Sanitary napkins are not a subject you ever think to discuss with a queen. But when Máxima surprises customers and volunteers of the Social Grocery Store in Amsterdam-Noord with a visit, it is the Majesty herself who brings it up. And immediately every barrier between the queen and the group of Amsterdam women around her falls away. “And it’s free too.”
It happens near the checkout. After 45 minutes, with a pile of sanitary towels, Queen Máxima pauses for a moment. “So important that this is also there.” Five women around the queen, all volunteers or customers at the Social Grocery store, smile and nod. Make sure that’s important. “And it’s free,” says customer Sophia (58). The queen’s eyes widen. “Free?! But that’s… that’s a very important one.”
Poverty
Máxima has been dealing with poverty for years and she knows: poverty is more than just a lack of money. At the Sociale Kruidenier, an initiative of the Protestant Diaconie Noord, they want to offer their customers more than just soap, detergent and other products that are not available at the Food Bank. “It’s also about having a chat,” says Sophia. Since she and her husband are both ill, she depends on the Food Bank and other initiatives. “Here they listen to you. And sometimes the customers exchange tips and news with each other.”
Máxima is also listening. For an hour and a half, the Queen is updated on the Social Grocery Store and poverty in the city. Deborah van Stuijvenberg, community worker at the diaconate, joins the conversations. “Máxima is very fond of the complete, holistic approach. So not only the financial but also the social and spiritual.”
Women
What is also striking: women are overrepresented among the customer and volunteer base of the Social Grocery Store. A Syrian woman, who has been in the country for four years, says that her first priority is to resume her studies. Fantastic, says Máxima, who compliments the woman on her Dutch. “And you work. That’s also a piece of independence.”
After a closing group photo, the royal caravan races on to the next stop. Inside, about twenty Amsterdammers enjoy themselves for a while. “That’s nice to experience,” says Sophia and she wipes away a tear. “We could just talk to her. She is also just a woman.”