1/5 Grandpa Jack and grandchild Jonathan; both working at Hoeve Kakelbont (photo: Raoul Cartens).
There can be a lot of cackling on the farm of Joost van der Riet and Marianne Rommens in Dinteloord. But it is no longer the chickens from the former poultry and fruit growing company that do that. The team now consists of toddlers from daycare, teenagers who gain work experience there, adults with psychological problems and elderly people with dementia. They make Hoeve Kakelbont a unique care farm.
It all started sixteen years ago when Joost and Marianne decided to take a different approach with their company. “In 2007, we sought a partnership with the Mental Health Service to provide clients with daytime activities here. Partly because of my training in youth welfare work. And I thought it would be great to combine that. Children with behavioral problems were soon added, followed by elderly people with dementia. “, says Marianne. And that diversity makes the care farm along the Boompjesdijk a special company.
Now counts Kakelbont farm 23 employees who provide care to dozens of ‘participants’ as they are called. And there is a reason for that. At first glance it seems like a casual daytime activity, but there is more to it. Apples and pears are still grown on the company and there are various animals that need to be cared for. So there is always work to be done, in other words the knife cuts both ways.
“I would like to go into nursing later.”
In the shed, for example, two teenagers are busy renovating the weathered roof of a goose coop. And another boy receives an explanation from a work supervisor how to use a tool to make a cheese board, intended for the farm shop. Once they have learned enough, the teenagers receive a practical certificate – a kind of partial diploma – with which they can continue to build their future.
As does Jonathan. As a little boy with behavioral problems, he came to the farm. Jonathan now works in the kitchen. And Naomi (18) from Bergen op Zoom: “I would like to go into care later. I really enjoy what we do here with the elderly – the activities – and I learn from that.” While Jonathan is busy mashing endives, the somewhat timid Naomi accompanies the demented elderly in the living room with cutting ingredients.
“This is a very useful distraction.”
In the meantime, Grandpa Jack from Dinteloord is standing in the warehouse of Hoeve Kakelbont, setting steel beams in the red. “Yes, they are intended as a framework for the expansion of childcare here,” he says proudly. “My grandson Jonathan is now in the kitchen and is learning to be a chef. I have been a butcher for fifty years. And now I am here every Tuesday and Thursday. This is a very useful distraction and you meet a lot of people here.”
A little further on, Henk from Oud Gastel is busy welding steel beams, but stops for a chat. After a firm handshake, he apologizes: “You have to tell me your name again, because that won’t stick very well anymore.”
“All that nonsense isn’t for me.”
“A year and a half ago, the district sister came to visit Hoeve Kakelbont, so my wife and I went to see it. And I was able to immediately start putting together large aviaries for the birds of prey that they now have on the farm. “, says Henk. “I like the fact that I can make myself useful here. I can also sit here in the living room at the table with the other men, but all that bullshit is not for me.”
And indeed, there is a lot of cackling at the regular table in the living room. A lot about the past, but also about what is in the newspaper and the bad weather. It’s relaxed there. Because for the elderly the following applies: a lot is possible, but nothing is mandatory. And these gentlemen are more than fine with that.