1/3 Kate and Alona, diamond painting
The 12-year-old Kate de Wijs from Breda has had a holiday sister for seven years. The German Alona, who is now a teenager of 15, arrived again on Saturday to spend her summer in Brabant. She doesn’t have much in Berlin and her holiday family is happy to help her with that. That brings a lot of experience with it. With a close bond and special moments, but also harrowing stories and sometimes a bit of re-education.
“We heard a commercial on the radio and that appealed to us very much,” says mother Ingeborg de Wijs. She is talking about an advertisement from the Europa Kinderhulp Foundation, which wants to give underprivileged children a carefree trip. Sometimes those children have no parents or no money for holidays. Just like Alona, who grew up in a difficult environment in Berlin.
“Those first two years are the hardest.”
When the young German first arrived at the De Wijs family, it was really necessary to make adjustments. “Those first two years were the hardest,” Ingeborg looks back. Those are the years in which children will really push the boundaries in the holiday family. “She is a very sweet and smart girl, but she clearly lacked structure. And if you give her clarity and regularity, you will notice that she can use it.”
But once that initial phase was over, a close bond grew between the family and the girl. Especially for Kate, the 12-year-old daughter of mother Ingeborg, her holiday sister is like a present. Kate has no brothers or sisters. And if you suddenly get a German holiday sister, it’s just like you got a real sister.
“I also prefer to call her a sister, rather than a friend.”
During the holidays they go diamond painting, swimming and playing with the animals in the backyard. “But we talk a lot, especially in the evening,” Kate chuckles. The girls have completely found each other. They sleep with the beds together and share a closet. “I also prefer to call her a sister, rather than a friend.”
Alona has been in the heart of the De Wijs family for seven years now. A bright girl with a frayed edge, who has become part of the family in her own way. “And we are just very happy that we can do this for her,” says mother Ingeborg. “That does something to you, if you can give a child a meal three times a day while she has to have it at home from school meals. Here she can eat when she is hungry.”
“It brings you back to reality for a while,” says Ingeborg. “And for Kate it is also a good German lesson.”