Bob Van Der Bijl

Bob Van Der Bijl passed away in March of 2004. Harry Sasson informed us of his death.

vanderb@uio.satnet.net   Click here to email Bob

Subject: News from Ecuador
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 10:51:08 -0500
From: "Robert Van Der Bijl" vanderb@uio.satnet.net
To: "Harry Baya (two)" Hbaya_hu@earthlink.net
CC: "Caleb Wright" Caleb@taconic.net,
"Fred Hill" AzKofa@aol.com, "bruce schaefer" bschaefr@erols.com ,
"Harry latest correct) Sasson" Sassonh@aol.com,
"Patrick Manzella" pmanzella@ssoe.com,
"Ruth Lapa (now Joseph)" RuthJoseph@aol.com

Hi all ! This is Bob Van Der Bijl, who's still in South America (I'm probably the only one of the C.A. crowd...) Although I was one of the first contacted by Bruce Schaefer, I have been neglecting this chance to talk to old friends, because of being extremely busy, traveling etc. Some of you already know quite a bit about me, like Harry Sasson, with whom I've been in conract all these years, but this is for the benefit of those who don't.

After leaving C.A. in '57, I spent one schoolyear in Geneva, Switzerland, did more traveling and bumming around than studying. When after that year my "big brother" Rudy went on to study in Germany, I went back to Venezuela, to work with my Dad. I seem to remember that a couple of years after that, Harry Baya came to Caracas briefly, looking for people who had money to invest..

I got married in Caracas to a French girl who had a contract to teach at a Venezuelan school. This was 1967. We had two boys, Stefan, now 31 and living in California, and Eric-Jan, 29, in Düsseldorf, Germany. Both boys, like all of us, studied in foreign schools, and went on to the US for university, screwing up their roots thoroughly. I worked with my Dad in horticultural imports until 1972, and then went independent, selling life insurance for a Venezuelan insurance company. After a year I was their star salesman (naturally...) and after 5 years without vacation, we decided to take a little trip through South America. We bought a VW camper, and spent 9 months on the road with our two small kids, visiting all the countries in South America except the geographical accidents called the Guayanas.

On coming back to Caracas, I was bombarded into the job of sales manager for the central zone, Caracas, Maracay, Valencia, Guarenas etc., but after a year of too rich lunches with brokers, and solving other people's troubles, I'd had it with Caracas, and we decided to make a major move. We considered Chile (not feasible after 3 years into Pinochet's rule) Argentina (firm job offer but would have left net savings of about 500 dollars a month, thank you very much), and finally decided on Ecuador, where the people were tolerable and NOT xenophobic like Venezuelans (remember "musiú..?), and the economy was more or less OK. I continued in life and health insurance here (not easy in the beginning), and I now also represent a Dutch technical assistance program, which sends out retired experts, to help out local companies or entities.

Ecuador's economy over the last 22 years has gone all to hell, and when the dollar on arrival 1n 1978 was 25 Sucres, it's now 25000 !! A short time ago, the economy has been dollarized, and the Sucre is fast disappearing altogether. My wife Michele and I split up 3 years ago, are technically still married because Ecuadorian law doesn't contemplate divorce between a resident and non-resident (she had a cultural visa, being a French government teacher). We're excellent friends, and I saw her recently, first in April at her mother's 80th birthday party (dinner, naturally, being French...) and late April at the baptism of my first grandchild, a lovely boy named Aidan Christophe. I live in a very nice two-story apartment, small (2-bedrooms), but with a gorgeous view, and rent out the old apartment which was way too big for me.

Contrary to what you may have seen or read about this country recently, this is still a very nice place to live, despite its difficulties, and well worth a visit. The Galapagos Islands are unique in the world, and despite its relatively high cost, definitely a must. Unfortunately, last Sunday night one of my dutch experts was murdered in his hotel room, basically because he offered opposition to a band of thieves attacking his hotel in the middle of the night. So you can imagine I've had a rather traumatic week. However, that's a temporary condition, and my natural optimism will pull me through, just as it did two years ago, when I won a battle with cancer, spending 9 months in France in and out of hospitals. The only after-effect of that episode is that the chemo screwed up my legs to the point that if I walk more than 50 yards, I have to use a walking stick.

OK, now y'all know a thing or two about me. I know a bit about Bruce and about Fred Hill, but I'd like some news from Cale Wright, Pat Manzella, Harry Baya and Ruth Lapa (now....?), to whom I'm emailing a copy of this, to make sure they get it. My email address is vanderb@uio.satnet.net . Any of you coming out this way is very welcome to stay for a few days or more in my modest abode, if you don't mind a fold-out bed... Also, if you have friends coming here, give them my phone number 593-2-443847 at home in Quito, and I'll be glad to show them around a bit. Baai baai, for now,

stay in touch,           BOB