Vivian Mutindi Founder and Operationeel director, born in Kenya but now living in the Netherlands and working as a Physician assistant Anesthesiology in the eye hospital zonnestraal Amersfoort.
Vivian returned to her native country in 2013 and came by coincidence in the village of Oloonkolin. She was confronted with the deplorable living conditions of the people there and decided to help them. For this purpose, both Stichting Oloonkolin Kenya (in the Netherlands) and Oloonkolin Foundation Kenya (in Kenya) were established in 2014. Together with the local population and people from outside with knowledge of development aid, she identified the needs and opportunities and designed a number of project plans to solve these problems in a sustainable way.
Soesma Angnoe supports Oloonkolin Foundation Kenya with a Women Empowerment Project that supports the women of Oloonkolin in becoming independent and looking after their own interests. Soesma also supports Lianne de Vries in her project to counter female genital mutilation.
My name is Fred Kuin, 58 years of age. I worked for Ahold for 37 years, the last 10 of which as a financial administrator for Etos. I was also a project administrator for a construction company for six months. I will apply my financial and bookkeeping expertise and experience to provide Oloonkolin Foundation Kenya with sound financial administration.
My name is Chris van Moorsel. I have an agency, Y4it mediadesign, which focuses on the development of internet communications. I build websites, produce animations, videos and interactive applications for the cultural and educational sector. Many of my clients are associated with Wilde Ganzen and Partin. Previously, I did various things in the cultural sector, like organising festivals, children's theatre and television.
In addition, I have done a great deal of teaching, including in the art sector. That experience is useful in the co-development of educational material for Oloonkolin. In addition, I will run the website, I have made a few videos and want to help establish an exchange programme to put children in the Netherlands in contact with children in Kenya via the internet.
My name is Lianne de Vries and I am an anthropologist. As I have experience in working on various projects to tackle female genital mutilation, I was asked to support Oloonlokin Foundation Kenya in ending this practice. I went to Kenya for three months in 2007 to investigate the attitudes of Maasai girls towards mutilation.
A striking finding was that all girls said they would prefer not to put their own daughters through it. There is a small group of women in Oloonkolin who are ready for change. I would like to develop an alternative ritual in collaboration with them. The actual circumcision will be abolished, but the customs that form part of the ritual will remain. Instead of girls being circumcised to prepare them for the transition to womanhood and marriage, they will be educated about womanhood and relationships. After a few days in isolation, they return to the community and participate in a ceremony wearing beautiful clothes and jewellery. The objective is to do away with female genital mutilation completely and thus prevent physical, psychological and sexual problems.
My name is Ton Smit. I am an ophthalmologist at Oogziekenhuis Zonnestraal in Amersfoort and the medical director of the laser centre. I am also a board member of Stichting Leer Anderen Helpen (SLAH). This foundation provides ophthalmic care to disadvantaged people in developing countries.
The work of the Olonkoolin Foundation also benefits us in the Netherlands. The modernisation of cataract surgery techniques means the new generation of ophthalmic surgeons in developed countries have increasingly less experience of performing classic surgical procedures such as Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (MSICS). In some cases, this technique is preferable to modern techniques.
That is why we endeavour to provide the new generation of ophthalmic surgeons with the opportunity to learn and maintain these skills in developing countries, where they are still widely used.
That way, we develop expertise there, as well as back in the Netherlands. This could lead to a mutually beneficial long-term relationship in future.
My name is Chantal Westerhoff-de Ruiter and I am 34 years old. I am married and a mother of 2 children: a daughter of 4.5 years and a son of 2 years of age. I am a nurse by profession and currently work in a nursing home in a somatic department. I found my way to the Oloonkolin Foundation via Vivian. I have known her for over 15 years. We did our personal healthcare assistant training together and she has meanwhile become a very good friend. When Vivian told me about the foundation, I gave her some advice. Not long afterwards, she phoned me to ask whether I would lead on the educational aspect of the water and hygiene project. I agreed and am now busy developing an information and education programme on water, sanitation and hygiene. The idea is that I will train the teachers and nurse in Oloonkolin in this regard. This is quite a challenge and I am incredibly excited about it.
My name is Richard de Ruiter. I graduated from Delft University. I participated in the thesis project entitled Urban Emergencies, Research platform for post-disaster urban response. The thesis project was set up as a partnership between Cordaid, Wageningen University, Tilburg University and Delft University. The study was established following the earthquake in Haiti on 12 January 2010.
The subject on which I focused was: Changing Landscape & Land-Use, Demand for resources of urban areas. Using Metabolism to achieve Resilient use of the natural landscape. It was important to me to develop a method to determine an optimal and responsible way of utilising the landscape.
My area of research for my thesis project was: Developing a methodology to map suitability of land use to achieve resilient use of the natural landscape in the agriculture sector for the (re)development of rural areas through metabolism. (New Rural development, (through) new natural urban ecologies).
I shared my research with Mrs. Vivian Mutindi and she was so enthusiastic that she asked me to join the Oloonkolin team. I looked at what plants we could grow to provide food and building materials. I looked at bamboo, rice and hemp for Haiti. The plan is to investigate the options for Oloonkolin.
Saskia Tieken is a midwife. She will work on setting up a sub-project to support pregnant women and provide care and support to mother and baby. Our ambition is to reduce mortality drastically. Saskia has a great deal of experience in this. You can find more information on her website
Victor Keppel Hesselink has much experience in biogas, amongst other things. He will focus on the sanitation and sewerage project. This will involve the use of Ecosan toilets, with biogas being produced from the excrement. This biogas can be used for cooking, amongst other things, which means that fewer or no trees will need to be felled for firewood. Women will also have more time for other things, such as economic development through agricultural activities, for example.
David Muthengi Musili Founder and Operational drector Kenya. Born and living in Kenya. Has experience as manager of the Watu Wangu Children's Center, Caves Inn Lodge at Masai Mara National Reserve and also owns the travel agency Sunset Safari Kenya, Tours & Safaris.
As manager of the Masai Mara National Reserve David worked with a lot of Masai and got to know them as very warm and friendly people. David also learned a lot about the Maasai culture and participated in their traditional ceremonies.
But heartbreaking for David remained the harrowing poverty in which the Maasai lived because of lack of knowledge and development. The Masai are a particularly proud people, proud of their traditions, but unfortunately it is partly these traditions that stop their development. But David soon discovered that the Maasai are willing to change and develop. That is why he brought Vivian Mutindi to the village of Oloonkolin, so they decided to help the Maasai in the transmara area to put an end to this poverty.
My name is Rose Mawia Kyalo. I’m a Kenyan living in Kenya, born in April 2nd 1998. I completed my bachelor’s degree in Business Information Technology in December 2020. When I reached out to Vivian, I had the intention of working and raising the standards of the organization by applying the knowledge I have gained in school and from the society. I was aware that the Oloonkolin Foundation was an organization of sound management that appreciates hard work, team spirit, builds individual capacity and has room for mobility and personal development.
I will be supporting Oloonkolin Foundation’s ophthalmology project in Kenya by participating in the digitalization of patient registration at all ophthalmology sites in Trans Mara Kenya. I will also be supervising Oloonkolin Foundation’s project for the making reusable sanitary pads and teaching teachers and children in schools about it and thereafter train the teachers at the schools to become ambassadors of the project. Together with them I shall train and guide the girls at the schools in the use of the reusable sanitary pads, sexual education & Hygiene.
A hardworking member of the Foundation, Narikungera is very dedicated. She has a small farming business. She trains the community to counter the tradition of Female Genital Mutilation [FGM], which is still prevalent in this region.
Mr. Mutunga: profession in agriculture and the rural development program. With special emphasis on beekeeping.
Mr. Mutunga has more than fifteen years of experience in apiculture projects, implementation and management. He was head coach of the improved livelihood in the Mandera Triangle Program (ELMT) of CARE international Kenya.
Mr. Mutunga is very pleased with the invitation from the Oloonkolin Foundation to share his knowledge and experience and thereby improve the living conditions of the maasai community in transmara.
MaraStitch Hospital strives to provide sustainable, accessible and affordable care for every resident in Oloonkolin and the surrounding area. The focus is on constantly improving the quality of care to guarantee clinical outcomes, patient safety and patient satisfaction
The website: https://marahospital.com/
Mara Water supplies wants to make a difference to provide the people of Narok County with clean and safe drinking water. They provide innovative solutions for schools, companies, hospitals and households. They also pay attention to expenses and that local people are trained for construction and maintenance. By making micro_crdites accessible, they can later set up their own companies.
The website: https://marawatersupply.org/
The GreenBerg International Limited's local engineer is responsible for training bricklayers and for coordinating the construction process.
The Oloonkolin Foundation works with the County Ministry of Health to improve the quality of care in health centers and the hygiene of communities.
The goal of this NGO in Kenya is to help improve the living conditions of the inhabitants of the village of Oloonkolin. The residents drives the project themselves. The Foundation focuses on removing the causes of poverty. For example by giving advice on matters such as hygiene, agriculture and trade. In addition, they offer practical support in building sanitary facilities and installing water services. All this contributes to significant improvements in the areas of housing, health, education and basic services.