Yesterday at 8:00 PM • Modified yesterday at 9:49 PM
For weeks, a lot of crafting and cooking has been going on in the residential care complex Het Andere Wonen in Schijndel. And that’s not just for entertainment. The residents try to contribute to a fun day out with homemade meatballs and greeting cards. “It calms me down and it’s also for a good cause,” says a busy tinkering Joke Olijslagers (86).
86-year-old Joke sits at a large table in the middle of the living room of the residential care complex. She is busy making a greeting card. With tweezers she carefully takes a small glittering stone from a container. “I do dim pinting“, she says enthusiastically, with which she of course enjoys the hobby Diamond Painting means.
There are hundreds of small numbers on the card. “For each number I take the right stone from a jar. Then I stick the right stone on the right number. That’s a fiddly thing, but I like to do it and of course also to sell it to make some money.”
Joke has dementia and, like eighteen others, lives at Het Andere Wonen in Schijndel. “It is a small-scale housing initiative in the neighborhood for people with a damaged brain, especially people with dementia,” says owner Anne-Marie Looman. “We’ve been around for nine years this year.”
And that should be celebrated. That is why there is a real summer party on Saturday, May 30. “But this year there is also a small market to raise money for the foundation. This allows us to do something fun for our residents. We want to take a boat trip in September. They find that very special: nice and relaxing outside and on the water. That always gives a very good energy.”
“I’m very proud of it and very happy that I made it.”
Sailing is something that all residents eagerly look forward to. “I like that. Then I see a completely different environment,” says Joke with a glint in her eye. “I’ve already made about eighteen cards and one card takes me about a day to complete. But I have a lot more in my room.”
Joke proudly shows more of her there diamond paintings see: from paintings to bookmarks. “I have made beautiful things, haven’t I? I am very proud of it and happy that I made it. It is relaxing for me, because I tend to get nervous and it is also for a good cause.”
“We don’t talk about that, otherwise they will come to my door en masse.”
86-year-old Ko Geelhoed also contributes to the joint outing. No diamond paintingbut meatballs in gravy are Ko’s specialty. “I was asked to do this,” he says with a laugh. “Meat, that’s where you start. And of course it contains a lot of different herbs.”
When asked what the secret of ‘Ko’s balls’ is, the down-to-earth Zeelander does not answer. “The secret recipe is there, but it remains a secret. We don’t talk about that, otherwise they will be at my door en masse. In any case, they are tasty and of course made with a lot of love. That is always important.”
Anyone who wants to try a meatball from Ko or get a card from Joke must come to Schijndel on Saturday, May 30, 2026. The summer market is between 1:30 PM and 5:00 PM in the parking lot of Het Andere Wonen.
