Introduction
My name is Tessa de Goede, I am a 28 year old woman driven with a life changing passion.
This is my story:
Nine years ago I discovered for the first time, the incredible beauty of Latin America. Of course I loved the captivating nature, but also through my various volunteer work I learned about the fascinating culture of Latin America. I started volunteering with handicapped children in Peru and I finished with teaching English in Ecuador.
A year and a half later, my studies took me to China for a year where I worked in a hotel. While in China I had another goal in mind, to visit Nepal (you might say I had a bit of a travel bug ). I traveled to Nepal for 3 months and I helped build an orphanage called Ramro Sathi in Kathmandu. After Nepal I returned to Holland, my home country where I worked for less than a year before I realized I needed to travel again. I was 24 years old and decided that I wanted to travel to Guatemala. I only knew that Guatemala needed a lot of help and it would be a great place for me to volunteer!
In 2008 I lost my heart to Guatemala. It didn’t take me long to learn Spanish and I started volunteering in a public primary school and in the Obras Sociales hospital with children afflicted with cleft lips and palates. I loved working with the babies and became very attached to the project. This for me was such a happy time in my life and such a great learning experience for me. I have done volunteer work in several countries, but this one really touched a special place in my heart!
While I was learning and volunteering in Antigua I started taking Salsa lessons from a great teacher named Gerson. He soon became a very good friend but I knew I had to return to Holland. Once I was in Holland my mind was filled with ideas for projects and I knew I had to implement them and the only place I wanted to implement my project was in Guatemala. Instantly I knew that Cleft Lips and Cleft Palates would be the focus. I started working non-stop on how to set up this project and make sure it was successful. Actually my co-worker came up with the name T.E.S.S. Unlimited because he knew I could not limit myself to one project. Once I had everything situated for my project I returned to Guatemala where I worked non-stop to start T.E.S.S. Unlimited! Oh and did I mention I fell madly in love with Gerson and we were married on December 9, 2010! I now live and work outside of Antigua, Guatemala with my wonderful husband and our 18 children! Just kidding…our 18 children are dogs! T.E.S.S. Unlimited is a part of my life that I am so proud of. With the help of volunteers and a wonderful small staff my dream is a reality that has helped change hundreds of lives!
The operation of T.E.S.S Unlimited consists of the following devoted people:
- Paul de Goede (Holland), Advisor of T.E.S.S Unlimited
- Tessa de Goede (Guatemala), Founder of T.E.S.S. Unlimited, lives and works in Guatemala.
- Trees de Goede (Holland), President of T.E.S.S Unlimited
- Sam van Nispen tot Pannerden (Holland), Treasurer and Accountant of T.E.S.S. Unlimited.
- Bob Mulder (Holland), PR and Fundraising T.E.S.S. Unlimited.
- Annemiek Schouten (Holland), Volunteer Coordinator in Holland of T.E.S.S. Unlimited.
- Tanja Olierook (Canada) , PR and Fundraising in Canada for T.E.S.S. Unlimited.
- Tom de Goede (Guatemala), Right hand of Tessa in Guatemala, volunteercoordinator and director of the education centre in Guatemala
