In Utrecht, where I was born and bred, I have first worked in a center for lung specialists and later as a dental assistant. When I got married, my husband and I moved to the south of the country, where I worked with a general practitioner for a year, but soon we had three babies.

Unfortunately I became a widow in 1979 and was left with the care of three children. Set your shoulders to the wheel and persevere was the motto. For many years, I couldn’t work in health care, as all my time and energy were devoted to my own family.

When the children had left the nest, I had a huge amount of spare time and I enrolled in my current job, assisting in a dental clinic, where I have been working for the past ten years. Meanwhile I have been doing three years of volunteering in a hospice, where I learned a great deal about the relativity of life and the importance of Carpe Diem.

My son Bas wrote wonderful newsletters to friends and family in 2002 from Honduras, where he was volunteering with street children. My desire to help grew fast and in January 2003 we founded ‘our’ foundation, Homeless Child.

I have now visited Honduras eleven times. It is awesome to share time with the children, to experience the warm feeling it gives when you see how they grow and how much they have learned in a year. In 2012 I will go for another working visit to see how things are going. I find health care especially interesting and I also enjoy helping with manual activities, playing with the kids and going to the beach for a swim, if we can.

It is great to be able to do my bit and help the children of the street go forward, helping them to become a child again, which is the least of their rights…

In the Netherlands I prefer the networking and that is what I concentrate on most.

Who knows how many children we can ultimately reach out to, assisting them to build a future. There are ever more children in the centers in Honduras!

We strive to support them

Will you help?

Thank you.