2026 is a very special year for Joyce and me – we are celebrating 20 years of partnership in NEDSA Au Pair. We are calling it our Jubilee Year.

To celebrate this special milestone, I would like to share with everyone how this unique story began – a story that started in 2006 and, over the past 20 years, developed into so much more than just a business partnership.

How it all began

In 2006, I had already been one of NEDSA’s South African agents for seven years. At the time, the agency belonged to Elma Zietsman. Elma had herself been an au pair and, during her au pair year, she met her future husband … and, as they say, the rest is history!

Elma and her husband lived in Bussum. After running NEDSA for a number of years, she decided that she would like to sell the agency.

By that time, I had already found so much joy and fulfilment in my work with NEDSA that I asked Elma to give me a little time to get a few things in order. I seriously started considering buying NEDSA myself.

However, it would have been rather naïve of me to think that I could run a Dutch au pair agency entirely from South Africa. I realised that I would need a Dutch partner – someone who could manage the Dutch side of the business and who shared the same passion for the work.

I therefore wrote a letter to all our existing host families, explaining that I was interested in taking over NEDSA and asking whether any of them might be interested in entering into a partnership with me.

One of the letters I received was from Joyce DelPrado from Overveen.

Joyce and her family had already been a NEDSA host family for several years. We started talking about the possibility of a partnership, and before long, things took a very interesting turn.

Joyce’s husband, who was a pilot at the time – and only recently retired – was flying to Johannesburg and, on one of his trips, took the opportunity to drive to Potchefstroom to meet my husband and me.

We immediately clicked with him as well, and that confirmed for us that this could indeed be the beginning of something very special.

We then decided to travel to the Netherlands in September 2006 to officially establish the partnership.

And so we did!

Twenty years later …

And here we are – 20 years later!

We still thoroughly enjoy our partnership and, over the past two decades, have experienced so many interesting, funny, challenging and unexpected things that we could probably write an entire book about them.

Needless to say, we have both grown enormously over these 20 years. Over time, our roles and responsibilities have become clearly defined. Each of us knows exactly what is expected of her, and we support each other in everything we do.

Of course, we sometimes disagree – it would probably be impossible to work together for 20 years without having different opinions from time to time!

But we have always found a way to work through our differences and eventually come back to good cooperation and mutual satisfaction.

We also made a point of seeing each other on a fairly regular basis over the years. This was important to us, because a partnership like ours is not only about emails, WhatsApps, work and making decisions. Personal contact is just as important in strengthening the bond between us.

And somewhere along the way, we realised that this had become so much more than a business partnership.

It had become a very special friendship – a friendship in which we share not only our work and our dreams, but also the joys and sorrows of life.

A partnership that brought worlds together

One of the great gifts of these 20 years has been the opportunity to learn so much more about each other’s cultures and ways of life.

Our partnership has greatly expanded our knowledge and understanding of the differences between South African and Dutch culture.

Through NEDSA, I have met wonderful Dutch families, and some of those families have, over the years, become friends. Even today, I still have a special bond with people I first met many years ago through NEDSA.

The same is true for Joyce and the South African au pairs she has come to know over the years. They have become part of the greater NEDSA family for her.

And perhaps this is exactly what has made NEDSA so special to both of us: ultimately, it is about people.

What does the future hold?

What the future will bring for us remains to be seen. Our age is naturally beginning to play a role as well, and we have to be realistic about what the next chapter may hold.

But if it were entirely up to me, I would hope that we could continue with NEDSA together for some time yet.

Over the past 20 years, NEDSA has established itself in the au pair industry. We have many loyal former au pairs who still keep in touch with us, and we are particularly proud of the support system for which NEDSA has become known.

For me, this is one of the greatest rewards of the work – knowing that we are not simply helping young people to travel to the Netherlands, but that we support them throughout the process and become part of an important chapter in their lives.

Joyce, thank you for the past 20 years.

I don’t think of you only as my business partner, but also as a very good friend – someone I can always rely on.

Thank you for your understanding, your support, your patience and, above all, your friendship.

Thank you for all the times we have solved problems together, made plans, sometimes disagreed with each other and then found a way forward.

Thank you for all the laughter, the conversations, the challenges and the wonderful moments.

I look forward to spending some more time together with you at NEDSA – and to whatever the future may still have in store for us.

When I look back over these 20 years, I realise how special it is that a letter sent to a group of host families in 2006 eventually led to a partnership that brought two continents, two cultures and two people together.

A partnership that, over time, became a friendship.

And perhaps this is the best way to describe our 20 years together:

The joy we both get from working together, and the satisfaction we feel when we can finally say, “ I love it when a plan comes together” – make it all worthwhile.

Here’s to a few more beautiful chapters together!

20 years of NEDSA.
20 years of partnership.
20 years of friendship.
20 years of shared dreams.

Thank you, Joyce. ❤️

While “rematch” isn’t exactly a new term in the au pair world, it’s worth revisiting what it really means.

A rematch happens when an au pair feels uncomfortable with a host family, or the relationship just isn’t working out, and the agency (Nedsa) has already done everything possible to try to solve the problem. As a last resort, the agency in the Netherlands will search for a new host family for the au pair.

However, a rematch isn’t always easy, and it comes with some conditions:

1. The current host family must give permission for the rematch.
2. The au pair must not have been guilty of irresponsible behavior, endangering the children, breaking local laws, etc.
3. The au pair must understand that she may need to move to another town, city, or province.
4. The new placement may involve caring for more—or fewer—children.
5. An au pair can only be rematched once. If that second placement doesn’t work out, she will need to return home.
6. Rematching means starting over with another adjustment period, as it’s a completely new family.
7. If Nedsa cannot find a new family from their own database, they may reach out to another agency. In that case, the au pair will become part of that new agency and will no longer be represented by Nedsa.

Because of these challenges, a rematch should never be taken lightly. Before requesting one, think carefully about whether it’s the right step.

In recent years, another concept has become more common: the pre-match.

A pre-match occurs when a host family already knows a potential au pair through friends in South Africa, or they discover her profile on a website and decide to invite her to join their family. If both sides agree, she is “pre-matched” with the family.

However, Dutch regulations require that all au pairs and families work through a recognized agency. That’s why agencies like Nedsa often become involved with pre-matches.

Here’s how it typically works: Sometimes, a South African agency can’t provide an au pair for a certain time period. Families then search for their own au pair and approach the agency only to handle the paperwork and formal process.

It’s important to note:

• A pre-matched au pair is not pre-screened ahead of time.
• She must still upload her profile to the portal and go through the standard application procedure like everyone else.

While pre-matching may sound like the perfect way to secure an au pair position, it can come with its own challenges. Some au pairs in pre-match arrangements still decide to return home early.

The biggest drawback of a pre-match is that the au pair will never truly know whether she would have passed the official screening process had she applied the normal way.

During my recent 3-week visit to the Netherlands and attending an au pair day, I realized once again how lucky the girl and boys are to have the opportunity to au pair for a year.  Not only are they suddenly experiencing a first world life (and none of them really know what a first-world life means, because they were born in the New SA), they are also learning to stand on their own two feet and become independent. 

This was the most striking thing for me: that timid, shy and actually embarrassed girl who a few months ago still had to do interviews and sometimes struggled to express herself, moves here in this world, as if she was made for it. It also showed me once again how adaptable young people actually are. But I have always said it: it is very easy to adapt to pleasant circumstances.

If you look at their captions on their Facebook and TikTok posts, you also get the impression that for them it’s not just about superficial happiness in the here-and-now, but also the deeper things and happiness they experience:

“Be gentle on your growing soul.”

“Sky above, sand below, peace within.”

“Exist to be happy, not to impress.”

“True happiness is a direct result of a grateful heart.”

“Every next level of your life will demand a different you.”

This is at least clear proof that an au pair also experiences the deeper meaning of happiness.

But there is plenty of joy among the au pair crowd. Challenges too, I especially saw this with the boat trip on the canals of Amsterdam and also at the Heineken Experience beer drinking! The empathy was also great during the visit to the Anne Frank Museum and the realization of how this young Jewish girl had to live during the Second World War!

No, I feel very good about our au pairs, because they make the best use of the opportunities that come their way. They can also proudly talk about “my children” or “my family”. Brand new friendships have been formed that will never be broken again, because together they have the most wonderful experience of their young lives!

There is definitely growth (literally and figuratively) among our au pairs and that is also what it is all about, isn’t it? The cultural exchange program is therefore clearly a great and thorough success!