Organization

Cootje has worked at the Ministry of Defense. There she held various advisory and managerial positions, in recent years as deputy director of the Service Center for Organization and Formation.

Robin combines her experience as a dental hygienist with entrepreneurship as an operations manager. In 2019 she was part of the dental team for a volunteer project in El Salvador.

Yvonne has worked in accountancy and has held positions as controller, head of administration and director of shared services at various companies. In 2015 she was the financial controller of the Lion Heart Foundation in Sierra Leone.

Dirk is an Emergency Medicine Doctor with extensive international experience as a physician. He enjoys contributing to international projects outside the hospital. He is also a lecturer in acute medicine.

Merlijn is affiliated as a gastrointestinal and oncological surgeon at Radboudumc, where his focus lies primarily on treating patients with esophageal and thyroid cancer.

Medical doctor and PhD candidate in surgery at the Maxima Medical Center in Veldhoven. She grew up in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Specialist in International Health and Tropical Medicine, working in the Pastaza province of Ecuador.

Doctor born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She is currently doing a postgraduate program in geriatrics in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Born in Loja, Ecuador. Steffi completed her training as a hospital pharmacist in the Netherlands in 2022, after which she decided to return to her native Ecuador. She wants to do her part to improve healthcare and to develop clinical pharmacy in Ecuador.

Head of the architectural design workshop and lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial (UTE) in Quito, Ecuador. He designs and develops furniture at Atelier Design, his own studio. He loves good cooking.

Founder of the travel agency Southern Expeditions and Marketing Director of the brand My Adventure Ecuador. Both companies are based in Quito, Ecuador.

Formerly the owner of Van Every Construction, California, United States, now retired. Throughout her life she has been an activist and supporter of human well-being and rights. She loves spending time with her family and friends, music and theater, travel and nature.

Specialist in International Health and Tropical Medicine, now working in Ecuador. He also has professional experience in the Netherlands and Sierra Leone.

Matthijs is Support Specialist Major Accounts at Heutink ICT, a major player in the field of ICT in primary education in the Netherlands. After installing an IT network in Sierra Leone for the Lion Heart Medical Center in Yele in 2015, Matthijs has now taken on the planning, installation and maintenance of the extensive IT network of Hospital San Miguel for Quina Care.

Vincent works at Paqt, a Dutch software company that designs apps for medical applications. For Hospital San Miguel he handles the maintenance and ongoing improvement of the electronic medical record (EMR).

Hans is a retired medical analyst with extensive experience across nearly the entire spectrum of diagnostics. Having spent part of his career working in Tanzania and Nicaragua, these years in the tropics make his contribution to Quina Care all the more valuable. Hans writes the Spanish-language protocols for diagnostics, helps think through the setup of the laboratory and is always available for further advice.

Elza worked as an architect until 2020 and has always realized socially engaged projects. Her focus is now on contributing to sustainable real estate, by helping homeowners on their way to completing the energy transition. A tour through South America in 2018 brought her into contact with Quina Care, and she has been passionately involved with the organization ever since.

Jaap is a retired livestock farmer who, since the founding of Quina Care, has transported all inventory from across the country to the farm in The Hague and stored it there. He has visited many hospitals, care clinics and offices in the process, even as far as Belgium. He also plays a central role in packing the inventory into the containers that are shipped.

Hans is a retired firefighter from Delft. Many times he has joined Jaap to lend a helping hand with loading, unloading and sorting the inventory. From the far north all the way to Belgium. He is also a trusted force in preparing the sea containers that are shipped to Ecuador.

Barbara van Vugt-Bouwman, philosophy teacher at The International School of The Hague, has by now done many translations from Dutch to English. For example for our website, but also the newsletters and blogs & vlogs.

Magiel, who works for the Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards and is a former naval officer, lived in Guayaquil for a year as an exchange student after secondary school. There, in addition to knowledge of the Spanish language, he gained a love for the country and its people. In his role as fundraiser he tries to contribute so that Quina Care can provide care in Puerto el Carmen over the long term as well.

Erik is a PhD candidate in solar energy at SERIS, a research institute based in Singapore, and grew up in Costa Rica and Ecuador. He translates texts and newsletters from Quina Care into Spanish.

Lisette has been working as an oncology dietitian at the Verbeeten Institute for over 20 years. She is involved with Quina Care because of her affinity with the organization of nutritional care. This was her area of specialization and she gained experience in it at the care institutions where she previously worked.

Jessica currently works as a general practitioner in the Rotterdam region. Before this she worked as a specialist in International Health in India and Mexico. She has spent two periods working in Ecuador and brings this experience along as a point of contact for future volunteers.

Darius is operations director at Tradinco Instruments and is responsible for designing the new website.

Mariska is a radiation oncologist by profession and former secretary of Quina Care. She designs and distributes the newsletter and is involved in the nutrition project.