These entrepreneurs did return to Suriname: ‘The willingness to help each other is greater here than in the Netherlands’

Every summer, hundreds of Surinamese young people leave for the Netherlands to study after completing their secondary school. And every summer there are more than the year before. The fact that many of them stay in the Netherlands after their studies and do not return to Suriname has an impact on the country, says economist Tina Dulam, who studied economics at Surinamese Anton de Kom University and now works as a university lecturer at Utrecht University. “Most young people who go abroad to study would prefer to return because of patriotism, the climate and family. But that does not always outweigh the opportunities that a country with a better economy offers.”

Dulam wrote her dissertation in 2015 Brain Drain or Brain Gain: the case of Suriname at the Rotterdam Erasmus School of Economics. The fact that Surinamese often do not return to the Netherlands after their studies is, for example, because they can receive a better salary here or have better career opportunities within a job, says Dulam. “These factors will become more important if the economic situation in the home country deteriorates.” In recent years, Suriname has had an inflation rate of an average of 55 percent per year.

Last year, 1,125 Surinamese studied in the Netherlands, five times as many as in 2006, according to figures from Nuffic, an international educational organization. After five years, 65 percent of Surinamese graduates are still in the Netherlands. The average among international students is much lower at 24 percent. And while Suriname could really use the young people. Dulam: “Young people who return often take with them new knowledge, skills and savings. That contributes to the development of the country.”

Those who do return often consciously choose to do so for that reason. NRC spoke four of them.

Sheran Henar (36)

‘We improve the health of women in Suriname’

“When I left for the Netherlands at the age of eighteen to study medicine in Amsterdam, I already said that I ultimately wanted to return to Suriname. I then worked at the Dutch Amstelland Hospital as a medical doctor in the gynecology department. I still had to specialize, and the need for doctors in Suriname was so great that I finally decided to do that there. I moved back and started specializing in gynecology.

“Before that time, I lived in the Netherlands for almost ten years. I sometimes thought: maybe I’ll stay here after all. I had spent my student years here, made friends, built a life. A move to another continent is a big step. But Suriname is my home, I grew up there and my parents live there.

“After I completed my specialization, I started She Women’s Health together with a small team of women. We want to improve the health of women in Suriname. I do this mainly by providing gynecological and obstetric care. I am an independent gynecologist at the Sint Vincentius Hospital in Paramaribo. We also provide women with information about various aspects of female health. On social media we post information about, for example, pregnancy, menopause, healthy living. In the future we also want to organize knowledge sessions.

You can make a career in the Netherlands, but here I can make a difference

“I think it is important that more young Surinamese who go to study in the Netherlands then return. It is such a shame if all the knowledge and expertise is abroad. I understand the decision to stay in the Netherlands: if it is important to you to be in a very good financial position and to have a career, the Western world is attractive. But here in Suriname we can really make a difference. Suriname remains a developing country, there is a shortage of doctors and resources. That sometimes makes the work challenging, because you are often looking for a replacement for resources that are not there. I like that challenge. And apart from that: it is wonderful to live here, with the beautiful forests and without those long winters.”

Ruth Sinkeler (51)

‘I always dreamed of living and working where I was born’

“Until eight years ago I still lived in the Netherlands, where I largely grew up and studied. Although that was very nice – for example, I really love Amsterdam – I suffered from depression in the winter. And recently I noticed that people in the Netherlands had become tougher. I felt like there was more negativity. More racism and discrimination. I got tired of all the discussions about it.

“I always dreamed of living and working in Suriname as an adult where I was born. After losing a loved one and being ill for a period, I had a lot of time to think. I realized that life could just be over. Less than a year later I was on a plane to Suriname.

“I now have my own company in Paramaribo. We provide training in leadership and communication. And we facilitate the outsourcing of administrative tasks for companies in the Netherlands and the United States. Major staff shortages make it difficult for these companies to find the right people. We supply qualified personnel who work from Suriname. We mainly try to employ women and young people to help them improve their financial position.

“Many young Surinamese who are looking for challenges are moving abroad. I say: we keep the people here and let them work for foreign employers. This is how they earn their salary in euros or US dollars. They then receive almost three times as much money as they would with a salary in Surinamese dollars. They then spend that money locally, which is good for the Surinamese economy.

I really enjoy doing business in Suriname. You can really lean on your network here. The business community is small, so you quickly get to know a lot of people. If you want to get things done, you can always ask for advice and help. I notice that this willingness is much greater among entrepreneurs in Suriname than in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, entrepreneurs are more anonymous. That makes sense, in a country with 17 million inhabitants. Here we are 600,000. The lines are short.”

Farousha Rellum (41)

‘I grew up in the Netherlands, but my heart was in Suriname’

“After high school, I left Suriname for the Netherlands to study fiscal economics. Until then I had always lived with my mother in Suriname. In Suriname you grow up very protected, with less freedom than as a young person in the Netherlands. Sometimes I called my mother in Suriname from the Netherlands and asked: Mom, can I order a pizza?

“I ended up living in the Netherlands for twelve years. I have gained a lot of experience in the Netherlands, including at Deloitte. But at the companies where I worked, it felt like as an employee you were just a number. I knew my heart was in Suriname. I went back in 2013.

In the first years I worked at a local office and then as a tax specialist at KPMG Meijburg Dutch Caribbean, but that office left Suriname and the Caribbean in 2017. I did not want to return to employment, and was then able to take over KPMG’s clients in Suriname, mainly multinationals active in the Surinamese oil and gas industry. That’s how I started my own company in tax, legal and financial services: Rellum and Partners. We help both local and international companies. In 2020 I founded my second company Palulu Financial Outsourcing Services, with which we help clients of Dutch accounting firms with their financial administration.

At Dutch companies it felt like as an employee you were just a number

“In the beginning I noticed that many companies in Suriname did not see the added value of a tax specialist. The Surinamese government barely enforced whether companies met their tax obligations. In recent years, the Surinamese tax authorities have been doing this more actively and there has been greater demand for tax specialists from local entrepreneurs. We now employ eight people, all women.

By also working with international customers, we get foreign currencies into the country. We thereby import capital to Suriname, which is good for the economy. I like the idea of ​​contributing to my country in this way.”

Natalie Heerenveen (51)

‘Owning your own dental practice in a developing country is difficult, all instruments have to come from elsewhere’

“When I was 19 years old, I moved to the Netherlands to study dentistry. After that I worked as a locum dentist. The urge to return to Suriname was always there, even with my husband, who has an idealistic attitude. We wanted to go back and contribute to building the country. And it is the place where I grew up, even after sixteen years in the Netherlands I saw it as my home.

“I first had my own dental practice in Suriname. Having your own practice in a developing country is quite difficult: all instruments have to come from abroad, which is expensive. And I was a ‘social dentist’: I gave a discount to people who could not pay the full rate. I thought it was important to also work for them, but financially there was little left.

“I felt that I wanted something different, but I wanted to continue doing business. At the age of 42, I started a two-year training as a beautician, and on March 8, 2021 I started a ‘wellness café’ with our savings, Wellness Café Bloom in Paramaribo. That was on International Women’s Day: I think it is important to strengthen the position of women in Suriname with my company by creating employment. Men are also welcome, but women’s emancipation is an important principle for me. I started alone, but now twenty women work in the wellness café: physiotherapists, beauticians, massage therapists, students and support staff.

I think it is important to strengthen the position of women in Suriname with my company by creating employment

“I am proud of the female entrepreneurs of Suriname. We would like to contact each other to exchange experiences. It’s not always easy: you have to keep a lot of balls in the air as a woman, because you often also take care of your family. And doing business in a developing country often means improvising: certain structures that I was used to in the Netherlands are missing here. In the Netherlands there are authorities for everything. You are more dependent on yourself here. But that ultimately also makes you better as an entrepreneur: it makes you more self-reliant.”

photos Mona van den Berg