“In fact, everyone lives in a bubble, one is a bit bigger than the other. With Momo Education we offer young people new perspectives through digital exchange with peers. Important themes such as sustainability and inclusivity are discussed from several angles. In this way we contribute to more understanding for each other and more confidence in the future”.
Chairman of the board of the Sister Schools Foundation
Etienne Spierts
Marketing
Zipporah MUNGAI
is an Engineering student at The Technical University of Kenya.
She believes that being part of the organization will allow her to impact society positively. The organization caters to all genders which is of benefit to both girls and boys. The world is becoming a global village and she believes with digital education both African and European children will be at par which is what the organization is aiming at.
Emma HARTY
Emma Harty is from the UK and has lived in the UK, Kenya, Uganda and now the Netherlands where she is studying for her bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology. Emma is interested in inclusive and sustainable development and recognises the benefits of a diverse and international education so is excited to be part of the Momo Education team.
Mercy Chepkemoi
A teacher of English and literature at Highway secondary school in Nairobi Kenya. I would like to volunteer with Sister Schools because I want to make a difference by being present and involved. It will satisfy that innate need to do for others. As Martin Luther King Jr once said “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”
Michelle Mwikali
is a passionate lady and a person who loves caring for others.
The reason she wants to volunteer is to improve the lives of youngsters and the needy in my community as well as to learn new ideas and gain experience.
Hassan Ahmed
is born and raised in Kibera, Nairobi. One of the biggest slum areas in the world. He has followed many media studies, also at RNTC Netherlands. Coming from a Nubish tribe background, he knows what discrimination means and how trauma can work on in several generations. Education is the only way out and an image tells more than a 100 words!
Francesca Marzano
is an activist and part of a feminist collective. She studied political science in South Italy and has been living in The Netherlands for 9 years. I.
I have cultivated my passion for helping others since I was a teenager. “The way we treat our children is a measure of the quality of the nation”, as says the quote from H. Humphrey.
I have many years of experience working in offices, as a customer assistant.
I hope I ll give a positive impact for the new generations, making the world more human for everybody.
Borys MEDERSKI
It would be a pleasure to work with MoMo as I believe the skills and passion of the volunteers will be used to the maximum which I think will be a very enriching experience. I would like to help MoMo’s mission as much as possible. I have time on hand which I would like to use in a charitable manner and the effort to help schools in other regions of the world than ours is very important to me.
Nataliia KRAVCHUK
It is my firm belief that knowledge is a powerful tool that should be accessible to every child, regardless of their geographical location. As children are the future, it is our duty to equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to make the world a better place for all.
Berivan Yavuz POLAT
I am Berivan, originally from Turkey, and I moved to the Netherlands one year ago. I have worked
as an architect for many years. However, I have recently decided to embark on a new career path,
making life in the Netherlands a fresh start for me.
I was introduced to Momo Education and was immediately drawn to their project and mission.
What sets Momo apart from other foundations is its commitment to telling children that they are not
alone in the world, that there is always someone there to listen to them, and that they are valuable.
Additionally, Momo facilitates connections between children from different nations.
I firmly believe that the key to achieving peace lies in building connections and understanding one
another. For these reasons, I am genuinely excited and grateful to be a part of this organization.
Nayat Kortun
I am from Istanbul, Türkiye and currently studying Communication Student in University of Amsterdam. As someone who has a great passion for working in volunteer projects, I am proud to be a part of a valuable project like Momo education. With great determination for fostering inclusive education, my aim within this noble initiative is to infuse youthful perspective and innovation into our materials, ensuring they resonate with learners from all around the world. Together with my team, I plan to create on a journey to cultivate a brighter future, one enriched with knowledge and boundless opportunities.
Finance & Management
Etienne SPIERTS
During the last years of my career as a tax consultant, the need to make a different contribution to society grew. Personally, I think it’s important to stay curious, to be inspired by other people, to discover unknown environments. Conversely, I would like to share my knowledge and experience with others. I do this, among other things, as chairman of the board of the Sister Schools Foundation.
Jordy JOHANNES
is a finance and accountant specialist and an investment manager. Being part of this foundation is a new step in his career, creating opportunities for children in developing countries and working for a non profit organisation.
Julia STRIJLAND
Together with Sarah Wanjira, I am the founder of MoMo. Never in my life I have felt so much in place as in this role, being at the center of the organisation. I started as a documentary filmmaker and have always been involved in community projects, trying to make a positive impact. I am passionate to make MoMo Education grow and be successful in reaching all its aims and goals.
Mavis OTENG
Mavis is from Ghana and has been working as a customer due diligence officer and did some bookkeeping as well. She has now moved to the Netherlands. She takes pride in her degree and finds it important that education should be available for everyone. She always tells her children and loved ones that learning never stops and should be enjoyed.
Paul Yager
Supporting Momo’s mission as a volunteer provides me with a sense of purpose, strengthens my community bonds, and allows me to make a positive impact. It’s fulfilling, rewarding, and promotes personal growth while helping the exchange of global knowledge and culture between school children.
DIGITAL EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE PLATFORM (DEEP)
Victor OHANGA
is a youth in Kenya having taken a degree course in Mathematics, Statistics and Information Technology and growing up from a humble background, with difficulty getting his education; dedicated to a noble purpose.
Collins RUTO
is a software engineer, born in Kenya with working experience in the Netherlands. Together with a team of Kenyan developers he helps out with our Digital Educational Exchange Platform (DEEP).
Collins Lidede
grew up in Kenya and knows better than anybody else how differences in cultural background influence the accessibility of good digital education. He has lived in the US and is now based in Haarlem.
Svetlana AFANASEVA
Svetlana AFANASEVA is a software engineer born in Russia and living in the Netherlands. She believes that the development of the MoMo educational platform can help many children get a good education, provide many job opportunities around the world and provide a better future for them.
Floris Leurink
I am a founding partner of leerpodium.nl (English: portfolio.education). Our mission is to help the educational field to better utilize open (source) technology by developing a flexible and open learning platform. We support MoMo by providing the solutions that we have developed for schools in the Netherlands and help facilitate the exchange programmes online.
Account Managers & Educational Coordinators (AMEC)
Zacchaeus AWINO
assists in writing project proposals and project plans. Schools in Kenya often miss the infrastructure and knowledge to improve the living- and learning environment of the schools. Zaccheus createsopportunties to develop by sharing his knowledge with schools directors and coordinators.
Fatumah NAKAYIZA
Fatumah, a Ugandan national currently living in The Netherlands, is a Supply Chain professional that’s lived & worked in 6 countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa.
In a previous life, she was part of AIESEC, a global youth-run organization that provides young people with leadership training and exchange programs. The cross-cultural experiences she had then, inspired a lot of her decisions.
Through this organization, she aims to enable such experiences that made a difference in her life earlier on, to the future generation.
Yahya NATOOR
has a Palestinian background, is a great storyteller and inspirational trainer. What a survivor, life optimist and creative brain who likes to see this world change for good.
Carmen TENA
I am Carmen Tena and I am from Spain. I am criminologist and I am almost one year living in Amsterdam. I believe in this project because the education is the most important thing in our society. In this way, the international and digital education helps us to understand different cultures, languages, and perspectives, which can lead to greater global awareness and empathy.
Valentina Abondano PERDOMO
Valentina Abondano PERDOMO from Colombia, has moved to the Netherlands to pursue her Research Master’s in Cognitive Neuropsychology. Valentina is interested in getting to know the community and culture by giving back and participating in projects that are impactful and innovative. Known for her charisma, problem-solving, and innovation, she is ready to take up new challenges as an account manager to learn and help MoMo to keep growing and spreading around the world. “Sometimes we fixate in our own bubble, without realizing the change that lies in our hands”.
Ana Veronica MARTINEZ
Veronica is a Mexican entrepreneur with a legal background and passionate about social justice. Through her studies she has acquired different tools to address the problems of social injustice and inequality from different angles. “What really moves me is the idea of creating a more equal and fairer world. I firmly believe that our biggest hope for a sustainable future lies in our youth and our most powerful tool is education. Therefore, I am excited to be a part of MoMo education and help it spread around the world.
Hannah Phipps
Hannah is a recent transplant from Hong Kong but originally from the United States. As a proponent of lifelong learning, she has been in the education field for more than 10 years and she believes that we are all given gifts and it is our responsibility to use those gifts to lift everyone up to take care of each other and the Earth. Teaching is her passion and wants to ensure that every child has access to quality education. She believes that education creates human potential and what could be more important than that?
Karen Parada
I am Karen and I have lived in the Netherlands since 2020.
I am originally from the south of France but have roots in France, Germany and Chili.
I am truly convinced that cooperation and bringing people together with love and respect is key for humanity.
With Momo Education, I aim to give a bit of my energy and skills to contribute to a better place for everyone.
Sofia Harakleia
I am Sofia, originally from beautiful Greece. I work as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist collaborating with children with disabilities, especially neurodiverse children and their families. I have a background in STEM- studies in Chemical Engineering & Environmental studies, Education and Systemic Psycotherapy. I am a human rights advocate, social and political activist. My journey with Momo Education has already brought to my life a group of people from all over the world that we share values and aspirations and a new best friend! As a person and as a feminine, I feel and I think that being and bringing the change our world needs to experience is more urgent than ever…and ”teaching is the greatest act of optimism”.
Partner Kenya: Sisterschools Digital Educational Exchange Trust
Grace KAVINGUHA
In the west of Kenya (Vihiga District) Grace has been teaching all her life. She is a member of the local Rotary club and is the chair of the Kenyan Trust of Sister Schools. In the photo you also see Mary Mungai, the founder of our first Sister Schools St. Elizabeth in Nairobi.
Elijah OLUOCH
is an Information Technology Expert and is dedicated to uphold Technology in schools as a way of eradicating IT illiteracy caused by lack of innovation in the education sector in The African countries and wide; Innovation for Life.
Sarah WANJIRA
is the founder of the Kenya Sister Schools Trust. She believes in positive change and in creating partnerships with local schools and communities to create sustainable impact.
Rukia Sebit
I like being part of positive change and working towards improving lives of the less fortunate. I volunteer with Sisterschools because it works towards seeing more children acquire digital skills and get to interact and engage with each other across the globe.
Educational Specialists
Cilia BORN
“I am 69 years old, a pensionado, wife, mother, grandmother and still from time to time working as a trainer and adviser in the educational field. The Sister School program helps children from here and there to learn with and from each other. I like to contribute to Sister Schools and share my experiences as an educationalist. I truly believe that with these exchange programs we contribute to a peaceful and sustainable world.”
Marianne VERHALLEN
is trained as a linguist at the University of Amsterdam, specialized in NT2 (Dutch as a Second Language). She worked at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and at the Pabo in Haarlem, where she was head of the Expertise Center NT2. In 1994 she obtained her doctorate at the UvA for research into deep word knowledge of children with a non-Dutch background. Together with her husband they founded Kambo, an organization assisting Zambian schools in English communication skills.
Esther MUNGAI
is an English teacher by profession at primary level. Molding learners to be admirable, upright and dependent civilians fills me with enthusiasm to rise each day. A genuine smile from my learners gladdens my heart. Just the thought of MoMo always gives my heart a wild throb as a volunteer. Impacting learners from all over the globe really motivates me to make a change through the young generation.
Phanuel ONDELE
is the manager of Excellent Student Limited and passionate about the programme of Sister Schools. Together with Sarah he has been giving teacher trainings and helped develop a trainer’s guide on sustainable development educational projects.
Margot Hartevelt
is a History teacher at the Calandlyceum in Amsterdam. She has fought for equal rights and humanitarian justice all her life and as a member of the Dutch board she gives her energy to make the educational exchange projects work well.
Julia Strijland
is the founder and director of Sister Schools, documentary filmmaker and she just is finalising a master degree in ‘Management, Culture and Change’, with a specialisation in the field of education. Use the digital means so that all kids can profit from these changes!
Designers
Nurdan NACAR
I’m Nurdan NACAR, originally from Turkey, and I’ve been residing in the Netherlands for about 1.5 years now. I am a fresh product designer and seasoned creative copywriter. I have a deep-rooted passion for helping others, and I firmly believe that education is the cornerstone of shaping future generations. This is why I’m thrilled about the opportunity to contribute to Momo Education.
Alexandra ROOS
Hello, my name is Alexandra and I am 36 years old. I studied Psychology (BSc Social Psychology) at the UvA, and Fashion Styling at the B Academy, and completed both in 2017. I recently completed a Graphic Design course (2023), as well as educations in Adobe Creative Cloud.
I aspire a career as a graphic designer. I attach great importance to charities and volunteer work, and saw the opportunity to volunteer at Momo as a junior graphic designer as a great opportunity. I hope to be able to make a valuable contribution to Momo’s projects with my knowledge and skills.
Vida Davari
Well, I’m 42 year old Iranian Woman. My family include my husband and I and our two beloved pet ، a dog and a cat, have immigrated here about 5 month ago.
Back there In Tehran I worked as a freelance illustrator. I have a few children book in my resume.
I wasn’t so active because I have never liked the politics of censorship and other problems in our art.
I always loved to travel and getting to know other people’s culture. I like to getting involved with people. I am interested in human rights and animals right.
I hope In Netherland, I find the chance to be more active.
Oscar Flier
Oscar Flier is a passionate designer and graphic artist with nearly 40 years of experience in the world of design and communication. He has dedicated the past two decades to his role as Print Production Manager in the field of Branding and Design. Oscar has built up his knowledge and experience and enjoys sharing his knowledge and experience by providing support and advice to Non Profit organizations and cultural organizations.
Koyo Tatsunokuchi
I am a videographer and photographer originally from Japan, specializing in assisting corporations, governments, and other institutions primarily in advertising and public relations. I firmly believe that MoMo’s activities expand the potential of all children. I aspire to contribute to bringing MoMo’s wonderful mission and its various activities aimed towards it to a broader public.
Human Resource
Atefeh Takaloo
Imagine a world where learning is like a fun journey, and every click brings a new discovery. Well, you’re in that world now! I’m Atefeh, the HRM at Momo. Our mission is simple: make education a joy for kids everywhere. I’m excited to be part of this journey. Here, it’s a chance to inspire and be inspired.
Gozde Akbiyik Uysal
I’m a Learning and Development professional from Turkey currently residing in the Netherlands for about a year and a half. As a passionate advocate for learning, I am thrilled about the opportunity to contribute my skills and expertise to an organization that shares my values. I believe that learning has the power to uplift communities and create positive change. I feel fortunate to be a part of a team consisting of diverse individuals who are dedicated to making a difference in the world through education.
Nikitha Lewis
I am Nikitha, born in India, brought up in the Middle East. I am a Psychologist with a passion for Learning and Development. My background in psychology has always kept me connected to fellow humans. I recently moved to Netherlands and look forward to making a difference in the lives of many youth and children through education. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam said “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” I am grateful to be a catalyst in this process.