In remembrance of Willem Struijs

Willem Struijs, living from 1914 to 1999, experienced the debilitating consequences of polio during most of his life. His spouse, Bertha, was afflicted with polio twice during her lifetime as well, and needed several operations over the years to regain her mobility.

Willem Struijs, founder and Director of a well-known producer of children’s shoes in The Netherlands, received a request from the spouse of one of the medical specialists from Rotterdam, who had been operating in Congo Brazzaville, to provide him with overstocked and odd pairs of shoes to be sent to Congo. Willem’s wife Bertha, before she passed away in 1980, advised him not to just send shoes, but also to go to Brazzaville personally, in order to see what exactly was needed.

In Brazzaville, Willem met with co-operators from the aid and assistance organization Terres des Hommes. Their discussions led to a decision on which type of shoes were most needed.

While in Brazzaville, Willem noticed that there were many polio patients, who moved themselves from one spot to another on their hands and feet or scooted along on their bottoms. Willem was deeply moved by what he saw and as a driven organizer he started to make an inventory of what had to be done. His first goal was to try and get the “four-feeters” mobile again. This seemed to be possible by providing them with orthesen and crutches, which could be produced locally and by providing the proper shoes.

It became clear that his plans were easier said than done in a country so close to the equator where absolutely no resources are available. It seemed impossible to do this job without help. Two weeks after his return to the Netherlands, Willem contacted Meüs van de Poel. Since 1957 Meüs was not only Willem’s business friend, but also a personal friend and colleague. Willem had been impressed with Meüs for a long time because of his thorough knowledge of shoes. Both men were teachers at the Technical Institute for Shoemakers.
Together they planned to create a small aid and assistance project for polio patients at Brazzaville. After six months, they decided to return to Congo to take a full inventory of what was required. They planned to establish a simple but good workshop, where not only orthesen could be produced but also orthopaedic adaptations could be made for existing shoes.
Even though this seemed impossible to realize, after returning to The Netherlands they decided to design a wooden sole, which was anatomically correct and to which simple orthopaedic adaptations could be made and to which orthesen could be attached.

The Congo Sandal (sabot) with leather cap was born and was sent to Congo Brazzaville in quantities of thousands of pairs. Transport costs were paid from donations by many people including profits of an annual bazaar organized by the Elderly Home “De Schutse” in Rotterdam and from donations by the “Christian Union of Shoemakers” in The Netherlands.

But soon the two friends concluded that the two of them could not do this alone. As a shoe technician and specialist, Meüs frequently worked together with Pim Mulder, a rehabilitation specialist from the Adriaan Foundation in Rotterdam (a rehabilitation clinic for children). Each week they organized a walk-in clinic where parents and children could come by and ask technical questions. Pim immediately volunteered to join them and thus the first medical aid team existed, which would go to Congo Brazzaville each year in order to give medical assistance and technical support at the shoe-technical sites.

The crowning feature of Willem’s work was the start-up of an orthopaedic workshop which was built from the Foundation’s funds and was named after him: Centre dÁppareillage Willem Struijs

The Congolese Government honored the work of Willem Struijs. In 1996 he was appointed “Chancelier des Orders Nationaux de la Republique du Congo. In the Netherlands he was appointed “Ridder in de Orde van Oranje Nassau and the Rotterdam community decorated him with the “Erasmusspeld” because of his outstanding social contributions.

In 1999 Willem Struijs passed away. He was 84 years old.

His work has not ended. He passed his enthusiasm on to his fellow members of our Foundation