'All my life I have had an affinity with the underprivileged. An old aunt once urged me: “Speak your languages, go abroad and broaden your horizons.” I have done that. I was a physician assistant and acting general practitioner in Curaçao for a while, from where I traveled through South America. Later I worked as a tropical doctor for Doctors without Borders. When I landed at Schiphol for the first time, I immediately noticed how well-kept the Netherlands is. Everything is correct and works. Inequality was there then and still is, it is timeless. You can resist it, but you can also try to do something about it. Back in the Netherlands I immediately became a donor to the UAF.'  

Making an impact

'You don't just change systems, but you can certainly make an impact on an individual level. For example, I opened my practice to residents of the asylum seekers' center in Middelburg. That way I came into contact with different stories, lives and problems. Every time I was confronted with a kind of powerlessness. We live in a society in which refugees are a problem according to many, while I think: we don't have a problem, they have a problem. No one gives up everything just to start over somewhere else. The richer people are, the harder they seem to share. This also applies to countries to an increasing extent.'

'Twenty years ago I came into contact with a refugee Iranian doctor couple in Zeeland, they had ended up here with nothing more than a bag and a baby. It clicked and I invited them to my practice to show how the Dutch healthcare system works. I helped them with the recognition process of their diploma and with the preparations for the medical exam. They persevered, passed with flying colors, found work and started training as a general practitioner. They now have a thriving practice in West Brabant. We're still friends.'