Passion to serve the less fortunate brings Dutch lady to Kundapur
Silvester D’Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (EP)
Kundapur, Nov 2: Maartje van den Brand is a 36-year-old lady born in a well-to-do family in The Netherlands. She learned physiotherapy there. She did not like the posh life but wanted to serve people. So she came to India and chose Kundapur for her mission. She has been working at Manasa Jyothi training centre for the physically challenged for the last six years and has become a unique social worker.
Maartje’s father is Gan, a retired jail superintendant in The Netherlands. Though retired, he still trains people. Her mother is a gym trainer. Maartje is fond of serving the physically challenged. She serves them with her own money without anticipating anything in return and has been doing so without any brake since 2007.
Service in Indonesia
She had gone to Indonesia immediately after her physiotherapy course and served there for a year before going back to The Netherlands and working there for seven years. She came to India in search of opportunity to serve.
Travel to India
Maartje came to India on October 15, 2007. She donated funds to training center and her parents donated Rs 30 lac. The people getting treated at the center are fond of her. She trains them in yoga and literacy and tries hard to strengthen them and has even succeeded in her attempt.
She says that she does not want to get married as she finds happiness and contentment in serving at the centre. She claims that she does not do much but works together with others and is happy about it.
A Kannadiga
Maartje speaks in fluent Kannada and likes the Kannadiga culture. She says that she likes to see people going to temples. She feels that the support being given to such centers is not sufficient. "The cities are developing and posh houses are coming up here but I feel sad to see the condition of roads," she says.
Devoted to service
She has brought several items from her hometown such as wheel chair, study material and special equipment for the physically challenged. Her parents who come to see their daughter every year also spend their time at the center. The associations have still not identified her service. She values time but does not look for praise or recognition for her service.
It can be rightly said that Maartje's heart is in the right place, but sadly, she has a heart ailment and doctors have recommended her to undergo surgery in December. She remains dedicated to her work despite the pain. She has put her knowledge as a physiotherapist into practice here.
She has learnt about dementia from the internet. When doctors prescribe medicines, she gives them to the inmates only after careful enquiries. She says that the service has given her satisfaction, but adds, "The government support for such centers is not sufficient. In The Netherlands, such people are given jobs on priority basis which enables them to live like normal people."