Blog

Regina Eggink-Stolk, Executive Director in the Netherlands, reflects on 10 years of the organization, Health Promoters and her vision for the future.

It was early 2015 when Harold announced that the journey to the notary was being made, to register “The Friends of the Health Promoters”. He said, and I quote, “You have to be there because then you can say later, I was there during this historic moment”. Honestly, I had to laugh at his remark because he always had a thing with beautiful expressions like this. Since 2014, I have been involved with the organization Health Promotion South Africa Trust. Now, 10 years later, I realize how special ‘that moment’ was indeed, especially as my engagements with the Health Promoters have become a daily occupation. Moreover, my contact with Dr. Robles had grown into a special friendship. With a feeling of nostalgia, I look back on that time because, particularly for the past four years, this organization has played an even greater role in my life. Unfortunately, I must add, Harold passed away, way too young. in 2020. I would have loved to continue working with him for as many years as possible.

For seven years, we worked together, creating several initiatives and engaging in many different activities— fundraising events, the website, annual reports and social media marketing. In the last weeks of Harold’s life, we discussed our friendship extensively; it was a unique friendship built on unconditional support, rich in harmony of thoughts and words. We didn’t always agree with each other; we could both be quite passionate in discussions, after which we would laugh heartily. There was a dynamic that always pushed us to take further steps to realize the dreams of the organization.

“Do it with thesame love that I have….”
Harold had previously expressed his hope that I would step into his shoes. About two months before his death, this topic came up again; he asked if I wanted to play a bigger role and lead the organization further. I wholeheartedly agreed. “If you do it with the same love for South Africa that I have, then you’re doing it more than good enough for me. I can’t ask anything more from you!” he said. During a gathering with the Board and a group of friends at ‘African Wines’  in Scheveningen (from our partner Damiano d’Alba and the late Belinda d’Alba, who passed away much too young in June 2024) , he shared again how he envisioned the future. I have repeatedly watched and listened to the recordings of that moment. It was his last public appearance. A week before his death, we conducted an interview with ‘OOG VOOR AFRIKA’, which is also recorded, where he clearly articulated his vision for the future. I contacted George Arrey, our CEO and Harold’s right-hand man in South Africa, to let him know he could count on my full support. It had to continue the way Harold envisioned, with the same love for Africa that he had. That was crystal clear to me, and I still view it that way. The Netherlands supports and the organization learns.

 Easier said than done!After Harold’s death, George and I were in daily contact about what was happening and how to proceed. You could say that the organization was confused following the passing of its charismatic founder. Each person’s emotions played a role in that. George and I focused on the fact that it had to continue, as Harold wanted. The pressure, fear, and stress were very high, and some people were adamantly saying that the doors of the Health Promoters would close in January 2021. I couldn’t understand what I based my trust on but thought, one way or another, this organization must continue. Looking back, it was the most difficult period of my life, which also applies to George, and I am surprised now at where we found the strength to believe that everything would turn out well. This could only have happened due to the unconditional support we both received from our families and partners, even though they worried a lot about the sleepless nights we experienced. When I look at photos of myself from that time, I am shocked by how exhausted I looked. Fortunately, we had time on our side; George and I stood together, as we received support from so many people around us, some of whom are now on the Dutch Board of Trustees. Sincerely, I lack words to express my gratitude to this amazing group of individuals. In addition, the special advisors, Patricia Steur and Theo Maijenbergh, have also provided us with significant support and are still involved in the organization. It is nice to see that both boards are supporting us and that we also have meetings where the South African and Dutch boards come together.

 Health Promoters 2.0
The coronavirus had its financial impact on our organization, but at same time, ironically put us on the primary healthcare map of the local communities in which we operate. Since 2022, we have had waiting lists of attendees of our workshops, and we now charge around 10 euros for the certificate of attendance that people receive, to cover operational costs, especially as we are upscaling; something we discussed often with Harold but were indecisive about.  Harold often said, “mass is cash”, a statement that insinuated that the more people we educate as we are upscaling, the higher the income we will receive in the form of the above fee from the clients, to plough back into the project, for its enhancement, still for their benefit. In addition, by upscaling in this manner, we can become self-sustainable, and that is our goal. Though we have a shortfall of sufficient training space in our target localities, a problem we are strategizing to overcome, we believe that upscaling is the path to independence, and the latter will surely be attained in no time when we start owning our own training facilities. Now, also outside the townships, we are receiving inquiries about our training programs, such as NGOs wanting to participate in our mental health training. We intend to establish in the not-so-distant future a mental health training initiative in which clients will be required to pay tuition fees, and through which we would generate funds to finance on a greater scale, the project costs in the townships, where training is largely free of charge. Mr. George Arrey has a background in mental health from Stellenbosch University and would be highly instrumental in guiding the trainees in many different respects in this domain. I am incredibly proud of him!

Twice a year, I visit South Africa for four weeks and meet in person with the team there, and for the rest of the year, we communicate through online channels. I do also attend our graduation celebrations, which are always both confronting and amazing. When I am at such a ceremony, I look up for a moment and softly say, “You started this!” Harold paddled against the current, and for us, now is the time to move forward as the moment is ripe. We get to nurture his “child”, which has now also become our “child”.

How do you see the future and what do you still want to do?
I see a very bright future ahead, and if everyone does what they have promised, we will certainly have funding to continue the project for several more years, and eventually further, with the strategic plans in place. In the short term, I see us spreading our tentacles into other locations in South Africa. George and I are already working on this at the request of local statesmen and stateswomen in different municipalities. There shall also be an expansion of our Lesotho project through which we intend to offer multiple training programs all in physical health and mental health. The most important aspect, however, remains the Basic Health Education workshops. A trainee is expected to first complete that before qualifying for any other program within our project. The idea is to have a combination of several workshops from our Basic Health Education course and the introduction of new options, such as Home Safety, Mental Health etc. Furthermore, in the next five years, we would have responded to requests from several different countries to start a Health Promoters project there as well. We shall also establish a framework to evaluate the chances of self-sustainability of these projects, and their contribution to the mother organization in South Africa. This will determine whether to form the entity in question or not.

After my retirement, I intend to publish my experience
The moments which I am experiencing at the Health Promoters are stories which will certainly be put on paper in the form of a book. That book will largely be about how my life has changed through this organization; what happened after Harold’s departure in 2020, the importance of never giving up on your goals, friendships acquired, challenges, setbacks, successes, life’s issues, and inexplicable events that happened just at the right moment. Coincidences don’t exist. I have figured that out by now, and I am grateful!

It’s a beautiful story about life, and the people who know my story tell me that sharing it in the form of a book would not be a bad idea!

Whether it will finally come to fruition or not, only time will tell. It may take a long time or a short time, but everything will be alright if you have a positive mindset and are always willing to do something for someone else!

A mindset that Harold has conveyed to all of us very well. We miss him intensely and know that he would be proud to see the steps we are taking.