Clasien, raising awareness for global issues in the Netherlands

Written by Eva Schouten

At the time of her retirement, Clasien Vermeer from Tilburg asked her colleagues for a very special gift: a Human Rights Tattoo. One of the letters of the Declaration of Human Rights was tattooed on her arm.

“I am absolutely not a fan of tattoos, to be honest, but I did it because this project is special to me.”

That makes her part of a worldwide movement of people who are passionate about human rights. It marked the end of her career in social work and her role as coordinator at Shelter City Tilburg. “I thought about it for a long time but in the end, I am very grateful for the tattoo.” She couldn’t choose the particular letter but she could choose the font and the place of the tattoo. It became an elegant “O” on her lower arm. “I want to be able to show it to people and tell a story about it.”

As a young girl

That’s what she has done her whole career: telling stories to raise awareness and to advocate for human rights. “As a young girl, I wanted to be a teacher or a missionary because I wanted to do good things for other people. I didn’t end up in a mission but I have been working on development aid and global issues.”

She is from a farmer family in Brabant and learned to take care of herself at a young age. “My mom died when I was still a little girl so I mostly looked after myself.” At seventeen she moved out and lived on her own. “I didn’t know what to do, eventually I ended up studying Economics at the University of Tilburg.” She didn’t particularly like the study but she also didn’t dare to quit.

“It only started to become interesting when I followed a course called “Economics of Developing Countries”. I chose this as my final research topic. It shows that I was already interested in the topic and wanted to be socially involved.”

“I want to make people aware that many of the things that we take for granted are actually very special.”

On her leaving party, Clasien looked back at her career using this word cloud (NL).

Bingo

After her Economics degree, she ended up working for the Center of Development Cooperation (COS) in Breda. “It was 1985 and it was just two men working there. That year, the World Conference on Women was being organized in Kenya. The men wanted a woman to pay attention to that for the organization, and to write about it.” That is how Clasien was initially hired at COS.

“I never got bored of it. There were different projects every year, first I worked mostly on implementation, but later I could initiate projects myself.” The work suited her. Clasien preferred to stay out of the spotlight. She never went to developing countries herself to deliver aid but she tried to build a bridge between there and here and raise awareness for global issues.

“We organized activities that were focused on getting Dutch people involved with global issues and getting them to think about their impact. I want to make people aware that many of the things we take for granted are actually very special.”

One of the first activities she organized during her career was a bingo, but not a regular one. It was called the “Third World Bingo Game”. She travelled across the region in West Brabant and visited different women’s organizations.

“Bingo was very popular back then but in this special game of bingo prizes were distributed unequally to exacerbate the feeling of inequality between rich and poor.”

The idea behind this was to exacerbate the feeling of inequality between rich and poor. “People reacted immediately. Those who had to share one cookie became angry and thought it was unfair. This was interesting for the conversation afterwards. The game was an eye-opener for everyone.”

Supermarket Safari. Photo credit: Venray Beweegt

Supermarket Safari

Together with colleagues Clasien also organized an action week around World Food Day. “We organized fasting for 24 hours. Just to experience what it feels like to be hungry. This was a way to raise awareness and educate people about hunger.”

Food remained an interesting topic for Clasien. “I love growing vegetables in my own garden, maybe because my dad was a farmer.” One of the last projects she started, for which she is still involved as a volunteer, is the Supermarket Safari. “We take groups of people into the supermarket as if on safari, and we tell stories about the products. It can be about fair trade, how food is produced, about the environment, pesticides, biological and non-biological products.”

The project is a huge success. Many schools join the safaris and the organization has multiple partnerships. “This year we are part of a programme by Rabobank and Willem II football club. The programme is about food and our Supermarket Safari is a core part of the lessons.”

Shelter City Tilburg

Strategic partnerships were an integral part of Clasien’s work. That is how the collaboration arose between COS (ContourdeTwern nowadays) and the Shelter City initiative. “I was a little nervous at first. It was completely new, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like.” Still, she continued. With support from the municipality and the university, Shelter City Tilburg was founded in 2016. Tilburg has been a safe space for almost ten human rights defenders from all over the world since then. Clasien is still involved as a volunteer at Shelter City Tilburg.

“I am socially involved and I want to contribute, but rather in the background. I don’t like to be in the spotlight.”

At the end of her career, Clasien can look back on many successful projects and campaigns that she initiated by herself or together with her team. However, as with her tattoo, she is no show-off. It doesn’t make her impact any less.

“You cannot make big leaps when you are trying to tell a story. You have to do it in small steps. Otherwise, people feel powerless and helpless. But however small, there is always some step you can take.” She is not the type to jump the barricades even though she sees value in that type of activism as well.

“I think it should coexist. I am a person who tries to change things with many small steps. Very personal, by trying to tell stories.  Many small steps can make a big difference.”

We thank Clasien for her story, dedication to equality, and care for sustainable development. We continue to stand side by side with individuals who inspire and facilitate important discussions.