My Face, My Phases

Mama – I have one daughter, who lives in the Netherlands, who is my great pride and joy and a son-in-law who is the son I never had.  And now, I am delighted with the addition of a new member of our family, who fills me with the wonder of life, as another generation is born in our midst.

I am also blessed to be called Mama by many sons and daughters, young and old, spread over the nations of the world.  Lives that have touched mine and who I have had the unique opportunity and privilege to connect with and in some small way inspire.

Spiritual Leader – we are all here with a purpose and a unique calling, with potential for significance and contribution.  Helping others to heal in their unique identity, discover their true self and develop their creative capacity is the passion of my life.

We are currently engaged in a prototype vision where we would develop Hubs in every district, poised to work together with other churches or service organizations on Spiritual development, Community Engagement and serving the particular needs of each district community in partnership with its residents, other churches or those of good will. This is deployed by The Hub Foundation, also a not for profit NGO. Out first Hub has been established in San Nicholas’ main street and is serving the community there at the Hub@San Nicholas.

Entrepreneur – business and social entrepreneurship are at the core of my activities and pursuits, and I believe that creative leadership is key to build a strong community and nation.In this capacity, I have been involved in the Tourism Industry for over 4 decades, as a Shareholder of De Palm Corporation. After many years of working in different positions in the company, I am now a member of the Supervisory Board.

In the area of Social Entrepreneurship, I initiated an agricultural project called Goshen Sustainable Corporation, which unfortunately due to lacking government support, and a lack of capital for scaling the project, is one of the projects that did not come to its full potential and we had to sell the facility.

I am also the founder of HopeAruba Movement Foundation, which is a Civic organization committed to working towards Civic Education that leads to a Civic Movement in which we all participate in co-creating the future for our nation and co-share in its prosperity.

Activist – I must admit that I have a hope-filled perspective of life and people.  I want to be someone who sees the opportunity amid great contradiction and challenge, and believe that situations, circumstance, people and our nation can change…no matter what!

With this intention, I have engaged in many endeavors and committees over the years.

In 2021 I decided to participate in the elections for Parliament, revived an iconic political party, PPA and together with others tried to be a voice for true reformation in the leadership, structures and systems of our nation. I had to come to the sad conclusion that our cultural mindset is not ready to pay the price for true transformative change. We are still stuck in an old paradigm that maintains politics as usual. After deep reflection I decided that this was not the path for me, and that I would rather invest the remaining years of my life to work towards Nation building through HopeAruba’s initiatives, particularly with the youth, and in partnership with others that had the future good of our nation at heart.