If our residents cannot go on holiday, we will bring the holiday to our residents! The employees of De ZorgVilla in Veenoord converted the garden of the care center into ‘camping Tuinesia’.
A cheerfully colored camper van, a handful of tents, a washing line with clothes and a swimming pool for fishing: the elderly residents imagine themselves on a real camping site.
The ZorgVilla is a small-scale residential facility where around thirty elderly people receive 24-hour care. The residents all sleep in their own beds, the tents in the garden are temporarily occupied by the employees of De ZorgVilla: “It was terribly cold last night! And the sleeping bag is not nice, you feel like bacon on a stick, you cannot turn and you get stuck in that sleeping bag”, one of the ‘holidaymakers’ complains. “But we had fun, and that’s the most important thing!”
Resident Tinus has been bombarded as camping boss: “They are a bunch of brats! No, no kidding, they are fantastic girls, those carers. They do a great job, great.”
Not only are tents set up, real camping activities are also organized for the residents. Tinus: “Yesterday we all went on a covered wagon ride. That was wonderful. We also do Bingo and other things. They do everything for us.”
Another resident agrees: “This is not a retirement home, this is really a care villa. You should see it that way, we are really taken care of here. I feel at home here and I am so happy to be here. And I want to stay here, I don’t want to leave.”
Tinus may not have slept in the tent, but he was there early. “They did wake me up early, yes. But I’m always up early. I’m always one of the first in the morning. They’ve come to the right place for that,” concludes the campsite manager.
Radio Drenthe took a look at the campsite in Op Tjak this morning: