Nearly 20,000 people live in the Lungau region of Salzburg. Everyone knows each other. That was also the case for me with Werner Waldmann. As a Lungau native, I knew who he was, and I had also heard of the Austrian Doctors. Through producing printed materials for the Austrian Doctors, I got to know Werner personally and came to appreciate him. His compassionate manner of speaking, with a natural commitment to wanting to help people—convincing, strong, and full of experience from all his work as a pediatrician in Austria and around the world—made a deep impression on me.
When Werner told me that he wanted to prepare the Austrian Doctors for the future and distribute responsibilities more broadly, I thought: ‘What a forward-looking and timely step.’ I did not expect the question of whether I would like to be part of it. I am not a doctor, I have no medical background, and no educational background either. But I do understand something about business and marketing. Since 2019, I have been trying to understand and support in these areas.
Before actually starting on the board, I absolutely wanted to travel to one of the projects to see for myself what defines the Austrian Doctors and what they achieve on site. I traveled with the then-managing director Maria Graf to Kenya to visit the MAA Eroret School in Loodoriak (about three hours from Nairobi). There, nearly 300 children are taught, receive a warm meal once a day, and have the opportunity to change their future through education.
Changing and taking control of one’s own future through education is close to our hearts. That is why, together with our long-standing project partner, we built a trainingcenter in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The goal of the training center is to provide the younger generation of the slum population with the opportunity for vocational training, thereby opening the path to a self-determined life for young adults. With our local team, we offer courses in areas such as tailoring and sewing, electrical engineering, health, nutrition, and hygiene. The plan is to continuously expand the center and offer additional technical courses, to pass on locally needed knowledge and create new opportunities through education.
To this day, I am still amazed at how much can be changed with so little. For example, the future of children and their families. For about 9 euros, a child in Bangladesh can attend school for a month and receive a warm lunch there every day. A small contribution can change lives in some areas. Let us make use of our opportunity and the privilege of being able to help.
Your Ing. Lisa Frost, BA
Deputy Treasurer of the Austrian Doctors
