Micky's Foundation Aruba

LOOKING FOR A RENTAL STUDIO FOR A THERAPIST... who can help our foundation with a studio/apartment for 1 person (female)?

We are looking for an affordable and comfortable all inclusive place to live. Starting October 1st - December 31st 2024. With an option to rent it for a longer period of time (2025).

Preferably in or near the centre of Aruba and in a quiet and safe area. We have a budget 1400 florin / month.

Please share this request and help our foundation.

Masha danki di antemano!

PROJECT 33 HAS STARTED... from July 1st to September 30th two experienced therapists from the Netherlands will continue the treatments for a group of around 45 children. Pleun Kokken has been our pediatric physiotherapist in project 17-18 in 2020. She is both very experienced in The Netherlands as in Aruba. She will be accompanied by Evie Smeets, our new occupational therapist. Pleun Kokken introduces herself:

"Bon dia tur hende!

Mi kier purba skirbi un poco na Papiamento, pero mi lo mester haya mas les den e bunita idioma aki!

Despues di 7 luna yudando na project 17 + 18 (durante epandemia) mi a haya falta di tur e muchanan y Aruba mucho hopi…

So my boyfriend and I have decided to come back and live here for a while! We moved 2 weeks ago, so we already had some time to decorate our house and enjoy the island life. I can’t wait to see all the grown up kids from project 17 + 18 back and to meet the ‘new’ ones.

Mi ta hopi excited pa hunga y traha cu tur muchanan di Aruba atrobe! Mi colega Evie lo ta bai trahando cu mi pa 3 luna. Ademas ami y Monique (pediatric physiotherapist di Hands on Health Pediatrics) lo ta bai traha den bon colaboracion ku tur e muchanan for di awor y pa adelante.

Nos lo mira otro atrobe!

Te oro 🫶🏽"

Project 33 is sponsored by Hertz Car Rental Aruba, Samenwerkende Fondsen Cariben, Rotary Club of Aruba, Fonds Kind & Handicap Den Haag, DePalmNV and Quota International Aruba. Masha danki pa boso sosten!

PROJECT 33 HAS STARTED... from July 1st to September 30th two experienced therapists from the Netherlands will continue the treatments for a group of around 45 children. Evie Smeets is the new occupational therapist introduces herself and she will form a team with Pleun Kokken our pediatric physiotherapist:

Bon dia,

my name is Evie, an occupational therapist in the Netherlands and very excited to start for Micky’s Foundation. I look forward to start working with the children and learn a lot from everybody here. I am very excited to continue the collaboration with children, parents, teachers and other therapists, achieving the goals with the children, at their own level!

Aruba is one happy island, so I hope the children will be too!!

Te otro biaha!"

Project 33 is sponsored by Hertz Car Rental Aruba, Samenwerkende Fondsen Cariben, Rotary Club of Aruba, Fonds Kind & Handicap Den Haag, DePalmNV and Quota International Aruba. Masha danki pa boso sosten!

PROJECT 32 HAS ENDED... physiotherapist Hélène Verstraeten and pre verbal speechtherapist Bente Pisman have managed to provide a steady 50 treatments a week to 41 children in the past 3 months. From the beginning of April to the end of June they have worked efficiently together and helped the children develop even further. It was a pleasure seeing them enjoy their work and appreciate the Aruban culture and work context. Thank you for your devotion in working with the children, their parents and our professional partners. And a big thank you for representing our foundation at different fundraising events and bringing in the money!

Thank you also medical specialists of Aruba, J.P. Visser, Centro di Cuido, partners of the HO Hospital and pediatricians and all passionate professionals working with our children for your confidence and teamwork.

Aruba y e muchanan ta bai haya boso falta Hélène y Bente. Te proximo biahe! Un masha danki hopi grande mes di tur mucha: Amaziyah, Navid, Noah, Luka, Dante, Nafthaly, Kayleen, Zyljenka, Ixquion, Ginelle, Ryline, Xaenah, Cryson, Ameila, Neyla, Leia, Izachar, Kris, Nina, Gabriel S, Gabriel F, Michelle, William, Luka, Matthew, Luciano, Miguel, Jozilienne, Lu Xianni, Amiyah, Mary Jane, Jun Ping, Isla, Rossa, Valentina, Kendrick, Thiago, Ajay, Karen, Gael, Alberto and Anthony.

Thumbs up for our loyal sponsors during project 32: Hertz Car Rental Aruba, TOTAL FINANCE Aruba, De Palm NV, Samenwerkende Fondsen Cariben, Divi Impact Foundation, Quota International Aruba, Rotary Club of Aruba and Fonds Kind & Handicap.

In 2024 we are celebrating our 10th anniversary! In project 33, which has starts today, July 1st 2024 we are continuing with 2 very experienced therapists: pediatric physiotherapist mevrouw Pleun Kokken and occupational therapist mevrouw Evie Smeets. Pleun has received an extensive 'live' handover from Hélène and Helga (project 31) has efficiently transferred all information to Evie when they met in The Netherlands, so she could proceed immediately with her weekly schedule. Pleun has already worked in project 19 and 20 in 2020, so she is already very well trained.

Hopi exito Evie y Pleun!

In the photo we see Bente and Hélène accepting one of the awards at a fundraising event, successfully bringing in the necessary funds!

THANK YOU DIVI IMPACT FOUNDATION ARUBA... for the strong partnership and the mutual respect for each others missions concerning the Aruban community.

The Mr Alex Nieuwmeyer Charity Golf Tournament 2024 at the Divi Links today, has generated AWG. 15.000,-. And as a very generous gesture the Divi Impact Foundation doubled that amount to the impressive total amount of AWG. 30.000,-. We are overwhelmed with joy that our projects are being validated in such a positive way. A big thank you to all the golfers that participated today!

Thank you Hélène (pediatric physiotherapist) and Bente (pre verbal speech therapist) from this current project (32), for representing Micky's Foundation at this event and having given a beautiful speech to the 'golf aficionados'. And also a big thank you to Helga, Martina and Enya from project 31 who have convinced and impressed the Divi Impact Foundation, back in February with a presentation of our work and impact.

Our therapy is for free and we only work with volunteers, so this donation is a tremendous boost for everyone who is involved in making this work possible, day in day out.

Masha danki Divi Impact Foundation




Hélène (on the left) and Bente (on the right) with big smiles showing the cheque of AWG 30.000,- from the Divi Impact Foundation today. Project 32 will last until June 30th and Hélène and Bente are providing treatments on a daily basis to around 40 children. Thank you Hélène & Bente 😊

ARUBA HI-WINDS GIVING BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY…OUR CHILDREN

Like every year, the organizers of Hi-Winds Aruba make sure that our children can come and visit their event at the Fishermen’s Huts. They again organized all kinds of activities to provide a fun morning. The kids could not only play some games, but they were also entertained by a very friendly clown. Besides that they could get their faces painted with colourful figures and glitters. They received a goodie bag and could also get a lot of small gifts for every activity they have tried. At the end they could decorate a piece of cake with whipped cream and sprinkles. By looking at the pictures you can see how everyone enjoyed all the entertainment and treats!

Masha danki Hi-Winds & Sabine for this initiative

KELLER WILLIAMS ARUBA ORGANIZED A LOVELY DAY OUT…
Together with the children who are staying at Imeldahof, we were invited to spend an entire day of fun; all sponsored by Keller Williams. And what a lovely day it was! We jumped on the bus and arrived at Philip’s animal garden, where we could feed and watch all the different animals. We enjoyed the company of among other things cute little goats, pigs, donkeys and even monkeys.

After saying goodbye to our new animal friends, we took the bus to Oranjestad and were treated with pizza and fresh drinks at Casa Tua pizzeria. It was a great service, including very tasty pizzas!

Once we had finished our meal, we walked over to The Cinemas. There we could chill and relax while watching the latest Garfield movie. Above all we were spoiled with lots of fresh popcorn and soft drinks: the full cinema experience!

Thank you to the kind people of Keller Williams who arranged this day. We all enjoyed every minute of it and will remember this day for sure!

Feel free to read our ANNUAL REPORT 2023. The report summarizes the activities and results of last year's projects and highlights great new progress. Thanks to ADCTRA for the design.

Click this link for the read:https://www.mickysfoundation.com/_files/ugd/940ac2_446f649f9be449bdadb80d4f6ae2c118.pdf

THANK YOU 'THE GIVING PALM' of DE PALM TOURS...for some years now De Palm NV has been a very steady financial contributor to our monthly projects. Their 'Giving Palm Foundation' is designed to give back to the Aruban society and especially to the ones most vulnerable. The Giving Palm provides the financial support for our projects by sponsoring the airplane tickets of all therapists flying to Aruba in 2024, with a total of Fl. 12.000,-. Thank you De Palm NV for your continuous support since 2015.

MASHA DANKI QUOTA INTERNATIONAL OF ARUBA...for your continuous confidence in our projects, by awarding us 5000,- Fl for our projects in 2024. Thank you president Ivy for handing over the cheque personally to Bente and Hélène 🙏

THANK YOU FOR YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT IN 2024... Stichting Samenwerkende Fondsen Cariben. We are very happy to have been granted your belief that our work truly is a valuable contribution to the Aruban society.

Stichting Samenwerkende Fondsen Cariben is a Dutch collaboration of Stichting Kinderpostzegels Nederland, the Oranjefonds and the Kansfonds.

We are grateful for the effort of to be the mediator in this trajectory, monitoring a responsible administration of this program.

We have been awarded a subsidy of 69.720,- florins to help organizing projects 31-34 in 2024. We will make sure this subsidy will be used to provide continuous treatment for the children.

PROJECT 32 HAS STARTED... after a very successful project with all 3 discplines present, we are continuing the treatments with pediatric physiotherapist mevrouw Hélène Verstraeten and pre verbal speech therapist mevrouw Bente Pisman. They are colleagues in Belgium and very enthusiastic to start their voluntary work for our foundation. Bente will introduce herself:

"Bon dia!
My name is Bente and I am a passionate speech and language pathologist from Gent, Belgium. At the institution back home, I work with young children and teenagers who are physically impaired, caused by neurological damage such as cerebral palsy, muscle diseases or syndromes. In this project I hope I’ll be able to stimulate all kinds of communication and speech development, at the child’s own level. I will also continue to monitor and encourage personal goals in eating and drinking difficulties.

I’m very excited and honoured to be a part of Micky’s Foundation! Besides that, I’m looking forward to grow myself from this amazing opportunity. Ayo!"

Thanks to a couple of loyal sponsors project 32 has been made possible: ,

PROJECT 32 HAS STARTED... after a very successful project with all 3 disciplines present, we are continuing the treatments with pediatric physiotherapist mevrouw Hélène Verstraeten and pre verbal speech therapist mevrouw Bente Pisman. They are colleagues in Belgium and very enthusiastic to start their voluntary work for our foundation. Hélène will introduce herself:

"Bon dia! My name is Hélène Verstraeten and I am from Belgium, where I have been working as a pediatric physiotherapist in a children’s rehabilitation center. I’m really looking forward to work with the children of Micky’s foundation and together with all the colleagues here, I hope to make a difference in their daily lives while keeping it fun and entertaining for everyone. I’m excited to start this new challenge and achieve new goals with the kids. Te oro, Hélène."

Thanks to a couple of loyal sponsors project 32 has been made possible: ,

THANK YOU FONDS KIND & HANDICAP FOR YOUR CONTINUOUS SUPPORT... by your financial contribution to our projects in 2024 of 5000 euro 🙌. You have believed in our work since the beginning and have awarded our projects with annual contributions every year since 2015! MASHA DANKI!
Fonds Kind & Handicap

PROJECT 31 HAS ENDED... physiotherapist Enya Martin, occupational therapist Helga van de Linden and pre verbal speechtherapist Martina Quint have managed to provide a steady 80 treatments a week to 45 children in the past 3 months. For the first time Micky's Foundation had all 3 disciplines present. This synergy has given an extra dimension to achieving the goals of the treatment plans of every child. From the beginning of January to the end of March they have managed to work efficiently together and help the child develop even further. It was great fun to see them enjoy their work and appreciate each others knowledge adding to the team effort. Thank you for your devotion in working with the children, their parents and our professional partners. And a big thank you for representing our foundation at different fundraising events and bringing in the money!

Thank you also medical specialists of Aruba, J.P. Visser, Centro di Cuido, partners of the MDO (dr Hoenders, dr Vallassidis, dr W Ponson and Monique Bagheri) and all passionate professionals working with our children for your confidence and teamwork.

Aruba y e muchanan ta bai haya boso falta Martina, Enya y Helga. Te proximo biahe! Un masha danki hopi grande mes di tur mucha: Amaziyah, Navid, Noah, Luka, Dante, Nafthaly, Kayleen, Zyljenka, Ixqion, Ginelle, Ryline, Xaenah, Cryson, Ameila, Neyla, Leia, Izachar, Kris, Nina, Gabriel S, Gabriel F, Michelle, Rossa, Anthony, William, Luka, Matthew, Luciano, Miguel, Jozilienne, Jessica, Lu Xianni, Amiyah, Mary Jane, Ixquion, Jun Ping, Isla, Ariana, Rossa, Ava, Kendrick, Thiago, Ajay, Karin, Josua and Anthony.

Thumbs up for our loyal sponsors during project 31: Hertz Car Rental Aruba, Windcreek Hotels, TOTAL Aruba, Garage Centraal, De Palm NV and Fonds Kind & Handicap.

In 2024 we are celebrating our 10th anniversary! In project 32, which has started April 2nd 2024 we are continuing with 2 very experienced therapists from Belgium: pediatric physiotherapist mevrouw Hélène Verstraeten and pre verbal speech therapist mevrouw Bente Psiman. Bente has received an extensive 'live' handover from Martina and Enya has efficiently transferred all information to Hélène when they met in Aruba, so she could proceed immediately with her weekly schedule.

Hopi exito Hélène and Bente!

In the photo we see Helga, Martina and Enya at one of the fundraising events, successfully bringing in the necessary funds!

MASHA MASHA DANKI ATROBE NA TOTAL ARUBA … pa nan contribucion, yudando nos muchanan den e aña aki masha hopi mes!

Nos ta hopi orguyoso y satisfecho di por a presenta e cheque di 10,000,- florin na Micky's Foundation Aruba y di e manera aki clausura nos campaña di benta di t-shirt pa Carnaval 70 🎭

Nos kier a gradici un y tur cu a contribui door di cumpra nan T-Shirt di Carnaval cerca nos. Boso contribucion a haci cu nos por a haci un donacion di 10,000,- florin na e fundacion.

MASHA DANKI ARUBA 🫶 👏

Pa mas informacion di Micky’s Foundation bish*ta nan website
https://www.mickysfoundation.com/

YESTERDAY ARUBAN RADIO STATION, COOL FM 98,8… hosted an interview with our enthousiast therapists from project 31, Helga (occupational), Martina (pre verbal speech) and Enya (physio). In the studio of Cool FM they enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere of Bryan’s program and clarified the importance of our daily work. Thank you Bryan for having us and use your station to bring our story to the Aruban society.

PROJECT 31 HAS STARTED... and it is a very special one. For the first time we will work with 3 therapists in one project. They represent all 3 disciplines: pediatric physiotherapy, pre verbal speech therapy and occupational therapy. In this post we introduce a new face... Helga van der Linden, an occupational therapist from the Netherlands with 30 + years of experience. Helga:

"Bon dia! My name is Helga van der Linden and I am an occupational therapist for over 30 years. In the Netherlands I work in a children's rehabilitation center at Libra revalidatie en audiologie in Eindhoven. Together with my colleague Martina I am very exited to be here. I hope to make a difference in the daily lives of the children of Micky’s foundation. Together with parents, teachers and other therapists I hope to work on individual goals to make them more independent in daily live, improve academic skills or just have more fun playing. Trabou tin!"

Helkga has received an extensive handover from Tessa, the previous occupational therapist.

Project 31 has been financially supported by Hertz Car Rental, De Palm NV and Windcreek Hotels Aruba.

Hopi exito Helga!

PROJECT 31 HAS STARTED... and it is a very special one. For the first time we will work with 3 therapists in one project. They represent all 3 disciplines: pediatric physiotherapy, pre verbal speech therapy and occupational therapy. In this post we introduce a new face... Martina Quint, a pre verbal speech therapist from the Netherlands with 30 + years of experience. Martina:

"Bon dia, I am Martina Quint. I have been working as a speech and language therapist for over 30 years. In the Netherlands I work with children at 'Libra Revalidatie en Audiologie', a rehabilitation center in Eindhoven. I'm looking forward to work in Aruba for the next three months for Micky's Foundation together with Helga my colleague occupational therapist, and with Enya, physical therapist. Helping the children with their communication skills, speech and eating/ drinking skills, and doing this together with their parents and teachers, will be my primary goal. I hope to continue the good work of all the therapists of Micky's Foundation before me! Te oro"

Martina has received an extensive and live handover from Hanneke, the speech therapist from the previous project.

Project 31 has been financially supported by Hertz Car Rental, De Palm NV and Windcreek Hotels Aruba.

Hopi exito Martina!

PROJECT 31 HAS STARTED... and it is a very special one. For the first time we will work with 3 therapists in one project. They represent all 3 disciplines: pediatric physiotherapy, pre verbal speech therapy and occupational therapy. In this post we introduce a familiar face... Enya Martin, a physiotherapist who already volunteered for us in project 20, back in 2021. Enya:

"You may remember me from 2.5 years ago when I was responsible for the physiotherapy of project 20. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to work for Micky's Foundation again. I'm really looking forward to it and hope to achieve great goals with the children. Besides caring a lot about these fantastic kids, I have also fallen in love with the island itself. I even came to live on the island permanently since January this year! Together with Helga the occupational therapist and Martina the pre verbal speech therapist, we will make it a wonderful 3 months."

Enya has received an extensive handover about the 28 children Marian, the physiotherapist from the previous project had been working with.

Project 31 has been financially supported by Hertz Car Rental, De Palm NV and Windcreek Hotels Aruba.

Hopi exito Enya!

PROJECT 30 HAS ENDED... pediatric physiotherapist Marian Schouwaert and speech therapist Hanneke have dedicated 3 months of their time to provide treatments to the children in Aruba. They have done a magnificent job achieving the goals of the treatment plans of every child. From the beginning of October to the end of December they have managed to work with 39 children! Marian has provided gross motoric treatments and worked with children with a visual impairment. She has also been working closely with Monique Bagheri, who has recentley graduated. They have focused on the method of 'powertraining' and discussed different methods of testing and controlling the efficiency of several approaches to the treatments. Hanneke has worked on many different goals in the areas of imitating sounds, learning first words, lip / mouth imitation and pronunciation. She also developed some verbal skills with the children by using methods of supportive communication, mostly playful games in which language and non verbal communication are developed. Marian and Hanneke have been a very effective team who have efficiently adapted and excelled in working with the children, their parents and our professional partners. Thank you for your devotion.

Thank you also medical specialists of Aruba, J.P. Visser, Centro di Cuido, partners of the MDO (dr Hoenders, dr Vallassidis, dr W Ponson and Monique Bagheri) and all passionate professionals working with our children for your confidence and teamwork.

Aruba y e muchanan ta bai haya bo falta Marian y Hanneke. Te proximo biahe! Un masha danki hopi grande mes di tur mucha: Amaziyah, Navid, Navid, Noah, Luka, Dante, Nafthaly, Kayleen, Zyljenka, Ixqion, Ginelle, Ryline, Jah Niu, Jun Ping, Xaenah, Cryson, Isla, Janelle, Ameila, Neyla, Leia, Izachar, Emmanuel, Kris, Nina, Gabriel, Gabriel, Michelle, Rossa, Anthony, William, Jayxion, Luka, Matthew, Luciano, Miguel, Jozilienne, Jessica and Jealen.

Thumbs up for our loyal sponsors during project 30: Hertz Car Rental Aruba, Windcreek Hotels, Katholieke Stichting voor Blinden en Slechtzienden, De Palm NV and Fonds Kind & Handicap.

In 2024 we are celebrating our 10th anniversary! In project 31, which has started January 2nd 2024 we are continuing with 3 very experienced therapists: physiotherapist Enya Martin (who has also worked in project 20), pre verbal speech therapist Martina Quint and occupational therapist Helga van der Linden. Martina has received an extensive 'live' handover from Hanneke and Marian has informed Enya so she could proceed with her weekly schedule.

Hopi exito Enya, Martina and Helga!

In the photo we see Hanneke working with Dante and Marian with Ryline.

SCHOLIEREN LOPEN 878 EURO BIJ ELKAAR… op een door hun school georganiseerde sponsorloop die ze vandaag in weer en wind hebben volbracht. Masha danki Gelinckschool in Oostvoorne en masha danki Marian Schouwaert die dit mede heeft geïnitieerd. We gaan er mooie dingen mee doen!
Gelinckschool Oostvoorne
Marian Schouwaert