In March 2003 the development organisation Vialisa was founded, the aim being the structural improvement of the future perspectives of street and working youngsters (from 15 years upwards), who live in the slum areas of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
These are often youngsters (basically still children) who become financially responsible for their family owing too little or no parental income.
In October 2004 the Vialisa office in Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh) was opened. Since then, numerous youngsters have been found employment and an education programme has been set up.
Since January 2006, the staff at the Vialisa office in Dhaka consists of three Bengali social workers, one Bengali office assistant and of course Lisa van Gerven herself. Vialisa also greatly appreciates being able to regularly use the services of Dutch volunteers and placement trainees.
The Founder of Vialisa
Lisa van Gerven is the founder of Vialisa. She was born Bengali, and adopted at the age of 2 years by a Dutch family, growing up in Baarlo, The Netherlands. She has now reached the age of 33 years and has been living in Dhaka Bangladesh, since February 2004, setting up the first Vialisa project, “The Social Employment Desk for Street and Working Youngsters”. By now she knows Bangladesh like the back of her hand: she was here earlier on a placement linked to her Social Studies “Welfare Management” at the Arnhem and Nijmegen University. Lisa has also gained work experience in Vietnam, whilst studying “Development Studies” at the Radboud University in Nijmegen.
Board
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Lisa van Gerven Founder of Vialisa & Board membe Lisa van Gerven is the founder of Vialisa. She was born Bengali, and adopted at the age of 2 years by a Dutch family, growing up in Baarlo, The Netherlands. She has now reached the age of 33 years and has been living in Dhaka Bangladesh, since February 2004, setting up the first Vialisa project, “The Social Employment Desk for Street and Working Youngsters”. By now she knows Bangladesh like the back of her hand: she was here earlier on a placement linked to her Social Studies “Welfare Management” at the Arnhem and Nijmegen University. Lisa has also gained work experience in Vietnam, whilst studying “Development Studies” at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. ‘Looking back on 3 years Vialisa , I can only be very proud on all we have accomplished together in such a short period. Without the support of our donors, and the knowledge, energy and time of our board members and volunteers in The Netherlands we could not have made it this far.’ |
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Esther Schouten Interim Chairman & Secretary Esther is PhD candidate at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and researches how multinational companies deal with human rights. In that respect, she has worked within Royal Dutch Shell to develop human rights training in Nigeria and apply tools to assess compliance with human rights in different other countries. Before this function, she worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a consultant on sustainable entrepreneurship and in development cooperation in Southern Africa. She holds two Bachelors and one Master degree in Technology Business Administration and Development Studies. During her studies, she did research in Guatemala and South Africa. |
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Ruud Roosen Treasurer Ruud is associate director within the investment management department of NIBC bank NV in The Hague. Within this department he structures real estate funds for particularly institutional investors. Ruud has studied building engineering at the Technical University in Eindhoven and business economics at the Open University Netherlands. |
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Ms. Sarah Dobbe Board member & former Chairman Sarah studied MA Development Studies and Human Geography at the Radboud University of Nijmegen. In 2005, she also participated in the post-graduate programme Development Studies in Nijmegen. During her studies, she conducted field research in Sri Lanka, Bolivia and the Philippines. The experiences she gained in these countries with street- and working children, combined with the enthusiasm and professionalism of director and founder Lisa van Gerven, make that she has been involved with Vialisa for over two years now, as chairman of the board. Currently Sarah is working at ICCO, the Dutch organisation for inter-church development co-operation. In 2007 she will leave for Cambodia for 18 months, to work as an advisor on PME and fundraising at the organisation Youth for Peace. During her stay in Cambodia she will remain a member of the Board. |
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Mr. Huub van Gerven Board member Huub is former Director of ‘Bureau van Gerven, Graphic Communication.’ He has studied Visual Communication at Werkkunstschule in Germany. Huub is father of three children. His youngest daughter was adopted from Bangladesh. Several visits to Bangladesh raised his interest in the development of Bangladesh. |
