“Come on, Ahmad, run,” tennis teacher Huseyin yells across the Heiloose court. Today, together with colleagues, he is teaching tennis to asylum seekers who have been taken care of in the temporary emergency shelter in Heiloo. A welcome distraction from the sometimes sad and dangerous situation in home countries such as Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan.
Four weeks ago, the Het Vennewater sports complex in Heiloo converted in no time to an emergency shelter. About 150 people of all ages will stay there until August 5. After the municipality held an information meeting for residents of Heiloo, messages were soon received from enthusiastic volunteers to organize something.
Tennis association Het Vennewater also contacted the reception location. Although it is vacation time and many employees already had vacation plans, we managed to find enough teachers and do something for the temporary neighbors in a sporty way. “I think it’s very nice to see how much fun it gives people,” says tennis teacher Inge.
Tennis in style
Wednesday was the first lesson and according to the participants that was a ‘great success’. Some are therefore ready when the tennis instructors arrive at the sports complex. So is the 25-year-old Ahmad Zahed from Syria. On Wednesday he was also there and he received a black shirt from the association. Today he is wearing it again: “Tennis has to be in style”, he says with a laugh.
To ensure that everyone who wants to participate has the opportunity to do so, tennis teachers Sybren and Huseyin walk past the rooms. Huseyin (53) is of Kurdish origin and came to the Netherlands with his parents as a young boy. This allows him to communicate with some of the participants in Kurdish, Turkish and English.
He knocks on several rooms to announce that tennis lesson is about to start. It spreads like wildfire and soon more and more adults and children come out of their rooms to join in. In total, about fifty people participate.
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Once at the tennis courts, the group is divided into smaller groups. Alex, Inge and Sybren accompany the ladies and children. With the children, the main thing is to ensure that they have a good time and that they can use up their energy.
They run competitions and learn to throw and hit the ball. The children are very combative, says Inge. “They are fighters. But I think they have to be, they don’t come here for nothing and have to get their own place in life.”
The men first do a warm-up and then pass the ball over to each other. Huseyin occasionally gives directions and throws balls. You regularly hear ‘tamam’ from his mouth; Turkish and Arabic for ‘good’.
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After a while of practice it’s time for the real work: on one court a kind of ‘around the table’ is played. There is a group of men on either side of the net and whose turn it is must pass the ball and run to the other side of the court. Whoever knocks the ball out of the field or does not arrive in time is out of the game.
“Movement is important, especially because there is little to do in the emergency shelter”
The participants clearly enjoy playing tennis and several people say that it is a good outlet. “I asked beforehand if people wanted to run or just overplay, and everyone said they wanted to run,” says Huseyin. “Movement is important, especially because there is very little to do in the emergency shelter.”
Ahmad once again enjoyed the training. “It was fun,” he says cheerfully in Dutch. He says that he has only been in the Netherlands for a short time, but that he practices the language every day with a range of apps.
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Before he reported to the crowded Ter Apel on Wednesday 22 June to apply for asylum, he did a master’s degree in cartography in Budapest, Hungary. When he had completed that, he did not go back to his Syria.
Although Syria is still little in the news, the situation in the area around Aleppo, where Ahmad comes from, is by no means safe. Peace agreements have been signed, but the area around Aleppo is on edge. Bombs are still being dropped near the city by the Syrian regime and Kurdish and Turkish militias are fighting each other further north.
“To really become part of society, it is important to know the customs”
Ahmad hopes that he can build a life in the Netherlands. He would like to do a PhD and eventually he would like to teach. Besides learning the language, he also reads a lot about Dutch culture and history. “To really become part of society, it’s important to know the customs,” he says.
Ahmad would prefer to do voluntary work. He also did this in Syria, including as an animator for children who have a physical disability – often due to the war. “I would like to dedicate myself to people and mean something to society”, he concludes.
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