Guest Blogger, Founder/Director of Tess Unlimited, Tessa de Goede de Ordoñez
Based on True Events
Please note:
The content is NOT intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your pediatrician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
How We Started
I am Tessa de Goede de Ordoñez. After my studies at the School for Hotelmanagement it was time for me to go out into the wide world. I was 20 years old and so done with going to school. So I left with my backpack to South America, where I traveled alone for seven months and volunteered in various places. After this, I lived in China for a year, in Nepal for a while and traveled around a lot.
In 2008 I ended up in Guatemala, mainly with the aim of improving my Spanish.
The plan was to stay for one month ... However, I fell in love with Guatemala, the country, the people, my work and my salsa teacher, who has been my husband since 2010. During my stay, I started working voluntarily in a hospital with children born with cleft lip and palate. With a mother as a maternity nurse, I was already familiar with cleft lip and palate. Since the mothers are not allowed to stay with the children when they are in the hospital, it was my job to feed, bathe and dress them. I immediately fell in love with these children, with their beautiful wide smiles and sparkling eyes.
During this time, I was searching for what I wanted in life. I decided to investigate after which I found out that there was simply no help available for these children in Guatemala. There was not a single organization that helped these children and that broke my heart. When I returned to the Netherlands after seven months, I could not let it go. I was sure that I wanted to do something for these children in the future.
Once back in the Netherlands, I decided to set up a foundation. I gathered a board, created my own website and told everyone about my wild plans. The idea was to return to Guatemala for one year to set up the project there, which afterwards I could manage from the Netherlands. In addition, we are very happy with the people who, as members of the board, volunteers and as founders of a Club of 100, are committed to full-time in Guatemala, with the children with cleft lip and palate that I fell in love with so many years ago. I never want to leave here. This is my calling!
About the Foundation
The Tess Unlimited Foundation is based in the Netherlands (Chamber of Commerce 08181442) and included in the ANBI-register from the Tax Authorities. The ANBI quality mark ensures that you can deduct your donations to us in the income tax return. We are registered in the United States.
Besides the people we work with daily, we also work with partners such as Lilliane Fonds, Elba Foundation, Smile Train and The Thom Foundation. In addition, we are very happy with the people who, as members of the board, volunteers and as founders of a Club of 100, are committed to Tess Unlimited.
Tess Unlimited is also happy to work with CozeeCoo®, which provides CozeeCoo®s to our precious patients for their post cleft repair surgery healing journeys. We are proud to say all of our patients go home in a CozeeCoo®.
We are always grateful for the donations we receive to continue the work we do for these incredible children. If you are in a position to donate, please do. This helps us perform life-altering surgeries, dental treatments, speech therapy and care to babies and children who need them. To learn more about Tess Unlimited, please visit our website, Instagram and/or Facebook.
Sincerely,
Tessa de Goede de Ordoñez
Founder/Director at Tess Unlimited
Curious about CozeeCoo®'s full story? Please check it out.
