into the Swedish labor market. If their knowledge of English is good and they have a good education, we can use so-called matchmaking to help them get in touch with a matching company. This achieves faster integration,” says Caroline Bastholm, president of Engineers Without Borders.

The Mutomo Project

 “We are very pleased with this donation. With this money, we can place plastic water tanks of 24 cubic meters at schools and churches in the villages together with a local manufacturer in Kenya. This spares girls and women from walking the long and sometimes dangerous journeys of 4 – 10 kilometers to collect water. Micro-credit groups will also notably benefit from the water tanks in connection with their businesses,” says Sten Kvarfordh, founder and volunteer in the Mutomo Project.

Photographer Magnus Wennman