Natalie Moosmann will be traveling to MBalling again soon and will take more children into the support program.
©Club/Laurence Feider
With her association “Knowledge makes you strong”, Natalie Moosmann promotes school education in Senegal.
Dornbirn. 17 years ago, Natalie Moosmann from Dornbirn traveled to Senegal for the first time. What started with drumming trips has developed over the years into an association that wants to give young people in the Senegalese village MBalling better future opportunities. In an interview, the chairwoman of the association talks about her voluntary work and her motives.
You have just filled a container with 8.5 tons of relief supplies – what happens to them?
Natalie Moosmann: We have specifically collected relief supplies that we need on site in MBalling. These include bicycles for the children who go to school outside of the village, gift boxes from the Vorarlberg sponsors for the children and mother-child packages. We collected 260 used school bags and filled them with school materials – we will distribute them when school starts in October. A ton of sewing supplies have been collected for the sewing school alone. We also collected clothes and soccer jerseys, as well as toys for the kindergarten. The medical supplies go to the infirmary of the leprosy aid.
Is it worth transporting the relief supplies over such a long distance or would it be better to buy things locally?
Natalie Moosmann: I’m not a throwaway friend – everything that can have a second life should be recycled. If I buy new things locally, I have to use donations, which I prefer to invest in education. In addition, I do not have to pay anything for the transport of the container, as it is sponsored by the Gebrüder Weiss company. Nevertheless, this will be the last container with relief supplies that I organize. The first two went well, but with the third we had to overcome enormous administrative hurdles in order to be able to take over the container in Dakar. Unfortunately, the state in Senegal does not stand behind the aid organizations and turns a blind eye to corruption and bribery. I’m not ready to play this game anymore. We will consider new options, such as targeted calls for donations for specific campaigns.
Despite all the hurdles, what is the driving force behind your commitment in Senegal?
Natalie Moosmann: Changing something for the better is my greatest motivation. Even if things are going slowly, I see that something is moving and that I can make a difference. Today I found out that a former student we have sponsored is opening a real estate company in MBalling. That’s the best thing when I see how the young people we support make something out of their lives.
Was it never an option for you to get involved in an aid project in this country?
Natalie Moosmann: I worked as a childminder in Vorarlberg for a while – it just happened that way with Senegal. The first time I traveled to the country for further training in traditional drumming rhythms, then I organized drumming trips and the desire to give something back to the people of Senegal grew more and more. I looked for organizations that are active on site and came across the Leprahilfe association. We agreed on a cooperation and I agreed to take over the school education. It started with 90 children for whom I was supposed to organize the school fees.
On average, how many hours per week do you invest in your project?
Natalie Moosmann: That’s definitely 30 to 40 hours – sometimes even more.
How can you reconcile your intensive voluntary work with your professional and family life?
Natalie Moosmann: My family was involved in the project from the start – my three children are now grown and independent. My husband also works on the project and a few years ago took over the chairmanship of the leprosy aid. We often travel to Senegal together. As for my professional activities, the drumming classes I teach are in the evenings and my shop is right next to my office.
Don’t you ever feel like you’ve reached your limits?
Natalie Moosmann: Yes, I always do, even when I’m in Senegal. When I have an idea and can’t implement it because of some banality, it frustrates me or when people don’t accept or appreciate our help. On the other hand, so many beautiful things happen. In any case, stopping is not an option.
In March you will travel to MBalling again for a month. What will you do on site?
Natalie Moosmann: For the first two weeks I will conduct admissions interviews, visit families and take care of the new applications for school support. Hopefully the container will arrive on March 4th and I will be busy distributing the relief supplies for the rest of the time.
What have you been able to achieve since the founding of your association “Wissen macht Stark”?
Natalie Moosmann: We built a college, a lycée, an elementary school and a kindergarten. In addition to emergency aid, the focus of our work is on promoting education – we have already supported over 700 children and young people. By taking over the leprosy aid, we also run a canteen kitchen and organize food campaigns again and again.
How can the people in Vorarlberg best support you in your work?
Natalie Moosmann: You can volunteer to support us in the many activities that we organize in Vorarlberg. There are also many tasks in the work of the association, from looking after the homepage to looking for sponsors – anyone who is interested can contact me at any time. And then of course we are happy about every sponsorship with which we can pay the school fees in Senegal. A sponsorship costs 20 euros per month for children up to college and 25 euros for older students up to the Matura.
Interested parties can find all the information about the work of the association “Wissen macht Stark” at www.wissen-macht-stark.org.
