Cleaning, vacuuming, assembling a bed. They are not everyone’s favorite activities, but these days it seems as if all of Breda wants to take action for this. Hundreds of people have been mobilized to accommodate Ukrainian refugees in the former Dome Prison.
Supported by the military, people are working with all their might to turn the empty Dome into a pleasant refuge. In recent days, a lot of cleaning had to be done, such as floors and the showers and toilets in the former cells.
And now, among other things, a lot of hands are needed to screw together two hundred IKEA beds. Breda friends Heidi Martens and Eveline Demoet are happy to commit themselves to it.
“When you see all those terrible images on TV, from your safe living room, you hope that you can do something for those victims. When a call came up on Facebook from the initiative ‘Hands voor de Koepel’, I immediately had my chance. eager to help,” says Heidi. “It’s so cool to see how many people are busy here, so nice to be a part of it. Fortunately, my girlfriend knows quite well how to put together such a bed We’re not leaving until the job is done.”
Eveline also thinks it is the most normal course of events that she rolls up her sleeves for the perhaps two hundred people who, chased away by the Russians, come to seek refuge in Breda. “I immediately registered when it became known that volunteers were needed. It’s the only thing you can do and it feels good to make yourself useful, to be able to offer someone a safe place to sleep,” says de Bredase.
Mayor Paul Depla does not yet know from when the first displaced persons will be received. One thing is clear to him: Breda will be ready. Depla came to take a look at the Koepel on Monday and was very impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment of his fellow citizens. He wanted the spirit who reigns in his city can taste it for himself.
“This is really impressive. I am very proud of how Breda residents have been wanting to welcome people in need for days in a row,” says Depla. “It is beyond words what is made possible here. They often say ‘Breda brings together’, but here it is shown what it means. Here a village is being set up for all those people who are welcomed hospitably as long as it is necessary. But everyone also wants that war to end and that all those who have had to leave home and hearth behind can go home as soon as possible. Where they have their hearts, their families and a past and hopefully a future soon too.”
Depla is not only very pleased with its own inhabitants. According to the mayor of Breda, many more places in Brabant are showing their best side. “I just know that elsewhere in the province people who need it will also be received hospitably,” says Depla.
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