Serious and rigorous, but omnipresent, she caught my attention from the very beginning.
Over time I got to know her and today, through this interview, I have the privilege to share with you her life story.

’I was born in The Hague ; actually, the hospital was in the unpronounceable outskirts, Scheveningen. My father, of Indonesian Dutch descent, was an army man and home moved regularly. He had met my Belgian mother in Korea, while she was working for the UN there.
My parents married 6 weeks after they met and I was born over a year later.’

Liesbeth moved to the Netherlands for school and graduated from Rotterdam University, where she had studied economics.

’Since I had no idea what to study, I thought, ’Why not ?...’
New subject, a bit of numbers... Girls were a minority back then, in my first year we were 20 girls among 1.000 students ! That has certainly changed. I found it especially annoying when professors would single you out to answer their questions which often I could not.’

While Economics was not a well thought-through choice, Liesbeth finished her studies and went to work in banking, also a predominantly male environment in those days.

’It was again an environment with few women, other than secretaries, who were not particularly charmed by the idea that women could be at the same level as men. That has changed immensely over the past 40 years.’

After an initial period in Amsterdam, she moved to work in London.

’As my English friends put it, I became a SWELL (Single Woman Earning Lots in London) !’

Single did not last long though, as she soon met her Dutch husband, also a banker. Two years later, they moved back to Amsterdam and started their family.

’In 1996 we moved to Hong Kong for work. We lived there during the handover to the Chinese.
Little did we realise what would eventually happen, but in our day, it was a mixture of British and Chinese, quite a fascinating place and a stepping stone for lots of travel. My husband’s work later brought us to Milan in Italy. I also managed to get a job there, not very interesting though, at Banca Monte dei Paschi, the oldest bank in the world. As my husband’s health forced him to retire early, we decided it would be nice to spend more time together, and I resigned. A year later we moved to Brussels, a place I had lived in the late 60s, which had unrecognisably changed since then.’

Liesbeth recalled her first encounter with FdE.
It was over a ‘Erwtensoep’ (pea soup) invitation, from an old high school classmate of her husband’s. What she thought would be a dinner for four, was in fact a much larger event.

’Within the first 15 minutes after our arrival I had been approached by at least 4 women urging me to become a member of FdE. Rather intimidating... When my husband and I returned to our flat that evening, he urged me to look into it. My reaction was : you must be joking, I am not joining a WOMEN’S club !’

But, as I also discovered after joining Femmes d’Europe these ladies can be very persuasive.
So, Liesbeth eventually joined.

’50 euros to do some good, why not ?... Best decision ever !’

Since she had banking experience, she was then asked to be the cashier for the Dutch stall at the 2014 Christmas Bazaar, which she really enjoyed.

’My husband’s health was by then very bad. We knew it would not end well and it didn’t.
Earlier than I expected, weeks after the Bazaar, on January 15, 2015 he passed away. It was as if a carpet was pulled out from under me. The first months after his demise are a blur to me still. Eventually I got back on my feet and I can truly say that Femmes d’ Europe gave me the structure that I badly needed to fill in my life.’

Since then, one thing led to another and she soon joined the treasury.

’I was asked to help with the organisation of the 2016 Dutch Gala, a very fun time and apparently I made an impression of being quite capable and reliable… and also not afraid of numbers. This led to me being asked to ’help the Treasure’. I did not at all realise it would be a function in the Executive Bureau. After some careful reflection and the usual ’why not ?’ thinking, I became Vice-Treasurer. One day, I was in the car with the Treasurer, Bernadette Grünhage, with a big suitcase of money from the Christmas Bazaar, which we needed to deposit at the bank.
By the way, this turned out to be quite a struggle, as ING probably thought we were whitewashing, either that or fronting some criminal outfit. That day, Bernadette informed me. ’Next year I am stepping down and you will take over’. I gasped for air. But that is what happened. And luckily Mapie Doux presented herself for the Vice Treasury position and we are now having a great time working both as friends and as a team.’

Liesbeth says that Femmes d’Europe was a life saver. Apart from filling her life and allowing her to share by donating and giving time to helping the less fortunate, it was also an opportunity to meet women from many different, often international, backgrounds.

’My own life has been so international that I can connect to that better than to a local environment. That is probably also why I like Brussels so much. It is a hotchpotch of international flavours and it is the starting point of the Eurostar. That can take me across the Channel and with onward connections to either Wales, to my daughter, where my first grandchild Isabelle has just seen the light, or to Edinburgh, to my son. My other daughter has chosen for a less conventional habitat and lives in the Middle East ; Brussels is of no use there !’

Liesbeth says that she enjoys life but often stresses herself out with silly deadlines. She is hard working and made that short ‘Why not ?’ a way of life, a door to many life opportunities and pleasant discoveries.
To many new adventures, Liesbeth… why not ?