Born in 1956 about 25 km west of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Kassenberg studied Land and Water Management at Wageningen University. He recalls growing up by the sea with three younger brothers.[break]
After having worked in Nepal for a short period of time, Kassenberg went on to work with the UN in Philippines for two years. He returned to Nepal but immediately moved to Brussels where Care’s International Secretariat was located. He has experiences of working in Kenya, Somalia and Afghanistan.
Kassenberg is married to a Nepali whom he met while doing a short consultancy job for the World Bank in 1983 and they got married in 1985.
Care is an INGO with the objective to fight poverty by specifically working with girls and women. “Care has quite evolved since early 1980s when the organization was directly involved in the construction of suspension bridges,” he recalls.
Care Nepal has started projects with Asian Development Bank and currently works on Women empowerment, health projects, natural resources, adaptation and climate change.
The organization has 200 staff, 50 of whom are based in Kathmandu while others are spread out in 44 districts. The development projects are concentrated on far west and they have their offices in Nepalgunj, Pokhara, Bharatpur, Pokhara, Dhankuta including Kathmandu.
Care Nepal is a member of Association of International NGOs in Nepal (AIN) of which Kassenberg is the vice-chair. The organization has organized awareness programs related to HIV AIDS in the far west providing information and has even made an agreement with the local rickshaw union to make people going to and coming from India stop at information booths. Apart from that, Care Nepal is also involved with mother and child health care, building birthing centers, improving equipments and infrastructure of health posts.
When asked about what inspires him the most, he recalls his encounter with Edna Adan, wife of former President of Somalia and the then foreign minister.
“She was building a maternity hospital on a former execution ground and she explained that the place of death was becoming the place of birth. She is an incredibly dedicated human being. When I met her she was living low-key and humble but she had lots of fascinating stories to share.”
His unforgettable moments include the time he was trekking in Langtang in around 1986/7 when he witnessed Halley’s Comet passing by against the clear sky. “It happens only once in 76 years and it was a unique opportunity to be in such a fascinating landscape,” he explains. He also talks about meeting Desmond Tutu during one of Care’s conference in South Africa - “he is an interesting individual with unbelievable sense of humor,” he adds.
Kassenberg was featured on “Inspirations: The essence of life”, a personality-based television series presented by Media Gallery and Global Exposition and Management Services in association with Republica. The program is aired on Nepal Television every Wednesday at 10:10pm.
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