Books
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Successful Negotiations in Other Cultures ***** ‘Highlyrecommended, the book is fully and very readably written from a Dutch perspective. That’s the power of this title. ***** This book could be the best deal of your career.’ ‘A must-read for anyone…
Trip to Macondo
In this essay, Jan Vincent Meertens takes the reader to García Márquez’s Macondo and explores whether the Dutch, the Western reader, can manage to get into the state of mind of the locals. What cultural boundaries must we explore and…
The Girl from Tota
About Tota’s Girl: For eight months, Jan Vincent Meertens sits isolated from the outside world in a blinded room in a farmhouse. Is he still in Colombia? Are his wife and little son doing well? Has their second child already…
Empathy Land
Empathy Land is a fun and exciting board game that can also be played by international teams. Colleagues get to know each other better and also understand each other. A great improvement for cross-cultural communication.
It was recently announced that two well-known Dutch journalists have been kidnapped in Colombia. The message put my family back in the spotlight. It’s part of it, but the trigger is often sad. Esther Gerritsen’s column was a nice conclusion to a turbulent few days for the abductees, their families and, again, for us. She refers to this conversation on Radio 1 (starting at minute 11).
Prepare to Respond!
It was in January 2003 that The Netherlands Support Office in Gujarat, India, first introduced me to The Netherlands based International Centre for Emergency Techniques (ICET). Lifeline Foundation, which I had co-founded, had just started to initiate Emergency Medical Services (EMS) on Indian highways. Prior to that India had no initiative, government or otherwise, on its treacherous and accident prone 60,000 kilometers of highways, to help road traffic accident victims. Jan Vincent Meertens, founder of ICET, was sure that he could support our fledgling effort. Not many people had done so and therein we struck a chord. Read more….
