Expats Who Serve Their Adopted Village: Ineka van Mackelenbergh

The last blog featured an example of a woman whose contribution to her home village has officially ended, but unofficially continues as she works to keep communication channels open between those whose language is French and her fellow expats. This story has similar elements, but many variations. A council member in Quillan, Ineka van Mackelenbergh can honestly say she is a citizen of the world. Her father was a station manager for Dutch airline KLM. She and a twin brother were born in Bangkok,Thailand and lived in several Asian and Middle Eastern counties before they were ten. She modestly prefers to refer to this upbringing as transient. I would classify it as interesting.

Finally after completing her schooling, she took a job as a secretary in Brussels where she worked for five years. She then joined the Dutch Foreign Service and was stationed in Japan and Algeria. In Algiers she met and married her first husband, a French national. Still in her twenties, she and her husband moved to the small town of Godrich, Ontario, which is near Detroit. There their two children were born. Both remain in Canada. After twenty years their marriage ended, and she made her way to Great Britain.

Eleven years ago she and husband Michael were married and in 2012 they bought a home in Brenac. “I’m retired and I intend to stay that way,” she stated emphatically. However, serving on Quillan’s council means she remains a busy person. She credits her appointment to the council as a ‘total fluke’. She was asked to help in 2014 with the translation of an issue before the council - what she did not realize was that it would lead to a much more permanent arrangement. She was voted on for a second term and now assumes the responsibility of liaison between English and French speakers, translation of important materials and problem solving. “Serving the community allows me to flit between two cultures.”

Ineka believes that the village has great potential to develop as a tourist destination. She characterizes the area as the ‘poor cousins’ of France, but is convinced that things are changing for the better. “Europeans are discovering the beauty and advantages of traveling here.”

Ineka van Mackelenbergh and Sue Ingram continue to have a great impact on the lives of us who are blessed to live here. Thank you.