I am Henk Verheul, physiotherapist, born in Leiden and raised in Hazerswoude-Dorp. I have been living in Lelystad for more than 45 years now, except for a break of 4 years. During those years, from 1983 to 1988, I lived and worked in Juigalpa, Nicaragua.
In Juigalpa I helped start a physio-therapy and rehabilitation department at the Regional Hospital. In addition, I was the local representative of many projects conducted in the context of the twin city relationship between The Hague in the Netherlands and Juigalpa. After returning to the Netherlands, I became active as a volunteer within this twinned towns arrangement, and later I became a board member until the foundation was dissolved in 2014. In the meantime I had also become active in the Friendship Link between Leiden (Netherlands) and-Juigalpa. In recent years my involvement was mainly providing support to the Centro Teletón Región Central. This rehabilitation center in Juigalpa is for children, many of whom are doubly disabled. I visited this centre a number of times and also had the opportunity to participate twice for a week. My last visit was in March 2018. During that visit I got to know Astrid Delleman and her work for Fundación Cristiana Comunitaria para personas con Discapacidad , ‘RUACH’ in more detail. So I did not hesitate when I was asked to take up a position on the board of Vivir Juntos. I will serve as its Secretary.