When we look at our 2023 annual report, showing an expenditure of €832,100.11 for the countries Bangladesh, India, Kenya, and Ethiopia—where we are active in medical care, education (schools, further training, scholarship programs, etc.), and water projects—these are certainly not insignificant expenses to manage with only two full-time employees.
Fulfilling these diverse tasks is of course only possible if many people contribute their time voluntarily and without pay. All board members, auditors, members, supporters at our benefit events, staff at the annual booth at the Salzburg Advent Market at Alten Markt, and so on, work on a voluntary basis. A look at the medical work, which resumed after the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrates this volunteer commitment: the doctors not only provide their services at the project sites free of charge but also cover at least half of their flight costs.
Our chairmen, Dr. Christian Gross and Dr. Christian Gruber, also perform the necessary oversight tasks in our projects free of charge and cover their own flight costs; this, too, is voluntary and unpaid. Regarding my work: I am neither a doctor nor have I studied; I am a businessman, and my responsibilities include all donation entries, payments, cash management, and recording all income and expenses in the designated accounting framework. This task is important so that our tax advisor can complete the annual financial statement, which is a key component for obtaining the annual donation quality seal.
Now I would like to turn to ‘YOU,’ our supporters and donors: You are the financial foundation of our work, without which we could not carry out our diverse activities. Your regular donations are an important part of our planning and the ongoing expenses in our projects.
Please continue to support us so that we can carry on our contribution to a just world for many disadvantaged people, in accordance with our guiding principle: ‘THE HAPPINESS OF BEING ABLE TO HELP.’
Your Matthias Milles
Treasurer of the Austrian Doctors
