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Forty years old, of Swiss Citizenship, polyglot, Toni can be considered a Saint of the modern times, a second Saint Francis. He has not got a home; he only owns two small brief-cases. One for his personal effects, the second one for his suspension bridges designs,... yes because Toni helps the more destitute people to build or re-build their own bridges to link up two sides of a river after an hurricane, an earthquake, a war event.
The story began in Equador after a ruinous earthquake. At that time Tony was twenty and, he had finished his secondary studies, when he decided to leave Engadina in Switzerland to go and help the survivors.
The first day a blonde big boy loomed out of the ruins. "Hombres, if you want we could re-build the bridge. Only if you wish ?." They look at him astonished, they are not "hombres" but ghosts. "Can you see the river, after the earthquake it has become an ocean which has devoured our homes. How could we make it??
"I do not know, but we will make it. Only 40 of you will be enough. Bring stones and sand from the river. The children give a hand, the women cook, I look for old ropes and old pipes: I will recover them from various yards, from the oil-people in the forest" "But how much it will cost? We are as thin as a rake, here, we eat lizards"." Nothing, it will be enough working all together. In a month time it will be done" "A month? Olvidate, forget it! Eres loco, are you mad!? The day after 90 and not only 40 men appear and as soon as they start digging the ground they begin singing in chorus. A month later the ghosts had become "hombres" again and they run laughing on the new bridge.
After the first bridge others had followed in Equador, in Columbia, in Salvador e in Honduras and then in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and other countries yet. Today Toni has built more than 350 suspension bridges, with transit strictly limited to persons only. His team is composed by him, Walter in Central America and two Cambodian in Asia. A solidarity chain has been created around him. He receives materials free of charge, the ropes are those disused by the Swiss cableways, the tubes are from Tenaris, transports and other materials are all offered to him free of charge. People on the spot build on his instructions. Toni is a perfect project manager. In his brief case he carries his personal computer with his calculation programs. He, who renounced his engineering studies to help poor people to build their bridges, can organize his work so well and he is in a position to answer to everyone's need and to build bridges from long distances too, elaborating projects and shipping all necessary materials in short terms, thanks to Governments too who know him well by now and help him to overcome all bureaucracy tangles.
He speaks with simplicity, smiles and shows the movies of his bridges passed through people smiling and singing too. The bridges of love and we would say of happiness.
The engineering students clapped him for 10 long minutes of standing ovation, with eyes filled with emotion. A real project manager who knows how to organize his work, how to build up his team also with different people at every bridge and who never built bridges before.
Why this news? Come at Rome 2008 and you will find it out!
Toni Ruttimann "EL Suizo", an extraordinary Project Manager, has met the students at the Politecnico of Milan.
The story began in Equador after a ruinous earthquake. At that time Tony was twenty and, he had finished his secondary studies, when he decided to leave Engadina in Switzerland to go and help the survivors.
The first day a blonde big boy loomed out of the ruins. "Hombres, if you want we could re-build the bridge. Only if you wish ?." They look at him astonished, they are not "hombres" but ghosts. "Can you see the river, after the earthquake it has become an ocean which has devoured our homes. How could we make it??
"I do not know, but we will make it. Only 40 of you will be enough. Bring stones and sand from the river. The children give a hand, the women cook, I look for old ropes and old pipes: I will recover them from various yards, from the oil-people in the forest" "But how much it will cost? We are as thin as a rake, here, we eat lizards"." Nothing, it will be enough working all together. In a month time it will be done" "A month? Olvidate, forget it! Eres loco, are you mad!? The day after 90 and not only 40 men appear and as soon as they start digging the ground they begin singing in chorus. A month later the ghosts had become "hombres" again and they run laughing on the new bridge.
After the first bridge others had followed in Equador, in Columbia, in Salvador e in Honduras and then in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and other countries yet. Today Toni has built more than 350 suspension bridges, with transit strictly limited to persons only. His team is composed by him, Walter in Central America and two Cambodian in Asia. A solidarity chain has been created around him. He receives materials free of charge, the ropes are those disused by the Swiss cableways, the tubes are from Tenaris, transports and other materials are all offered to him free of charge. People on the spot build on his instructions. Toni is a perfect project manager. In his brief case he carries his personal computer with his calculation programs. He, who renounced his engineering studies to help poor people to build their bridges, can organize his work so well and he is in a position to answer to everyone's need and to build bridges from long distances too, elaborating projects and shipping all necessary materials in short terms, thanks to Governments too who know him well by now and help him to overcome all bureaucracy tangles.
He speaks with simplicity, smiles and shows the movies of his bridges passed through people smiling and singing too. The bridges of love and we would say of happiness.
The engineering students clapped him for 10 long minutes of standing ovation, with eyes filled with emotion. A real project manager who knows how to organize his work, how to build up his team also with different people at every bridge and who never built bridges before.
Why this news? Come at Rome 2008 and you will find it out!
Bridge, Cambodia
Bridge, Ecuador