Renewable energy expert gives back to BiH
The BH Futures Foundation is proud to announce that Henk de Pater, renewable energy project manager and engineering expert from The Netherlands, has become a BH Futures Foundation mentor.
More than 20 years after serving as a volunteer soldier in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in April this year Henk visited the country with his son for the first time since the war. The former combat engineer and guard travelled through Sarajevo, Tuzla, Lukavac, Šantići, Busovača, Zvornik, Srebrenica and Divič. While the trip was emotional for Henk, the Dutch Army lost two soldiers and several of them were seriously injured or permanently disabled during this period of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he is determined to help young people in a country that had a profound effect on his life.
''During my trip I heard a lot about disadvantaged youth, high youth unemployment and struggles with forming an efficient economy'', Henk said.
In a career spanning large infrastructure projects, working across engineering and project manager roles, Henk has previously trained two former Bosnian refugees who became engineers in The Netherlands. After his recent trip to Bosnia, Henk reached out to our foundation to share his knowledge with a new generation of talented and hardworking students from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
''The youth have a positive approach and a willingness to escape the darkness of the past and that should be stimulated. I believe the B&H Futures Foundation is a very good mechanism to support this,“ Henk said.
Welcome to our foundation, Henk! We are inspired by your commitment and honoured to have you on board.
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B&H Futures Foundation s ponosom objavljuje da je Holanđanin Henk de Pater, projekt menadžer u oblasti obnovljive energije i inženjer sa dugogodišnjim iskustvom, postao BH Futures Foundation mentor.
Više od 20 godina nakon što je bio vojnik-dobrovoljac u Bosni i Hercegovini, u aprilu ove godine Henk je posjetio našu zemlju sa sinom prvi put od rata. Bivši vojni inženjer i čuvar posjetio je Sarajevo, Tuzlu, Lukavac, Šantiće, Busovaču, Zvornik, Srebrenicu i Divič. Dok je putovanje bilo emotivno za Henka, koji je izgubio nekoliko kolega iz jedinice tokom rata u Bosni i Hercegovini, cilj mu je da nastavi pomagati mladima u državi koja je umnogome oblikovala i njegov život.
„Tokom putovanja čuo sam mnogo toga o slabim ekonomskim uslovima za mlade, visokoj nezaposlenosti i problemima sa stvaranjem efikasne privrede“, kazao je Henk.
Tokom karijere u kojoj je radio na velikim građevinskim projektima kao inženjer i projekt menadžer, Henk je obučavao dvojicu Bosanaca koji su došli u Holandiju kao izbjeglice i postali inženjeri. Nakon nedavne posjete BiH, Henk je kontaktirao našu fondaciju kako bi podijelio svoje znanje sa novom generacijom talentovanih i marljivih studenata iz BiH.
„Mladi razmišljaju pozitivno i žele pobjeći iz tame prošlosti i to treba podržati. Vjerujem da je B&H Futures Foundation vrlo dobar mehanizam za podršku mladima“, rekao je Henk.
Dobro došli u našu fondaciju, Henk! Inspirisani smo Vašom požrtvovanošću i čast nam je što ste postali dio našeg tima.
