On November 28th, Moneytrans joined the global #GivingTuesday movement to raise awareness of the importance of solidarity among the team. Moneytrans has chosen to give solidarity to its employees – the result? A multitude of charitable gifts with a lot of meaning.
To celebrate this special day, Moneytrans decided to give solidarity as a gift in order to inspire and motivate its employees to join in the solidarity experience. On this occasion, Moneytrans bet on giving away some #Educoboxes, charitable boxes that work like the usual gift boxes of experiences. The boxes are full of gifts that cover basic needs and help make a real difference in the lives of thousands of children around the world.
This year I decided to encourage my teams to join the #GivingTuesday experience: In an ultra-connected world where everyone is racing for time, life experiences seem more relevant than ever! Educobox seemed like an opportunity to go a little further and make a gift that makes sense. We offer you the option of an experience, rather than a material gift, and by offering a gift of solidarity, we wish to give you the opportunity to make a concrete gesture for those most in need and CHANGE their lives!” – Leticia Carbajo (Country Manager Spain & Head of Marketing)
Moneytrans employees who received an EducoBox were able to choose one of the gifts and, as a result, make a difference in the life of a child anywhere in the world where the NGO Educo carries out its action plan.
Some of the options were the “I’m going to school” kit with the school materials to make the most of the class, a contribution to the reconstruction of a school damaged by a typhoon, the Sport kit to practice physical education in good condition, the Sanitation kit to have a healthy school, a bag of corn to be well fed, oil to enrich the food, medicines to treat diseases such as malaria, two dental visits to maintain good oral hygiene, three ophthalmological visits to see well and study better, etc…
Some of the team members were familiar with this type of gift, but for many it was a new experience and a pleasant surprise.
“We did know of similar gifts, but not gifts intended for social work. The format is familiar but thought out and oriented to recreational purposes. The truth is that whenever we have decided to make a donation, we have always approached a well-known NGO or have participated directly with the association.”, commented Jorge Ruiz (Accounting Manager Spain).
We asked the team about this solidarity experience and this is what they told us!
“For us the experience has been great… After sharing a moment of excitement together, looking at the different options of the Educobox, we started to debate about each one of them; both about the positive points of the experiences themselves and about the country in which they were being offered: Mali, Philippines, Burkina Faso, Guatemala, Nicaragua… We stopped to think several times about how lucky we are to live in a developed country. It was very enriching that each one shared his or her personal experience in one of these countries, on the situation of education, health or sanitation and what measures they thought were important in particular; we opted initially for 2 projects and selected one at the end by consensus; it was easy because there were no real objections to either project; in any case we were going to bring happiness to a house and that is what matters most.”, commented Leticia (Country Manager Spain & Head of Marketing), Paola Luyo (Head of Products & Partnerships) y Alex Girault (Financial Controller).
“It has been very enriching. When I presented the project to the team I felt really good to see that my colleagues had the sensitivity to put themselves in the place of those who have the least.” – David Ávila (Seller Manager Spain)
What charitable gifts have Moneytrans employees chosen and why?
One of the things that has caught our attention the most is the capacity for consensus that exists within the Moneytrans team. Each one held his Educobox and shared opinions and arguments on what he considered most practical, functional or simply necessary and important. The whole team reflected the attitude and the maximum willingness to choose under a shared responsibility and a social commitment. And so, among all of them, they decided on the Educobox projects for which they would use their solidarity fund. Some of the star gifts on this occasion have been the sanitation kit, the water purification system for the school, the ‘Going to School’ kit or the ‘A bag of corn’ project.
“Access to water and sanitation is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. According to WHO, 663 million people in the world lack access to safe water and 2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation facilities. As a result, about 4 million people, most of them children, die each year from water and sanitation-related diseases. Water is important not only for improving public health but also for livelihoods: agricultural crops, livestock, industry and commerce depend on access to water. Water supply conditions therefore affect health, hunger and poverty as well as community development.”, commented Leticia (Country Manager Spain & Head of Marketing), Paola Luyo (Head of Products & Partnerships) y Alex Girault (Financial Controller)
“We believe that water is an increasingly scarce vital resource and there are many populations that still lack access to a source of drinking water, a priority objective for good health. Apart from the own consumption of water, this will be used for personal hygiene, thus avoiding diseases and infections of easy access. On the other hand, the use of water in crop irrigation is essential for successful crop production and water quality will affect crop yields. The renovation of toilets in a school is a type of preventive medicine, because their use under inappropriate conditions directly affects the health of the child. For this and many other reasons, some of us have thought that the sanitation kit made up of ‘Pulley to extract water + Sanitation + Toilet’ is a good gift to choose from.”, added Jorge Ruiz (Accounting Manager Spain).
“In the IT Department we all agreed on the ‘I’m going to school’ package. That is what we consider to be the most practical and that, in our opinion, is what should prevail. To be able to go to school is to build for the future, and also to be able to have access to school is a step towards sport, friendship…” said Luis Quijada (CTO Moneytrans)
“We really liked the idea of the package ‘A bag of corn’… With this 50 kg bag of corn you can prepare porridge for the children who are malnourished. We believe that this would help more children in extreme emergencies.”, said David Coronado (CS Manager).
“In our department many of us agreed to choose the package ‘A bag of corn’. There was no specific reason… We simply thought that any of the projects offered by Educo is the most attractive, although perhaps malnutrition in these areas is the most well-known problem in our society.” – María José Muñoz (International Network Coordinator)
Is this a gift they would make in their personal title? (children, friends, relatives,…)
“We have all found the experience original and enriching; first because they were offering us the opportunity to make a gesture that changes people’s lives. And secondly because we have shared a lot with each other, we have learned things we didn’t know about our colleagues and that is also very positive. So we’ve already bought some for ourselves to give to our family and close friends.”, commented Leticia Carbajo (Country Manager Spain & Head of Marketing), Paola Luyo (Head of Products & Partnerships) y Alex Girault (Financial Controller).
“It is a good gift choice, because individually you choose the solidarity experience that you believe is most beneficial when you feel fulfilled personally. Collectively it is also interesting because you choose, debate, argue, organize among a group the kind of solidarity experience you want to offer.” – Jorge Ruiz (Accounting Manager Spain).
“Yes, it’s a gift we’d make. Any show of solidarity with the less fortunate is important. We should feel fortunate for what we have and if we find ourselves in that situation we would appreciate a show of love and support.” – María José Muñoz (International Network Coordinator)
“I think it is a fantastic idea because apart from being a very original and supportive gift, it helps people who receive it to become more aware of the serious problems that occur in other parts of the world. You can even make a call effect, making these friends give the same gift to other friends, etc… In the end, it all adds up! And… There is nothing better than giving life and smiles to the people who need it most.” – David Coronado (CS Manager)
*About EDUCO: Educo is a global development cooperation NGO that works for children and their rights, especially the right to quality education. They work with children and their environment to promote more just and equitable societies that guarantee their rights and well-being.
