×

Our award-winning reporting has moved

Context provides news and analysis on three of the world’s most critical issues:

climate change, the impact of technology on society, and inclusive economies.

Mai Groth, a warm-hearted Tdh employee

by Terre des hommes | Terre des hommes (Tdh) - Switzerland
Tuesday, 22 April 2014 12:48 GMT

Terre des hommes

Image Caption and Rights Information

* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Mai Groth, a warm-hearted Tdh employee

A social science researcher, Mai Groth has been working with Terre des hommes since 2009. She is at present in Sri Lanka to promote schooling, and tells us in an interview given to ‘Migros Magazine’ about her bent for humanitarian work. (http://www.migrosmagazine.ch/societe/reportage/article/des-suisses-de-divers-horizons-en-mission-humanitaire)

Assistance for development: a vocation

Already as an adolescent, Mai Groth was convinced of one day being able to bring her own contribution to the field of development. With child protection as her priority, she wanted to advance equality opportunities. With a Swiss-German mother and Vietnamese father, Mai Groth did her first stint of volunteer work bringing aid to children on the streets in Vietnam.
In 2009 she joined the Terre des hommes Foundation. Currently Tdh’s deputy national director in Sri Lanka, she is running two projects there aimed at strengthening child protection. The first concerns the building and renovation of kindergartens to improve the access to education of 3- to 4-year-olds, as well as training staff for these kindergartens (http://www.tdh.ch/en/news/sri-lanka-do-not-sacrifice-generations-of-children). The second project offers sports activities to children and teenagers (http://www.tdh.ch/en/news/sri-lanka-sport-for-development-and-peace)through which Tdh can pass on educational messages and also tackle issues such as healthcare, violence and child rights.

Between field work and office work, a busy timetable.

Mai Groth is in charge of ten local co-workers. When not out in the field, she deals with various administrative and communications tasks in Palai, in the north of Sri Lanka. Looking after our contact with donors, keeping in touch with the authorities, ensuring the smooth functioning of the projects and the financial flows: challenges to keep her very busy – but enthusiastic and fully committed, as well. She is fully dedicated to her mission of improving the living conditions of Sri Lankans.“Now the civil war is over, one tends to forget the hard lives of the Sri Lankan population”, says the 31-year-old. And yet, Sri Lanka remains severely undermined by the long years of civil warfare.

Terre des hommes brings about a positive change in the daily lives of over two million children and their families every year. Learn more about our projects in Sri Lanka (http://www.tdh.ch/en/countries/sri-lanka).

(Source: Migros Magazine) (http://www.migrosmagazine.ch/societe/reportage/article/des-suisses-de-divers-horizons-en-mission-humanitaire)

http://www.migrosmagazine.ch/societe/reportage/article/des-suisses-de-divers-horizons-en-mission-humanitaire
-->