The Harapan Foundation may be small but they know their job. They are established in Best (The Netherlands) and support small-scale aid projects in Indonesia.
Many people wonder: why should we give money to something or someone in Indonesia? Can’t the government overthere do it themselves? And will that money really benefit the local people? Well, you don’t have to worry about that when Harapan is involved. They work closely together with local institutions and contacts.
“You know, in fact everyone is willing to help out another person in need. But they always wonder whether their contribution really gets to those people. At Harapan we transfer more than 95% of the fundings “according to Jos van der Heijden, the chairman of the foundation.
They have run quite a number of succesful projects. Jos: “We are a small and flexible organisation so we can act quickly. And we only support the projects we truly believe in. Remember we are all volunteers and we need to stay motivated “says Jos. During the years they have built a large network, both in the Netherlands as well as in Indonesia.
January 21st, Nico Eijkmans, a volunteer from Harapan Jaya Netherlands, went to West Timor to supervise the expansion of the Hidup Baru rehabilitation center. It concerns several projects in the field of improvement and expansion of water supply, eye operations and computers. That last project has now been successfully completed.
“We start building this network after our daughter married an Indonesian man in 1997. During the wedding we met all kinds of people and we saw their poverty. We then said to each other we should actually do something about it. But once we got home, it kind of slipped our mind”, says Van der Heijden. Until a fire broke out in a so-called homestay and people asked us for help. From that day on, we got more and more involved.”
What does Jos considers to be his their most succesful project? He mentions the unexpected gift they received to help out an orphanage. Ald also a small but very personal project when they could built a house for a handicapped woman who used to live in a kind of shack.
Harapan is not looking to become a part of a larger foundation. That would only slow them down. Board members Kim van den Bosch and José Meijer feel they can really make a difference. “We sincerely hope Harapan can continue for years and years to come and that way can be a part of it.” Take a look at their website.