Volunteer organization Team Vrijwillig is looking for people who want to host or hostess at the Alkmaar emergency reception center for asylum seekers in the coming weeks. They are also looking for people who enjoy organizing activities: “Anyone who has a few hours to spare is welcome.”
From Monday, about 150 asylum seekers will be accommodated in the Sportpaleis for four weeks. Most of them are already in the temporary emergency location Het Vennewater in Heiloo. The reception in sports halls is arranged by the security region and is necessary to relieve the Groningen application center Ter Apel.
That center is so overcrowded that people sleeping outside. “We are working very hard to be able to fully receive everyone in Ter Apel as soon as possible,” Alet Bouwmeester of the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers tells NH Nieuws. “But right now we can’t do without emergency shelter.”
Necessity knows no law
And this emergency shelter is almost impossible without volunteers, according to Ellen Christiani, team leader mediation at Team Vrijwillig. “We search for every day people who have a few hours between 09:00 and 22:30 to supervise the daily activities in the Sportpaleis and who want to be a point of contact for questions and problems. It is quite short day and holiday time, so it is difficult to find people.”
“Sleeping in a sports hall is still better than on the street, but it’s our job to make something of it”
In addition to hosts and hosts, Team Vrijwillig is also looking for people who are creative and for volunteers who want to organize sports and games activities. “We can’t leave these people in the Sportpaleis like that,” says Christiani. “Emergency breaks the law and sleeping in a sports hall is still better than on the street, but it’s our job to make something of it.”
In the emergency reception location in Heiloo, last week tennis lessons given by tennis club Het Vennewater. On Friday, some fifty men, women and children took part and they were clearly enthusiastic: it was a welcome distraction from the sometimes sad and dangerous situation in home countries such as Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan. Christiani: “It would be great if we could do something like that for them in Alkmaar.”
Valuable work
Alderman Joël Voordewind is involved in asylum policy and migration and is closely involved in emergency reception. He also says that volunteers are important in emergency shelters. Not only could employees of the security region use some extra hands, it is also nice that volunteers know a lot about Alkmaar and the surrounding area. “They can share that with the asylum seekers,” says Voordewind.
“You come into contact with people from other cultures and with different backgrounds; it enriches your life”
According to the alderman, the knife cuts both ways: “The work is very valuable and enriches your life. You come into contact with people from other cultures and with different backgrounds. It is very special to talk to them,” says Voordewind. .
He himself has been to refugee camps several times, including in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. “It’s special to learn more about their country through people’s stories. It gives you context of where people come from and how dire the situation is for them.”
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