Inspiring Board Away Day: Plenty of New Plans

On a sunny spring day in April, the board of the Mount Meru Foundation gathered for an inspiring brainstorming session about the future of our Foundation. This resulted in an ambitious five- and ten-year plan: we aim to establish a skills lab in Tanzania.

The setting for our away day was the historic Hoeve Caestert in Belgian Limburg, where we gratefully used the space at the nature center Villa Castrum. After a brief introduction about lost castles, cave systems, sheep grazing, and ancient grains, we discussed the current agenda over coffee and Limburg pie: the status of our ongoing projects and which action points need our attention.

Following an extensive lunch and a short walk through the rolling landscape, Sjan de Weert joined us. We are very pleased to officially welcome her to the board this year. With her background in ultrasound, healthcare in general, and her management skills, Sjan provides a particularly valuable contribution to our work.

During the afternoon brainstorming session, we reformulated our mission and vision (which you can read here). Supporting ultrasound education in Tanzania remains our focus. We will make even greater efforts to place students in local programs and continue training and mentoring junior sonographers on their path to becoming senior sonographers. Naturally, we will also continue our other ongoing projects and strengthen them where possible. There is also room for new projects that align with our renewed mission and vision.

Additionally, we aim to professionalize the foundation, expand our network in Tanzania and the Netherlands, and connect talented individuals to our mission and vision. We will actively recruit for this purpose in the coming period. This professionalization is necessary to implement our ten-year plan: establishing a genuine skills lab in Tanzania where local and Dutch trainers can train the new generation of obstetric sonographers.

With this beautiful dream and some local souvenirs, we concluded this successful day with a drink and a snack at a terrace by the Maas.