On-Stage is run by Onno Bierman en Susana de Winne, two people who feel that the ‘personal touch’ plays a vital role in their business. To highlight this, they would like to introduce themselves in a bit more detail and tell you about how On-Stage came to exist.
Even before they dreamed of each other, both Onno and Susana dreamed of moving abroad. Susana had already experiences living abroad due to her summer jobs, her own traineeships and her charity work. Her part-time job working as a waitress for Formula 1 took her across the globe. Her traineeship led her to Chile and after working for a charity in Ecuador she had made up her mind! There was more to life than the Dutch life!
Shortly after returning to the Netherlands, Susana and Onno met. It didn’t take them long to realize how well they got on and that they shared the same dream. Onno had just returned from working as a ski-instructor and he too had realized that there were interesting possibilities outside of his native country.
They soon moved in together. Not only because this was fun but also to critically examine just how well they really got along and if they could embark on an adventure abroad together! Shortly after this they started to ask themselves a few important questions such as what did they want to do, what could they do and how they could do it all.
Onno had dreams of starting up his own business, a house by the lake with mountains in the background. Things he was unlikely to find in the Netherlands! Susana hoped for a pleasant climate, a house with a porch and many pets. Again things that are not easily realized back home. Also very important, they wanted to make a difference. They were looking for the one idea that would combine all of those wishes. That idea finally took the shape of an agency for traineeships in Nicaragua, a beautiful and fun country with extremely friendly people and many challenging possibilities. This idea allowed them to contribute to de development of the country and of the student. They would make a difference!
Thankfully, Nicaragua turned out to be very suitable. It is a country that is very much developing and ‘hungry’ for knowledge. Knowledge happens to be something there is a lot of in the Netherlands and in return Nicaragua offers an abundance of nature, culture and adventure. On-Stage was born!
