Dick Parleviet, Chairman

Martin Schipper, Secretary

My name is Martin Schipper and i�m the secretary of the foundation. I�m from the Netherlands and involved in the foundation because of it�s importance. I believe that all together we can make the world�s attitude to change into a better one.

These days it�s very important that the West and the Arab world get to know eachother better. Since I lived in Egypt for a couple of months some years back I got intrested in the Middle East. It�s sometimes very hard to understand what is going on there. Even if you are in the middle of it. I�m not talking about war or violance, but just daily life. Things are different in the West and the Arab World and one thing that�s very important in partnership is acceptance and understanding from both sides. I found that one major burden in understanding each other is the fact that language is different. But also religion is something we need to learn about.

AWF is focusing on these subjects and more. I truly hope that you will get to know the Arab World and the West better through the efforts of the AWF.

Koen Vliegenthart, Treasurer

Koen was born in Rotterdam, Holland, in 1953. After retiring as Financial Director of Zeeman textielSupers, Koen spends his time supporting a number of charity organisations, most involved in projects in developing countries, like Oikocredit (microfinancing) and Save the Children India (Mumbai). He also has his own foundation, called �Elishua� which supports small projects in the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In Egypt Koen has worked with World Servants, an organisation that organises three-week working vacations for mostly students during summertime and his been involved in the construction of many girls homes and schools in the the past decade, mostly in the Beni Suef region. It was through this work that Koen came in contact with Kees Hulsman and his organisation and became (and still is) very enthusiastic about their ideas and goals. That is the reason why Koen joined the Arab West Stichting.