9 Questions - Lijske Kerkhof
I do a lot of research on the internet, but once in a while I go out and speak to people. Recently I visited Lijkse Kerhof who just returned from Africa. Back on the internet, she was also so kind to do an email interview to share her thoughts with you.
1. Can you give a quick introduction of yourself?
My name is Lijske Kerkhof, 28 years old. I live in Utrecht, the Netherlands. I work as a social therapist in an institute for child- and youth psychiatry.
2. Can you tell something about your trip to Kenia?
In January 2006 I went to Kisumu, Kenya together with my mother, who is a nurse. We spend 3 months there; doing volunteer-work for an organisation that helps orphans and widows by supporting them in their basic needs.
3. What was the most difficult problem you had to overcome in Kenia?
The most difficult problem for me to overcome was dealing with the fact that the problems in Kenya are so huge, that you cannot help on a big scale. The corruption of the government is enormous and that’s something you cannot easily change. On the other hand it was very fulfilling when I realized that I could make a little difference for the few individual children when I was there and that’s very valuable.
4. How did you find Stichting Klaartje Derks?
I found the Stichting Klaartje Derks through a colleague of my mother who heard of our plans going to Africa. I spend some time on the internet, looking for small organisations like this one, operating in Kenya, but mostly I found the big, known organisations.
5. You have a website about your trip to Kisumu (http://home.casema.nl/melk in Dutch), would you have used Helpalot if it existed?
Yes, I would have used a help-tool if it existed. My personal help-tool was a friend with a lot of computer knowledge.
6. What do you think would be the most important aspect of the site?
The most important aspect of my site I found the content; the text and the images.
7. You have contacts with other smaller charities, what do you think is their main struggle?
The most smaller charities gain their network through mouth to mouth contacts. I think that they can reach more people and through them more money and more volunteers when they are more easy to find for people who are not personally connected.
8. What do you see as the biggest problem and opportunity for my project?
I think the biggest problem can be to control the input from the people who make their one sites which are connected to your site. The biggest opportunity is to reach a lot of people and help small charities to become bigger!
9. Thank you for your time, is there anything else you think is important to mention?
Here is already a very good small charity in Kenya: www.kisumukids.nl
If you want to do an interview or just want to help out in some other way, leave a message. I’d especially like to get in contact with people who work at/with small charities.
This has been the second 9 Questions. Thanks Lijske for taking the time, it’s really helpful.