Who We Are

We are a group of enthusiastic hand therapists from the Netherlands who established a charity organization, Hands Across Borders, in 2012.

What We Do

Our goal is to share our knowledge and experience with colleagues in countries where help is needed. We train physio- and occupational therapists working in developing countries to enable them to undertake hand therapy. Previous training was done in Nepal, India and Myanmar.



What You Can Do

We need your support to do our work — contact us to learn how you can volunteer or donate.

October 2020

A little introduction in HAB webinars

Before COVID-19 started in October 2019 a discussion was held in our HAB meeting how we could share knowledge without physically having to travel to different countries. Some of the ideas were starting a YouTube channel or webinars. Little did we know that in a couple months’ time due to COVID-19 webinars and ZOOM meetings would become the norm.

The webinars we are going to give are for all who work with hand related issues (hand trauma, CP etc.) including plastic surgeons, (hand)therapists and those which have a keen interest in developing skills and knowledge. Our aim is to give webinars on subjects and case studies which have been submitted by the countries involved. We want to assist in expanding knowledge with the different countries Hands Across Borders has already had projects within the past and are developing connections with other countries.

In the past two months Hands Across Borders (HAB) has had two trial webinars with Nepal and Ethiopia starting with the fundamentals of hand therapy, the anatomy. The feedback we have received has been very positive and we are working on a format in which we can educate on a regular basis. To continue the success of the first ‘trial’ webinars we are working on building a database of motivated teachers, therapists etc.

We are therefore making an appeal. If you are an (experienced) plastic hand surgeon, hand therapist or other related profession to hand rehabilitation and would like to join Hands Across Borders in giving webinars in the English language, please contact us. If you would like to join our database please send your details (experience, presentation topics and profession) to handsacrossbordersnl@gmail.com or via PM in Facebook messenger and we will contact you when there is a call for your enthusiastic expertise.

If there are any remarks or suggestions feel free to contact us.

Gifts Joanne Gorter

Joanne Gorter (1977-2013), a missionary kid who has lived part of her childhood in Africa, was raised with the value that it was important to share knowledge and help and support people less fortunate than herself.

In 1996 she started her studies to become an occupational therapist. An occupation that suited her to a T. Values as autonomy, self-reliance having a holistic view and respecting diversity characterized her personality.

In 2000, she started her career as an occupational therapist in a rehabilitation center and after a few years she was the first in the setting to set up hand therapy unit there and loved working as a hand therapist.

The parents of Joanne Gorter have decided to donate funds for the further development of Hands Across Borders in memory of their daughter Joanne Gorter who passed away in a tragic accident in 2013. They chose Hands Across Borders because of the many similarities that matched their daughters stand in life. Hands Across Borders will be using these funds for educational purposes and supporting therapists in low resource countries in which hand therapy is developing. We thank the parents of Joanne for this gift in remembrance of Joanne. We will honor this donation and aim to use the funds with honesty and integrity.

Dutch Version:

Joanne Gorter (1977-2013) groeide deels op in Afrika. Als heel klein meisje ging ze met haar ouders mee die daar zendingswerk deden. Ze kreeg met de paplepel ingegoten dat het belangrijk en bijna vanzelfsprekend is om kennis te delen en mensen te helpen die in armere omstandigheden leven. In 1996 begon Joanne aan de studie ergotherapie in Amsterdam. De keuze om ergotherapeut te worden paste haar heel goed: waarden als autonomie, zelfredzaamheid, holisme en respect voor diversiteit karakteriseerden haar. In 2000 studeerde ze af en na een paar waarnemingen vond ze een baan als ergotherapeut bij Heliomare in Wijk aan Zee. Ze vond het fantastisch om daar te werken door de hoge kwaliteit van zorg aan de patiënt en de samenwerking met hele fijne collega’s. Na een aantal jaar kreeg Joanne de vraag of ze de kartrekker wilde zijn van de handtherapie binnen de organisatie. Met veel enthousiasme accepteerde ze het aanbod, en ze mocht een handopleiding doen. Deze heeft ze gedaan bij Pro Education in Amsterdam. De jaren erna heeft ze met veel plezier met deze patiëntengroep gewerkt.

Helaas kwam er door een noodlottig ongeval in 2013 een abrupt einde aan haar leven.

Ter nagedachtenis aan haar leven hebben haar ouders besloten om gedurende minimaal vijf jaar giften te schenken aan Hands Across Borders. Zij vinden dat de visie van Hands Across Borders mooi aansluit bij wie Joanne was en waar ze voor stond. Dit geeft onze stichting de kans om nog meer te bewerkstelligen in landen waar dit zo hard nodig is. Het gaat dan in het bijzonder om de scholing en training van lokale (hand)therapeuten die de niet-chirurgische behandeling van patiënten doen. We zijn Kees en Monica Gorter dankbaar voor dit prachtige gebaar en zullen de giften naar eer en geweten inzetten.

– Marjolein Wind