The result of the fundraising campaign can now be found at the bottom of this page!
Aid for Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil
Dear Niem-Handel customers, dear Niem-Handel friends!
As the founder and owner of Niem-Handel, I would like to draw your attention today to the natural disaster in southern Brazil and ask for your help!
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil. The northern half in particular is very reminiscent of the German low mountain ranges or Tuscany, with vineyards and fruit growing, family farming and many pleasant small towns.
Very few of you will know that this region has been my home since I was a child. I grew up here and still live here today.
After coming to Germany to study in the nineties and subsequently founding the company Niem-Handel, I moved back to Brazil 20 years later for love and family. Since then, I have been running the company from here with the active support of my team in Germany.
It has been raining here almost non-stop since the last week of April, accompanied by heavy thunderstorms and storms. These ‘El Niño’ effects have not only triggered landslides in our state of Rio Grande Sul, but have also destroyed roads, bridges, dams and in some cases even entire towns and settlements.
A large part of the country has been under water for more than three weeks. The capital Porto Alegre and its neighbouring cities with around 3 million inhabitants are located at the entrance to the huge ‘Lagoa dos Patos’ lagoon, into which most of the country's rivers flow. This lagoon only has a single outlet in the far south, and it will take weeks for the immense masses of water to drain away. Many thousands of people have lost all their belongings and their homes. Many people are dead and missing. It is a disaster of unimaginable proportions.
Here is a short Instagram video in which I describe the situation on the ground (in German):
As we as a company would also like to contribute to the relief effort, we have decided to help those affected directly in the area around my home town.
In May and June, we will donate EUR 2.00 for every order received to a private relief fund that I know personally:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6zLrvNpWH6/
As I am personally involved in the relief effort, I can guarantee that 100% of this money will go to help those affected.
My team in Germany and I personally will also be involved and I would like to invite you to donate too!
If you can make a small contribution, the people here will be eternally grateful to you!
If you would also like to donate to our relief fund, please transfer the amount to our company account and we will then pass on the donations collectively:
Niem-Handel Gerald Moser
Frankfurter Volksbank
IBAN: DE36 5019 0000 0000 0992 95
Purpose of use: “SOS Rio Grande do Sul”
Below you will find alternative ways in which you can donate to the region and the people here:
- Caritas International:
https://www.caritas-international.de/hilfeweltweit/lateinamerika/brasilien/nothilfe-ueberschwemmungen - Gustav-Adolf-Werk:
https://www.gustav-adolf-werk.de/Brasilien.html
UPDATE 05.06.2024: Help for those affected by the floods in Germany
When we planned and launched our relief campaign for Rio Grande do Sul in the first half of May, we had no idea that some regions, especially in the south and southwest of Germany, would also be hit by flooding.
In view of the changed situation, we have decided to adjust our relief campaign as follows:
For every order placed in our online shop in May and June, we will donate €1.50 to those affected in the emerging nation of Brazil and €0.50 to those affected in the German flood regions.
The donations for Brazil will go to the above-mentioned relief fund, and the donations for Germany to the Caritas International relief project.
If you would like to make a direct donation to the victims in Germany, you can do so at various organisations. Caritas International and the Diakonisches Hilfswerk are just two examples:
Relief programme of Caritas International
Relief programme of the Diakonisches Hilfswerk
UPDATE 08.08.2024:
Result of the campaign
With our relief campaign, we collected a total of €3,146.00 by the end of June.
We donated a quarter of this amount (€591.50) to Caritas International for the emergency relief of the floods in southern Germany.
The remaining three quarters (€2,554.50) were transferred to Brazil as originally planned. The money was used to repair the houses of those affected by the flooding in Gerald Moser's home town of Novo Hamburgo. As an example, you can see pictures here of the house of Aline Maria de Sá, who lost all her possessions in the floods.
Gerne können Sie sich auch direkt mit Fragen an mich wenden: gemoser@niem-handel.de.
Vielen Dank für Ihre Hilfe!
Herzlichst
Ihr Gerald Moser