Dr. Andrew Njoroge
Co-chair
I am Andrew Njoroge, the medical superintendent in charge of Marimanti Hospital and a medical officer. I have 7 years of clinical experience and in my earlier years as a clinical officer I worked with dr Bruinooge in Tanzania in 2009. When I moved to Kenya in 2020, I realized there were many challenges in our setting, including teenager pregnancy, poor resources allocation to health and lack of access to health care. With this, the idea of forming a foundation was born with the able minds of the Dutch and Kenyan team. Hopefully, this fruitful collaboration will result in the uplifting of health in our hospitals region.
Dr. Mimosa Bruinooge
Co-chair
My name is Mimosa Dieleman-Bruinooge, gynaecologist in the ADRZ hospital in Goes, the Netherlands. Before I became a gynaecologist, I was trained as a doctor Global Health and Tropical Medicine and worked in 2008 and 2009 in Haydom Lutheran Hospital, Tanzania. There, I worked together with dr Andrew Njoroge, clinical officer at that time. Even then, he stood out to me because of his dedication to patient care and positive work attitude. Over the years, we kept in touch and in December 2021 I visited him in his new working place, Marimanti Hospital. I was impressed by the place and the people working hard to provide quality care under challenging circumstances. That’s when we came up with the idea to start a foundation to support Marimanti Hospital, based on a solid foundation of 15 years of friendship.
Dr. Martin Mawira
Co-treasurer
My name is Martin Mawira and I am a medical doctor with a passion for improving reproductive health outcomes. I have over 5 years of experience working in the field, and have developed a deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities in this area of healthcare. I have helped women to plan their pregnancies, provide prenatal care, and deliver healthy babies. I havealso provided family planning services and conducted educational programs to promote reproductive health awareness. Notably, I worked for Marie Stopes – Kenya (an international NGO) for 2 ½ years where the core service emphasis was on family planning; safe abortion and post-abortion care; maternal and child health care, including safe delivery and obstetrics; diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections; and HIV/AIDS prevention. I am also a trained Health Economist and policy analyst and this training has enabled me to seek out new ways to optimize the delivery of care in resource-limited settings. I believe that by combining my clinical expertise with a strong understanding of the economic and policy considerations that underpin healthcare, I can make a meaningful difference in the lives of my patients.
Piet Bruinooge
Co-treasurer
My name is Piet Bruinooge, I was born in 1955 and most of my active life I’ve been working in a public function in the Netherlands. The last 14 years before my retirement in 2020 as mayor of the city of Alkmaar. In my active life I always have been concerned about the question: how do I make, through my actions, my environment and thus the world a better place. For my efforts I have even been decorated with the British decoration of Member of the British Empire. Now that I am retired I want to continue my contribution to society by being treasurer of the the foundation Friends of Marimanti.
Angelica Mutuura
Co-secretary
My name is Angelica Mutuura. I work as a human resource officer at Marimanti Hospital. I obtained my Master of Business Administration before starting this position. I am originally from the neighbouring county, namely Meru county. Currently, I live in Marimanti during the weekdays. This gives me insight in what the local community expects from our hospital and how we can improve to meet their needs.
Dr. Myrrith Hulsbergen
Co-secretary
I am Myrrith Hulsbergen and I am a gynaecologist and achieved my master’s degree in Public Health in 2019. I am currently working as gynaecologist in a private practice in Amsterdam and as a scientific teacher at the AmsterdamUMC educating medical students and developing training and e-learning tools. I gained interest in (medical) care in LMIC when she worked as a registrar in Tanzania in 1999. I achieved my degree in tropical medicine and worked in remote settings in Tanzania and Sierra Leone. During and after my specialization in gynaecology I returned to several remote places in mainly Eastern Africa supporting the local health system. Also, I led the Life Saving Skills Project in Gondar Ethiopia from 2015-2020, a training in acute obstetric care for midwifes and doctors. In 2020, I was lead-researcher in mixed-method research on contraception and abortion services during the COVID-19 pandemic, together with an international team of researchers at Share-Net International. The foundation “Friends of Marimanti” is a great opportunity to use my public health, education and medical expertise to support Marimanti Hospital in a sustainable way.
Dr. Senned Karrar
Board member Public Relations
I am a medical doctor with a particular interest in surgery and emergency care, medical education and healthcare in Low- and Middle- Income Countries (LMICs). I am very excited to be part of this foundation in order to improve health care in Marimanti Hospital. After my visit to Marimanti, it became very clear that financial means and medical education can elevate the quality of health care.
Dr. Irene de Vries
Supervisory Board
I am a doctor of Global Health and Tropical Medicine and medical anthropologist/sociologist with extensive international experience and broad knowledge of global health systems. As a medical doctor I worked in Zambia, the Caribbean and in the Netherlands. Currently, I work as health expert at KIT royal tropical institute in Amsterdam where she mainly focuses on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), including maternal newborn and child health (MNCH). In addition, I am involved with the post-graduate training of global health physicians and fulfill various board positions of global health foundations.
Prof. Jelle Stekelenburg
Supervisory Board
Prof. Jelle Stekelenburg combines his job as Consultant Obs & Gyn at the Medical Centre Leeuwarden with holding a chair as Professor International Aspects of Reproductive Health, in particular Safe Motherhood, at the University of Groningen. His professional drive is based on, on one hand, the observation that motherhood is still not safe for many underprivileged women all over the world, but mainly in low resource settings, and, on the other hand, acknowledgment of the right to access the best possible standard of maternal health. State parties, governments, multilateral health organisations and individual health professionals have the immediate obligation to work on the progressive realisation of the highest possible standard of reproductive, sexual and maternal health. Prof. Stekelenburg’s activities focus on research and education. He collaborates with PhD-candidates from all over the world, aiming to design evidence-based interventions in different contexts that are effective in improving maternal and neonatal health outcome indicators. In education he takes every opportunity to teach his students about what still needs to be done to reach the aim of safe motherhood for all.