Meet Our Team In Belgium
Our team members in Belgium all serve as board members and ensure that the organization runs smoothly. Each board member is passionate about BIA and is actively involved on a daily basis. Thanks to their hard work and dedication, we will continue to aid our children in South Africa.
Besides our members of the board in Belgium, we would also like to mention and thank the co- founders of Born in Africa in Belgium for their support; Roger de Smet (2003-2023), Georges De Smul, Arlette Vanheule, Luc De Clercq (2003- 2022) Hilde de Baets (†2022) and Hanneke Siebelink.
Meet the board of directors and volunteers in Belgium:
Georges De Smul
Chairman
He carries the responsibility of liaison between all the board members and volunteers. He is consciously busy with fundraising for BIA. For more information about our organisation, please feel free to take up further contact with Georges.
Jaak Leenknegt
Vice- Chairman and Corporate Fundraising
Jaak is the vice- chairman of the board in Belgium, is responsible for corporate fundraising in Belgium and he is also involved with public relations.
Remi De Backer
PR-Coordinator Between SA And Belgium
Remi is chairman of BIA South Africa. He also plays liaison between BIA Belgium and South Africa and together with his wife Lieve, they are both play integral roles in fundraising for our organisation. When they are in South Africa they work as volunteers for BIA.
Christine Lernout
Accounting and membership administration
She manages BIA bookkeeping department and additional administration tasks.
Nele Schroyen
Administrative Support And Translator
Nele assists the BIA organization by translating many articles and our newsletters and assists Lotte in preparing volunteers and interns before they come to South Africa.
Lotte Van Buyten
Administrative Support And Volunteer Placement
Lotte has volunteered at BIA three times and now leads the volunteer placement program for the organization.
Paul Delva
Arlette Van Heule
Administrative Support
She offers her assistance as administration support.
Robbin Huijers
Volunteer selection
Being a volunteer twice before herself at Born in Africa in South Africa, Robbin is the perfect person to inform future volunteers and interns before their departure to South Africa. Robbin joined our Belgian board in 2024 and is a great addition to the team!
Lieve Platteau
Administrative Support (Volunteer)
As co-founder she is partly responsible for administration at BIA and she was on the board for many years.
Lieve De Backer (Volunteer)
Wife of our SA chairman Remi De Backer is also very active in Belgium and South Africa for the promotion of the Born in Africa program.
BIA team in Meetjesland (Volunteers)
This team has volunteered at BIA in Plettenberg Bay and are raising funds via various fundraising activities in Belgium. In January 2017, the team came to visit Born in Africa to hand over the funds raised and help us by painting and decorating our education centre in Kranshoek.
Lilianne Van Acker (Volunteer)
Liliane has been coming to South Africa to volunteer for a couple of weeks since 2017. She helps out with different projects at the school and is a huge administrative help at our office. Since 2018 she is also managing and updating the SA database of all children while she is in Belgium.
