More than 120 refugees from Ukraine moved on Wednesday from the reception ships on the Spaarndamseweg in Haarlem-Noord to a complex with container homes at Haarlem-Spaarnwoude station. The houses are tiny, but do have their own kitchen.
It is very busy on the site at Haarlem-Spaarnwoude station, where more than sixty emergency homes were put into use on Wednesday by war refugees from Ukraine. People walk back and forth with toolboxes and large, flat boxes from their neighbor: the Swedish furniture store next to the shelter site. Dozens of aid workers, volunteers and Ukrainians are swarming together to neatly furnish all the homes.
The container homes look attractive from the outside with cladding that appears to be made of wood, but is not. The houses themselves are tiny, but do have a kitchenette, bathroom and a separate bedroom. There is room for two people per emergency home, so more than 120 people can stay there.
Cook your own food
Kerstie Martens from the Salvation Army is also helping with the move. “These people were on the shelter ships on the Spaarne in Haarlem-Noord. They are very happy with these homes. The need for living space is great. I have spoken to many people who are still on a boat, who would also have liked to come here popular.”
“A cruise ship is nice if you go on a cruise for a week. But it is very small there. And Ukrainian people also love to cook for themselves. They have really missed that. They get food on the boats. But When you’re young, you want to cook for yourself and have your own business.”
Many refugees from Ukraine have now been in the Netherlands longer than they initially expected, Martens says. “They thought they would be able to return home after three months, but many people no longer have a home in Ukraine. The young people are now making a change. They actually want to build their lives here.”
Text continues under the photo.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian woman is lugging a rolled-up mattress through the loose sand. The emergency homes will then be finished; the site itself is still a large construction site. In the meantime, councilor Floor Roduner has arrived. He symbolically hands over the first key to one of the new residents.
Construction kit
But before that happens, the councilor is happy to buy a construction kit for a wooden cabinet. “Fun to do, nice if you can help a little bit. Actually, these houses are just a construction kit. They have been stacked on top of each other here in the past period and together it has actually become a very nice complex. We hope that many people can live here comfortably.”
“Many Ukrainians have been on the shelter boats in the Spaarne for a long time. Also people with young children. This is a much nicer place. They are small houses, but they are really better than being on a boat. And it is very nice to see how many volunteers are working here. Haarlem is a hospitable city and I am proud of that,” says Roduner.
A young refugee from Ukraine proudly shows off his new home. He is also happy with the shelter, but says that he would much rather see an end to the war in his homeland. A war that has been going on for more than two years now.