Louise Munch Johannsen is the new head of the vibrant Nordic Club of Jakarta. In an interview published on the website of the Norwegian Embassy in Jakarta, Louise Munch Johannsen explains about the main purpose of the club and its importance for newcomers to Jakarta.
“We help the newly arrived with all sorts of questions they have in a new country and a new city. We have a good website (www.nordicclubjakarta.org) with information about the club and upcoming events. People are also more than welcome to contact me or the various country representatives directly for more information”, Louise Munch Johannsen says.
The Nordic club has now 85 members.
“Everybody who has a connection to the Nordic countries can become a member. You are welcome not only if you are a citizen of a Nordic country, but also if you have a Nordic spouse or if one of you work for a Nordic company”, she says.
The Nordic club arranges coffee mornings, speeches and tours around Jakarta and its surroundings. “We also arrange a traditional crayfish party each autumn. We always try to get sponsors, which means that a substantial amount of money from these events goes to charity”.
“Apart from being a non profit social club for the Nordic countries, our most important function is our charity work”, says Louise Munch Johannsen in the interview.
The Nordic Club has a number of charities, some of which the club has supported for more than 20 years. In the Bekasi area, the Nordic club sponsors a local kindergarten with school fees and salaries for teachers. It also supports a midwife clinic, an orphanage and gives food and clothes to the river dwellers in the area. In North Jakarta the Nordic Club pays school fees for 10 orphans, as well as providing them with food, clothes and toys.
“We can also help on ad hoc basis. Last year we paid for a newborn’s cleft palate operation”, Louise says.
