The Vaillant Group and “SOS Children’s Villages worldwide” are linked by an international partnership. Since 2013, the family-owned company has been supporting the children’s rights organisation with modern heating technology and a wide range of social projects. In the “Heroes for a warm home” series, we tell the stories of the heroes behind this unique cooperation.
He is deployed in the world's crisis hotspots. Whether wars, floods or earthquakes - the 33-year-old is always one of the first on the ground for SOS Children's Villages. Helping children and families in crisis regions is a matter close to the heart for the Graz native.
It's important for children in emergency situations to feel safe and something like normality.
Emergency Response Advisor at SOS Children’s Villages International
© Katerina Ilievska
A piece of normality in extreme situations. As an emergency response advisor, Julian Erjautz has been working for SOS Children's Villages worldwide since 2021. The 33-year-old trains helpers on site in dealing with the crisis. Close contact with affected children and families is particularly important to him. Giving hope and confidence in situations that sometimes seem hopeless.
© Alea Horst
Operations in crisis areas require full concentration. Keep calm, weigh things up and act carefully. Keeping a cool head in challenging situations. Julian Erjautz is also driven by this in his free time, which provides a balance to his professional life.
Climbing is his passion. When the Austrian hangs out on the steep face, he can best recharge his batteries. Hours of solitude and silence. Switching off from the impressions of his everyday working life. Even for the crisis-tested professional, missions in crisis areas are always a mental challenge.
The risk manager has been looking for a challenge on the mountain for 15 years. He began his professional career at almost the same time.
The list of countries in which the Austrian has coordinated emergency aid from SOS Children's Villages is long: e.g. Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Jordan. Children and families in European countries such as Ukraine and Poland also need support.
Some of the moments I experience are very emotional for me.
Emergency Response Advisor at SOS Children’s Villages International
Julian Erjautz has been working on projects in Ukraine since the beginning of 2022. At the beginning of the Russian invasion, the 33-year-old coordinated the aid missions in the border region with Poland. For Julian Erjautz, the war in Ukraine is probably the most extensive project of his career to date.
Kyjiw under heavy fire. Julian Erjautz visits Ukraine shortly after the start of the war to gain an initial impression of the situation on the ground.
© Alea Horst
Between everyday life and air raid alert. The interdisciplinary team works hand in hand to help children and families in Ukraine.
Laughing, playing, a sense of normality. Children should remain children - even in difficult times. For Julian Erjautz and his team, this is a matter close to their hearts.
Millions of people are affected by the consequences of this war. In some areas, like near the front line in the east and the cities of Kharkiv or Poltava, the conflict is raging more intensely, more fiercely than in other areas of Ukraine. The sirens, which sound at regular intervals and shake people to the core, have become a surreal part of everyday life. Living with the war.
A ball. A skipping rope. An unhindered laugh. Sometimes war and crisis fade into the background for a moment.
Moments of light-heartedness. Moments of being a child.
Conflicts and disasters hit the weakest the hardest: children. SOS Children's Villages provides targeted humanitarian aid for children and families in crisis areas. SOS Children's Villages is currently active in two of the greatest hotspots of our time: the humanitarian crises in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.
Thanks to the local stations, their teams are often the first in the disaster area – enabling fast, efficient and sustainable aid. The organization's employees know the country and its people and know what is needed in an emergency. The focus of the emergency aid measures is always on the child.
In conflict areas SOS Children's Villages helps by distributing urgently needed relief supplies. They’re providing psychological support and reuniting families who have been separated from each other in the chaos or they are committed to providing short-term or long-term accommodation for children who no longer have relatives. The organization's child protection centers also offer children a safe place to play and learn. In order to offer children and families real prospects for the future, SOS Children's Villages remain on site for the long term.
Find out more about the work of SOS Children's Villages at: https://www.sos-kinderdoerfer.org/inform/how-we-help/emergency-aid
The Vaillant Group and “SOS Children’s Villages worldwide” have been linked by an international partnership since 2013. As a family-owned company, we support the children’s rights organisation with modern heating technology and a wide range of social projects. Because every child needs a warm home.
