Berthel Foundation director Irena Gomes has given her account of a recorded confrontation in San Nicolas, saying the Berthel Foundation incident began as a conflict between two clients.
Director says she intervened to prevent harm
According to Gomes, one client began waving a metal bottle toward another during an activity at the foundation last week. She said she stepped in and removed the object to protect those nearby.
Gomes said a video recorded part of the intervention without showing the wider context. She disputed the way the footage was presented on social media and by local outlets, saying the foundation was not approached for its account before publication.
Foundation outlines its social-care mission
Gomes said she has worked in social care in Aruba for more than nine years after doing similar work in the Netherlands. She described the foundation’s mission as supporting and guiding vulnerable people in San Nicolas.
Her statements are the foundation director’s account of the incident; the source report did not include an independent account from the other people involved.
Source: EA News Aruba.
