CITRO's Cause
Part 2
The following is an interview with the Citizen’s Rescue Organization (CITRO). I had the opportunity to speak to Corné van
Boeijen, who guided me through the awesome story behind the CITRO organization. .
- Zap Batteries Caribbean's finest -
Continued from part 1
Corné:
That is a very good question Jordan. I think that everybody who has been saved by our team in the past understands
why our organization is important. But it is not like we are getting any financial contributions from the people
that we are saving on a frequent basis. We are here to save lifes but we would love to have everybody who is at
sea and/or their families to contribute on a regular basis with CITRO through a standard order from a bank.
I mean in general CITRO’s operations tend to reach pretty far in their operational extend. We are not limited
to Curacao or our neighboring baby island Klein Curacao for that matter, reaching a radius of 48 km (30 miles)
outside of the coast. In cooperation with the Coast Guard for example, our people sometimes have to fly in with
the Coast Guard helicopter to give assistance for out at sea. We had a rescue mission where a sailing yacht
heading south to Martinique got assistance from CITRO where two members of ours were flown in by a helicopter
to help out a man with his critically life-endangered wife on board that ultimately passed away.
What CITRO did then was to transport the wife’s body to the chopper and then remain with the
husband to offer him emotional and navigational support to navigate back safely to Curacao.
These CITRO crew members remained 2 days away from home.
As CITRO we are part of the Governmental Calamity Organization. The Governement is supportive of our organization,
but we want to remain on our own. Thereby I would also have to mention, as an extra supporting party,
we have the police corps with whom we work wherever necessary. We are also proud to mention that a
great part of the donors are from local origin.
Jordan:
In what other ways do you guys support yourself in order to continue with your rescue operations?
Corné:
Well, once to twice a year we organize a fundraising in order to gather enough funds to finance the
operations of the upcoming year. We try to be in the media as much as possible, as per our attempt to
create more awareness. You will find us in the local newspapers and also through our commercial spot
on the radio.
Jordan:
Well Corné, I am speechless. With that I mean that I am quite surprised about the serious role that CITRO
has been taking on for so many years in order to contribute to the rest and safety of both local and
foreign citizens alike. But now, I am going to ask you what I consider probably the most important
question in this interview. How has Zap Batteries Caribbean been enabling and empowering CITRO’s
organization to perform their operations on schedule and with the necessary speed and power
to operate CITRO’s vehicles?
Corné:
Our equipment and the rest of our assets that enable our operations have to be a 100%. In order to make
our boats operational, we have to be able to start the motor. I think that is a quite logical assumption for
everybody. That which powers our motors are the Optima batteries of Zap Batteries Caribbean. We rely on the
batteries’ great quality and great durability. We got the recommendation of our battery purchase through the
Koninklijke Nederlandse Reddingsmaatschappij (KNRM) (the Dutch Royal Rescue Company). You can consider the KRM as our big brother.
Due to their experience and their years of quality testing, they have recommended us which batteries to use.
In that sense Zap Batteries Caribbean was the first one to approach us and communicated to us plainly that it
supports the cause of CITRO and stands 100% behind it. Zap Batteries Caribbean not only believes in what we
do, but also sponsors us in what we do, providing us with suitable batteries so that our motors can become
lean, mean rescuing machines. So in our perception, we got the best batteries for the best price from no
one else other than Zap Batteries Caribbean.
Jordan:
That is of course of no surprise for me Corné. I also consider Zap Batteries Caribbean
to be the best choice for your battery needs. Let’s say I want to become a member of the
CITRO organization and I would like to apply. How would such an application process proceed?
Corné:
Well you can start by filing an application through the CITRO website. You can go there directly by clicking
here.
You will receive an invitation to come for an intake interview. We do indicate during the interview that joining
CITRO is based on voluntary participation, but it is not free of obligation, especially if we are going to
invest time, energy and knowledge in you which again will create the expectation in us that you, as a new member,
will keep yourself to our agreement on helping out within our operations whenever you are needed by the organization.
Jordan:
Well Corné, I would like to thank you so much for your time. Based on everything that you told me,
it has made me pretty excited to join the CITRO organization. Again thank you and we will definitely
see each other again soon.
Corné:
You’re welcome Jordan! And I will see your sign-up application to our organization
coming in soon, I hope. Till next time.
This article has been written by
Jordan T. Emanuelson
CEO of jConsultancy
Email: jordan@j-consultancy.com
Website:
www.j-consultancy.com
