Financing an aid mission yourself? Yes, it’s possible - Johannes Häußermann is the proof. "An Engineer for Madagascar" is the name of the crowdfunding drive by which the young engineer and medical technician funded his trip to Madagascar in the summer of 2015. Many of the medical instruments there were out of service, with no trained technician to fix them for hundreds of miles around. A lot of work lay ahead of Johannes.

He spent three months travelling through the country putting instruments back into service at hospitals like the Hopitaly SALFA Manambaro at the southern tip of the island, tinkering for the charity Mobile Hilfe Madagaskar, preparing a truckload of hospital furniture for Fotadrevo with the help of our project manager Claudia, and running interviews for new local hospital technicians. To read more about Jo’s experiences in Madagascar (in German), check out his blog.