In 2019, the Heliconia Scholarship Foundation changed its name and got a new website!
Founders Carli Kooper and Mili Chana started our charity in 2009 as Stichting Heliconia. Stichting means foundation in Dutch and has to be part of a charity's name, to indicate its charitable status. We are now thus officially registered by the Chamber of Commerce as Heliconia Scholarship Stichting but present ourselves as Heliconia Scholarship Foundation. After ten years of trial and error, we expect this name to stay with us!
In 2015, the board of that time had the name changed to Stichting WeesWijs, translating to BeWise Foundation. The purpose of that name was to address our focus on education. However, we all missed the heliconia flower! Moreover, heliconia is an international word that appeals much more to our students, donors, and staff. Also, our great beneficiary Mr. Koijmans specifically loved the flower, symbolizing a stairway that offers our students the opportunity to take a step up the social ladder. So this year, we decided to take back our original name. We added the word scholarship so that we have an international name that also directly addresses our purpose.
In 2018, Treasurer Tim Haenen and Chairperson Carli Kooper reorganized our entire administration with the help of an accountant. All our finances were traced back from 2009 to 2018 and displayed in a more orderly way. All our financial reports are available online in Dutch, and starting in 2019 also in English.
From half of 2018 to 2019, Carli was unable to work due to burnout. In 2020, during her recovery, she designed the new logo and build this new website from scratch. The policy plan and online texts were all revised and translated into English and Indonesian. Our personal profiles were updated and accompanied with pictures, to illustrate our Heliconia Community. We added the option to donate online using iDeal, credit card, or PayPal. Meanwhile, Naomi became our first full-time employee after being a volunteer since 2012, thereby significantly increasing our carrying capacity in the field.
In sum: we are ready for a whole new phase! With this new website, dedicated staff, graduates, and students, and ten years of experience working together, we are looking forward to growing even more! Welcome to our new website. We hope you are inspired by our community and mission!
Picture above: Carli creating the new website.
Below: our logo's over the years.
