SWECO EMPLOYEE HELPING DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS IN HAITI

Filip Linders, who normally works as an engineer at Sweco in Stockholm, is on site in Haiti to assist Doctors Without Borders. For the next three months he will lead a team that deals with water and sanitation issues in the wake of the earthquake.

“The first few weeks have been intensive and educational. There is a very special atmosphere here and it is really inconceivable to see what this country has gone through,” says Filip. Filip’s role in Haiti is to create effective and well functioning solutions for water and sanitation in connection with a hospital that Doctors Without Borders has built following the earthquake. The hospital is housed in and around an old factory building in Port Au Prince. Aside from trying to maintain and improve the situation in general, efforts at the moment are focused on preparations for the upcoming rainy season. “We are very pleased that several of our employees have had the chance to take part in Doctors Without Borders’ initiatives. Our cooperation with the organisation has many positive effects, both for our overseas operations and for the individual employees who are given an opportunity for development,” says Eva Nygren, President of Sweco Sweden. Sweco and Doctors Without Borders established a partnership in 2009. Sweco grants a leave of absence to the employees who are offered an opportunity to participate in one of Doctors Without Borders projects and contribute their knowledge in the organisation’s humanitarian efforts around the world. Sweco supports Doctors Without Borders not only with personnel but also with a large annual donation. “The partnership with Sweco is an excellent example of how companies and organisations can collaborate in meaningful and constructive ways that benefit both parties,” says Katharina Ervanius, Corporate Fundraiser at Doctors Without Borders. Previous employees from Sweco who have taken the chance: Filip Linders is the third employee to go out into the field. In 2009 Linda Persliden from Sweco went with Doctors Without Borders to Sudan and Nigeria where her duties included planning of transports to and from the field hospital in Darfur. Since year-end 2009, Ida Rennemark is taking part in a Doctors Without Borders project in Liberia where she is construction manager for a new children’s hospital.