On August 24th we will be remembering the wonderful life and compassionate drive of our dearly departed Liesbeth van der Burgt.
I met Liesbeth for the first time in Sintang when we were both supporters and volunteers helping where necessary with the rescued orphan orangutans at the Sintang Orangutan Centre (SOC) in West Kalimantan, Indonesia and had planned to do a lot more with Willie, Father Jacques and the team.
Liesbeth was not only wonderful with the baby orangutans, but she was also wonderful with the gibbons, the staff, visitors and all who met her! She had a particular soft spot for her ‘Mr Gibbon’. She spent two days slowly and carefully taking out the knots from his poor matted back as result of his being kept crammed in a small cage prior to being rescued. Mr Gibbon, like Liesbeth, was also wonderful with the baby orang-utans!
Liesbeth and I spent many days together at SOC and I was able to see what a lovely, caring, special human being she was. She was liked and appreciated by all beings!
Liesbeth continued to support SOC after she returned to the Netherlands. She helped to run a stall to raise funds for the orangutans when Willie was giving a talk at Apenheul Primate Centre. She also donated veterinary supplies to the rescued orangutans there. She offered any help she could give for a cause that was so important to her- the rescue and loving care of orphaned primates.
In fact, Willie mentioned Liesbeth’s help with the first orangutan release to Tembak in his blog on 24th April, 2014:
“…Many thanks to all of you who have contributed to making this possible! Orangutan Rescue, Adrie Bontekoe, Ecowarriors, Willy van Mensvoort, Liesbeth and so many more I cannot mention here one by one. Thanks for believing in our project. Father Jacques, Dudung and myself will keep you updated!”
We stayed in touch after that first meeting. Willie and I appreciated her dedication, her willingness to get involved and to help in any way she could and her delightful, loving spirit. We tried to catch up with Liesbeth when possible when Willie and I were in Veghel and always at the Van der Valk hotel in Uden. It is poignant that we also now continue to meet her Weesaapjes friends and caring committee members there too.
The left a picture of our most recent meeting with Weesaapjes and friends of Liesbeth in Uden, the hometown of Liesbeth.
Beneath: Keeping in touch with Liesbeth by Skype from wherever we were 
It was with heavy hearts that we discovered, very late, that Liesbeth did not have long for this world.
A few days before she died we were told about the situation. We wrote her letters, as we were unable to fly to the Netherlands in time, as Willie was then in Indonesia and I was in Hong Kong. We were later told that lovely Liesbeth had put those letters at the bottom of her bed and the message from Willie had given her much comfort.
We were able to visit her natural resting place last year. A most suitable resting place for such a natural, caring person.
Willie wrote in his article about Liesbeth: “The section of pine stem marking her burial place, engraved with the words: “If you can dream it you can do it. Liesbeth”. That is how we remember Liesbeth, passionate, dedicated and loving wholeheartedly.”
Some funds from the sale of her house are being used to help the orphaned orangutans at SOC. It is these funds that are being used the help build the ‘Jerora’ orangutan centre for the rescued orangutans at SOC. The ‘Liez Health Centre’ will be the centre of care for all the orangutans at Jerora.
Other enclosures at the Jerora centre are being sponsored by the Victoria Shanghai Academy in Hong Kong.
The Jerora Centre is now in the final stages of being built. Though more funds are always needed to run such a centre, it is donations such as those from Liesbeth’s home sale and those from the students, staff and school community at the Victoria Shanghai Academy that are going to allow a new home to be created for many orphan orangutans until they can be released.
As another fitting memorial to Liesbeth and the wonderful person she was, a baby orangutan at the SOC has been named in her honour. More information about ‘Liesje’ can be found in an article by Willie on the Masarang HK website https://masarang.hk/2018/08/03/little-liesje/. Photographs of Liesje can be found below. We are sure that our Liesbeth would be happy with her namesake and the care she will receive until she can be released.
After our last article about Liesbeth on the Masarang HK website, this lovely comment about Liesbeth was sent by Leon Spoor from the Netherlands.
“Such an amazing woman…At least the last 10 years of her life, mostly 24 hours a day, she was involved in some kind of animal/nature rescue procedure. She took hardly one moment for herself. I can’t remember that she ever went on a holiday or spend time or money on herself. EVERYTHING was for the animals. I remember she told me that she was SO charmed and deeply in love with the baby orangutans in your center in Borneo, she didn’t want to leave! She had also many plans to help Borneo. Therefor it is so hard to bare that such a disinterested, young, person with such a lot of plans had to “go” so soon. She will be missed in presence, but her foundation “Weesaapjes” will continue and in that way Liesbeth lives on forever keep helping the animals and Borneo will not be forgotten….
With kindly regards,
Leon (Netherlands)
Our Liesbeth may be gone from this world, but she will never be forgotten.
By Adrienne Watson Smits
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