The boxes in community center MFA de Symfonie in Tilburg-Noord are piling up at lightning speed. Dozens of young people help pack a hundred ‘Ramadan packages’. An initiative of youth worker Erdem Altin (29). “People who fast have had a hard time during the corona pandemic. You need each other during the month of fasting.”
The daily breaking of the fast at sunset during Ramadan was not possible for two years in a row with family and friends as usual. With all corona measures off the table, Erdem thought it was time to cheer up ‘his’ neighborhood. “We can finally be together again during Ramadan. I wanted to surprise people with a food package that they can use this month.”
Erdem is no stranger to the neighbourhood. For five years now, he has been organizing activities for the neighborhood through the R-Newt youth center in Tilburg-North to keep young people ‘off the street’. Connecting with others is an important tool in this regard. Barbeques in the neighbourhood, lectures and sports activities, nothing is too crazy. “I thought to myself: ‘I have a large network, why don’t I use it for once?’” And so it happened.
He called around and got several sponsors with him. Early in the morning he drove through the province to pick up all the products. In addition to burgers and chicken nuggets, Tilburg residents receive a prayer rug and a prayer hat. In addition, there is a challenge hidden in the package, which Erdem came up with together with the young people from R-Newt.
“We covered the boxes with different colored paper. The challenge is to write it down in the box every time something positive happened. How did they help someone else? And how did that feel?” explains Erdem. .
He prefers not to call it a challenge, but more of a trigger to become aware of one’s own positive behaviour. “They can continue until all the boxes are filled in and that way people can look back on their actions and reflect on what they can do for someone else.”
That he was able to get some thirty young people and volunteers to pack a hundred boxes during the fast comes as no surprise. “The young people are very involved in our organization. Everyone wanted to help voluntarily and go door-to-door to hand out the packages.”