My name is Ghada Shahin. I am mother, cardiothoracic surgeon and animal lover. More than 52 years ago my parents, my sister and I emigrated from Egypt to the Netherlands.

Ever since 2010 we visit with a specialized team needy hospitals in Egypt to perform open heart operations. Our projects have a humanitarian voluntary basis, and our goal is distinctively educational. By training and educating you make others self-supportive instead of dependent. Foundation Heart for Humane Investment is for me a means to exchange knowledge and know-how in a structural and durable way. Often, I hear that this kind of work is merely a drop on a hot plate. My experience tells me differently.

As Mahatma Gandhi said: “The future depends on what we do in the present”

Nicoline Wesseling, ambitious, a perfectionist, honest and sometimes a little crazy. I love my work as physician assistant in cardiothoracic surgery. Whether I need to do clinical work or assist during operation of heart and lungs, I enjoy every day the contact with the patients.

My time off I spend with my husband Dennis, my two grown-ups and our faithful four-legged dog Oscar. Ever since 2010 I participate in the projects to Egypt, first as scrub nurse and now as PA. The happiness and gratitude of the patients and their families are the driving forces. The first time I experienced a culture shock, the need for care was so much more than just performing surgery, it entailed also training and education of the local staff, from the cleaning ladies to the surgeons.

I take part in the board of this foundation because I want to do more for patients in Egypt. With this foundation I hope to make a broader impact than the annual mission to Egypt

“A day not laughed is a day not lived.” And what is more beautiful than the laugh of a grateful patient who has been helped by our team and can look forward to many beautiful years in good health with his family and friends.

No medical experience but a lifelong experience as Human Resources advisor amongst others for Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières. And now working more than 15 years in a hospital as employment lawyer. My power lies in unravelling organizational questions in relation to the human factors. The human is, in my opinion, the most important link in an organization to get things done!

My personal motivation to be a board member in this foundation is because this world needs more equality. I do not possess the qualifications to assist in an operation, but I surely can help with my organizational and creative input. I search good people in networks and get things moving and book progress from there.

“Not merely healing hearts, but changing lives”

I am Rianne Rijsdijk and I work now for many year in cardiothoracic surgery, first as scrub nurse and in the past 10 years as physician assistant (PA). Next to that I am also financial board member of the Dutch Association of Physician Assistants (NAPA), which is our scientific association.

In the Netherlands, undergoing an open heart operation is something that is almost “normal”, the possibility and availability of care speaks for itself. When your chest hurts, you go to the doctor and a treatment plan is designed. Where you are treated in the Netherlands doesn’t matter, the quality in all cardiac centers is comparable. Everyone, independent of the socio-economic status receives the same quality of care.

In Egypt heart surgery is often not as obvious. It depends on where you live and if in that region good quality cardiac care is available. With the experience and knowledge that I have I can contribute to more chance equality in areas in which this kind of care does not speak for itself. That gives me a lot of satisfaction. And that is why I am 100% part of Heart for Humane Investment!

“If you have the power to make someone happy and cheerful, doe it. The world is yearning for it.”