AIDA President Felix Eichhorn heads to AIDA-funded school in Namibia

Together with Reiner Meutsch, founder of the Fly & Help Foundation which builds schools in developing countries and is a long-standing partner of AIDA Cruises, he visited the community in southwest Africa where he spoke with teachers and children. 

The school, which opened in May 2020 and has capacity for 160 children, is the 60th funded through the Cruise & Help initiative in 12 countries. Of those schools, 40 have already begun providing lessons. Combined, the projects represent 7,000 school places.  

Achieving great things

‘The curiosity and cheerfulness of the children from the Kaokoveld in Okanguati is precisely why AIDA Cruise & Help is collecting donations and building schools,’ Eichhorn explained. ‘We are very pleased that our initiative has already provided countless children in disadvantaged regions of the world with a permanent place in school. In this way, we are providing children and future generations with access to an education and thus with a real chance for a better future.’ 

The president added, ‘The impressive commitment of our crew and our guests shows that we can achieve great things together.’

Support for the world’s poorest regions 

AIDA opened the first school funded through the Cruise & Help initiative five years ago in Cebu City, The Philippines. The line’s focus is predominantly on crew members’ countries of origin and the regions regularly visited by the fleet’s 11 ships. AIDA works closely with the Reiner Meutsch Foundation Fly & Help to collect donations for the construction of schools in a specific region. 

All AIDA ships were able to finance at least one school project last year, with each vessel assigned a school to raise money for through raffles and auctions during voyages: for example, AIDAsol raised money for a three-classroom school in Ambodiriana, Madagascar and AIDAdiva funded a special school in Kodigipalli, India. This year, AIDA crew have again been set the goal of funding a school.