I am the director of Monuments Fund Aruba. I work together with my colleagues on the preservation of our cultural heritage. As a director my task is not very specific, more general. My colleagues are the experts in their fields of maintenance, projects, education & marketing and office management & bookkeeping. We all work in the same office so we communicate via very short lines on a daily basis. Each week we sit as a group to discuss the progress and overlap of our work. Every month we report to our Board and prepare information for them to base their decisions on. Another part of my job is to keep in touch with main stakeholders, supporters and organizations that we cooperate with. This part is often described as ‘drinking coffee’, but in fact I did not drink one drop of coffee since I was 20… ;-). The networking is however really useful and helps us reach our goals. We experience a lot of support from a wide range of organizations and companies.

What do you love about your work at SMFA?

I love the fact that the results of our foundations work is very visible, that my job is different every day and that I get to meet so many inspiring people. In the few years I have been on Aruba I have developed a great appreciation, even love, for our cultural heritage. Not only are most of our monuments very beautiful, but also their (hi) stories are amazing. Due to our enthusiastic team, lots of energy and patience, we enjoy seeing our monuments getting in shape and being appreciated by people from Aruba as well as tourists.