Renée Toft Simonsen - 2006 - Renée Toft Simonsen


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TV2 interview at "Go Morgen Danmark" aired 3. November 2006
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You can see the video at TV2 Sputnik here, but you need the newest version 7 of Internet Explorer and much memory on your computer. If you click then at "Se nu" you should be able to see the video. Good luck!
And this is what Renée said in the interview. Many, many thanks to Anja for doing this although you had so less time!!

Interviewer: Yesterday Renee Toft Simonsen received an award from the cosmetic company Clarins. Each year, the company presents an award to a woman who involves herself in the living conditions for children and Renee Toft Simonsen is the first Danish woman to receive this award. Congratulations for this award in the amount of 150,000 Danish kroner which you instantly have donated to – whom?
Renee: To Plan International. And thank you very much.
Interviewer: And Plan International is something that you are very involved with. Before I move on to someone who knows much more about this, please tell us a little about what Plan International is.
Renee: Well, it is a humanitarian organisation on an international level and there is a branch in Denmark called PLAN International Danmark and I helped establish it about ten years ago. I am apart of the board and have been so for, what, 9 years?
(looking at Gwen Visti, head of PLAN Danmark, who nods her head).
Interviewer: And you have been a sponsor for this child named Joachino...
Renee: Yes. The main goal of PLAN is sponsor-ships and I have been a sponsor for Joachina for 8, 9 years, I think, right from the beginning. She lives in Bolivia, in a region called Tacamara...
Interviewer: And you have visited her?
Renee: I have visited her, yes, about 8 years ago when we filmed a documentary film. That is when I visited her.
Interviewer: In the mean time she has turned 18 years old and you have now transfered your 185 Kroner to another child...
Renee: Yes, to her little sister, Maria. It works that way in PLAN that when the child reaches the age of 18 the child can no longer have a sponsor. I was then offered her little sister and I thought that was really great. I see it in the way that it’s all of the family who are sponsors for Joachina, so... yes.
(The interviewer talks to Gwen Visti, head of PLAN Danmark about the specifics of PLAN international. One time Renee buts in when the interviewer mentions the amount of money, 185 kr, that goes from the sponsor to the child each month: Renee says: “It’s such a small amount of money, it’s like nothing! And you can write it off on your taxes!” (she laughs)).
Interviewer: So you get feedback from the community, the child... You must have experienced this in all of these years?
Renee: Yes, I most certainly have. I have heard from Joachina many times, I have gotten letters from there and I have travelled for PLAN, I have travelled in Uganda and in India and I have seen first hand how the projects were run and met the people in the local PLAN offices. And my experience with PLAN has shown me that the money goes to the rightful place and that your aid really does help.
Interviewer: I know from personal experience that travelling to these places really makes an impression on you. How do you “wash” these sad memories away?
Renee: I don’t really know if it’s something you need to have washed away from your mind, I think you have to carry it with you. I think it’s something we all need to be aware of all the time, that we live in a society that is so rich, where there is an abundance of everything and that there are a lot of people on this planet that do not have it as good as we do. And that the riches and resources really are unevenly shared. In this part of this world we have a moral obligation to have a social consciousness and be aware of this problem.
Interviewer: Do you teach this to your children?
(Gwen talks about that the kids needs to know that there is more to life than designer jeans and Renee says: .... “and Gucci bags!”)
Renee: I would have to say that my kids are a little fed up with this some times when I tell them about it ...
Gwen: ... and MTV afterparty...!
Renee: Yes, MTV afterparty...! (laughs)
Interviewer: That is a whole other story. Let us get back to the 150,000 kr. When we were sitting in the kitchen before we made a calculation that with that sum we can help 70 children for a year, and that is with all the basic needs.
Gwen: But aside from your sponsorchild, you also help the children who does not have a sponsor.
Interviewer: If you picture 3 or 4 Danish Elementary School classes, you can help them and their families.
The interview ends with the interviewer asking Gwen Visti to tell something about the current issues and campaigns. Then the interviewer again congratulates Renee on the award and she says: Thank you very much.

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