Asylum seekers children in Assen received a visit from Sinterklaas tonight. The Saint came to perform a performance together with the Wolkentheater. And the children were also allowed to play along.
Forget the misery for a moment. That is the purpose of the performance. And that seems to have succeeded, judging by the happy faces of the more than 150 children who came.
The story of Sinterklaas’s stolen ring told. The book contains many pictures, so that even children who do not speak Dutch very well can understand the story.
“With the Cloud Theater we bring joy to the lives of children in an azc. The performances are intended to help children with a traumatic past to be carefree children again,” says Thijs Roovers of the Cloud Theater. “Sinterklaas is there for everyone. That is our goal.”
Assen is the third place where the theater group settles. In addition to Assen, the theater will travel to about twenty other asylum seekers’ centers in the Netherlands this month and next. “The children really enjoy it. I even find it touching to see how they react,” says Roovers.
Many of the children in the azc already know a lot about the good saint. They hear about it at school, from the Sinterklaas news or from other children. They also understand all too well what the party in December is all about. “Presents!” says one of the children.
According to Roovers, Saint Nicholas is very important to them. “He opens the doors to Dutch culture. And there is also something to be gained tonight, of course, because Sinterklaas also gives them something. They want to believe in that,” he laughs.
The performance can be seen in Emmen and Zweeloo next Thursday. The foundation then travels to other cities.
Stichting Wolkentheater was founded thirty years ago by a group of refugees from the former Yugoslavia. Every year, the company stages performances for children in asylum seekers’ centres, with the aim of giving pleasure to children with a traumatic past.