I visited asylum seekers’ centres frequently for my work. Each time my fingers itched to do something. One out of every three residents in asylum seekers’ centres is a child. We seem to forget this because they are asylum seekers. You often see them hanging around outside. We know that it is important for children who have lived through shocking experiences to be heard. But somehow we don’t apply this knowledge to these children. We are only concerned about whether they are allowed to stay here or not.

I felt it was time for some pragmatism, just doing something, making sure in any case that the children were given more space and opportunity. From pre-vious experience I knew that art, theatre and other creative activities are highly suitable for this. Earlier I worked for VluchtelingenWerk [working with refugees]. I worked with children on drama projects in both the Netherlands and in refugee camps in the Philippines. Initially I tried to persuade other organisations to incorporate my plan. But wherever I went there were always good reasons why this was not possible. There was only one option: set up an organisation myself. I sought two other people and we set up Vrolijkheid [Happiness]. A positive name indeed, our starting point is the natural resilience that children have and we reinforce this.

The DOEN Foundation took on the risk, they were the first financers. In the first year we did as many different things as possible with music, theatre, dance and visual arts, for a variety of age groups and always together with artists with a refugee background. Our aim was to discover which form had the best impact on the children. We began with a franchise model, but that didn’t work. You need to be particularly well-motivated to persevere with that work. It is very demanding and financially unrewarding. This is often a problem for organisations, but not for people, which is why we quickly, and once again with DOEN’s -support, changed our approach.

A network organisation based on the -commitment that already exists. If there are at least five people wanting to establish Vrolijkheid in an asylum seekers’ centre we give support in the form of money and training. We work according to five key concepts: trust, story, reliance, -happiness and safety. If you say you are going to do something, you must actually do it. The children must be able to depend on you. With the activities, there has to be room for the story. It is not therapy, we believe in children’s own strength to cope with difficult situations such as parting, loss and uncertainty, as long as they have the space, the tools and the opportunities. The concept of happiness speaks for itself. And finally, it must always be completely safe for children.There must always be one supervisor for every five children, so that there is a safety-buffer if a child becomes upset, for example, and this of course does happen.

Vrolijkheid is not ours. Anyone who wants to join in can do so. Within the five key concepts, of course, and with contracts and a certificate of moral conduct. Guarantees that it is safe. Furthermore, people at the local level may and should be involved as the occasion requires and as and when ne-cessary. Every situation is different. We are here in the office to offer support. Like the spider in the web. We set Vrolijkheid up as a network organisation and it has remained so. This means that, at our head office, we repeatedly discuss letting go. I have always said that we must stop if we become superfluous. That is ultimately our goal. But at the moment that’s not yet possible. For example, you don’t apply for national subsidies individually but collectively. In the past years we have reached more than 30,000 children and youngsters. We are currently organising weekly activities in 40 centres and, at some, on a daily basis. Ideally, every day everywhere. In the meantime we are developing new projects, projects with parents and children, collaboration with local museums and orchestras, and our own youngsters’ communities.

Vrolijkheid has been able to make a genuine difference in the lives of many people. Youngsters, who we worked with as children, now help the next generation of children. Or take Ayaan, for example: Vrolijkheid was so important for her daughter in the centre that she wanted to do something for us once her life was in order. Ayaan is now a member of the board. These are the gifts that we often receive now. Artists are disconcertingly unconventional. Funny. Crazy. They don’t worry about what asylum seekers are. I sometimes say that we are the only ‘normal’ Dutch people that visit the centres. Not that the others don’t do good work because they do. But sometimes we do seem to be the only ones who ignore the part of the residents’ lives that involves being an asylum seeker, and look for and find all the other stories, ambitions and talents. That is liberating.’

This story was published in the book 20 Years of DOEN, 20 stories to mark the 20th anniversary of the Foundation.  A  Crown on our work!
We would like to thank Stichting DOEN for their support over the years.
www.doen.nl