WOW

KLM’s airline staff travel the world over, staying in luxurious hotels and enjoying exotic excursions along the way. But that’s not all. Many are also confronted with widespread human misery: begging, sick people and neglected children. KLM Captain Marius den Dulk says, “In some countries all you have to do is look out your hotel room window to see the slums, where children are the main victims of disgraceful and unjust circumstances.” Den Dulk and his colleagues began to feel increasingly frustrated by their inability to do anything about the situation, so he wrote an article in a trade journal, calling on co-workers to work together in finding solutions to these problems. Three months later, in November of 1998, Wings of Support was born. Now every pilot, flight attendant or member of ground staff who encounters injustice or poverty on a trip abroad can offer suggestions on ways to support the children. This can vary from building a school in Africa to funding an AIDS clinic in South Africa to setting up a boy’s soccer team in Rio de Janeiro.

Wings of Support currently has 50 volunteers. The foundation receives financial support from 1,700 donors and is sponsored by a growing number of companies, institutions and private citizens. Together, they have managed to get more than 180 projects off the ground in Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Romania, Mexico, the Netherlands Antilles, Brazil, Surinam, India, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, China, the Dominican Republic and Thailand. The foundation is independent of KLM. Employees of the Netherlands-based airline Martinair have also joined the campaign. More information: www.wingsofsupport.org

From ODE