The emergency shelter for asylum seekers in Meerhoven is bustling with activity. Not yet with residents, but with dozens of volunteers who are preparing everything for the arrival of some 200 refugees.
Sustainable Development Goals:
The first people will be welcomed on Monday, February 19, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Cor, who normally works at ASML, sees the humor in it: “Assembling stuff from IKEA, among other places. Terrible, I used to hate this! You always end up with screws left over. Today, however, it’s going well, and it’s for a good cause. We’ve already assembled quite a few benches. It’s great that we can all do this together.”
Together with his colleague Corné, he was asked by his employer if they would like to contribute to this project by ‘Brainport voor Elkaar’ (Brainport for Each Other). “We are allowed to spend a certain number of hours per year on volunteer work, and then we are approached here and there to lend a hand. And the boss pays! Haha!”
Unimaginable
Corné can confirm this. “Cor said, ‘Are you coming to help assemble some benches?’ Well, I’m not afraid to roll up my sleeves, so I told him to sign us up. You know, we have it really good here in the Netherlands, and it’s hard to imagine what it’s like to live as a refugee.” Ter Apel – who will be coming to Eindhoven from February 19, are already happy to have a roof over their heads and a warm place to sleep. Corné and Cor are well aware of this: “It is heartbreaking to see how these people are doing. Driven from their homes and hearths. It is, of course, wonderful that Eindhoven is doing this, but the conditions here are minimal.”
Request for help
Of course, anything is better than having to sleep in a tent in the open air, Charlotte Raap realizes. She coordinates all matters relating to the emergency crisis shelter on behalf of ‘Samen voor Eindhoven’ (Together for Eindhoven). “We are the social branch of ‘Brainport voor Elkaar’ (Brainport for Each Other), an initiative of Eindhoven mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem that brings together companies from the region.
Charlotte’s job is to connect all kinds of social organizations that need help with corporate volunteers. So we have people here who work at ASML, CSU, NXP, Philips, DELA, and Markteffect. We’ve also made a great connection, because a number of residents from the COA in the city have come to help.”
Charlotte emphasizes that Eindhoven had already been busy for about two months with preparations for accommodating additional refugees. This was well before the Distribution Act made it legally mandatory for municipalities to accommodate a certain number of people. “Now we can really give something back and we are no longer standing on the sidelines feeling powerless.”
Filling the day
Providing shelter for refugees is one thing, but giving them a meaningful way to fill their days is another. This is the task of Wasbeer & Pauw, an organization that works with groups of people in the broadest sense of the word. Project leader Noémie Raaijmakers: “We are responsible for programming the daily activities for asylum seekers.”
Anyone who thinks that ‘activities’ only involve crafts and sports is mistaken. “It always has a link to participating in society,” says Noémie. “In collaboration with Springplank and on behalf of the municipality of Eindhoven, we look at everyone’s talents and what they can do for the city, both within this location and beyond.”
