{"id":12086,"date":"2021-07-06T14:14:50","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T14:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justiceandpeace.nl\/?post_type=story&p=12086"},"modified":"2023-12-01T12:19:08","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T12:19:08","slug":"liesbeth","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/justiceandpeace.nl\/en\/stories\/liesbeth\/","title":{"rendered":"Liesbeth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cIt takes a village, I\u2019m truly convinced\u201d<\/em><\/h2>\n

06-07-2021<\/p>\n

Written by: Patrick van Wersch<\/a><\/p>\n

She hits the \u2018send\u2019 button. A millisecond later, her call arrives in the mailbox of a number of Dutch television broadcasters. According to the woman from Haarlem, there is too little attention for what Dutch society can do in order to connect with refugees, and the media should do something about it. There has been no response, but this doesn\u2019t change a thing for Liesbeth and her five friends. Their bond with the Tsegay family from Eritrea is strong: \u201cThere\u2019s a true connection there, which makes it easy\u201d. <\/strong><\/p>\n

At the start of 2020, Liesbeth Berkouwer (50) came across a call from Samen Hier, searching for groups in Haarlem. She shared it with her friends, who she has known since their studies in Amsterdam. Together, they decided to go for it. When asked why she took the initiative, Liesbeth struggles to give a clear-cut answer. She is mainly participating in order to be of value to someone else. For the same reason, she has been offering foster care to a young boy on the weekends for the past five years. \u201cYou can have such impact when you expand someone\u2019s circle \u2013 when you help others find their place. It takes a village<\/em>, I\u2019m truly convinced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is especially true for refugees\u201d, Liesbeth continues with a serious voice. \u201cYou are forced to settle in a new country. That can\u2019t be easy.\u201d She likes how all women in her group contribute in their own way, and all have a unique form of contact with the family and their five kids. One of them keeps track of things to do in Haarlem for the kids during their holidays, while the other visits the family more frequently for a coffee and a chat. In this way, they all complement each other.<\/p>\n

Liesbeth, a lawyer by profession, feels sad thinking about all the refugee families who don\u2019t have access to such a network and such friendships. This is a gap needs to be bridged, she thinks, preferably through a collaboration between local authorities and the community. \u201cThere have been a lot of cutbacks, and municipalities definitely have a part in this, but the job ultimately needs to be done by society. They are responsible for helping refugees settle in their new environment, and helping them become part of their surroundings.\u201d In reality, this responsibility now often rests on the shoulders of the oldest kids, who \u2013 because they quickly learn the language \u2013 have to make all the arrangements. They have to fill in forms, request funds, etcetera.<\/p>\n

Liesbeth\u2019s Samen Hier group combines a very hands-on form of (technical) support with social activities. \u201cWhen the family wants us to, we accompany them to a parent-teacher meeting at school or to a doctor\u2019s appointment\u201d, she shares. \u201cAlso, we have been trying to find daytime activities for father Negasi. This will now be taken over by Selam Zorg, an organisation which supports newcomers from Eritrea. But above all, we just have fun together.\u201d<\/p>\n

This fun is often found in very mundane activities, such as walking the many dogs that are part of the group \u2013 an activity especially enjoyed by the boys in the family. Other recurring activities include library visits, playing games, or spontaneous visits for a cup of \u2018chicken with soup\u2019 or a strong Eritrean coffee made from freshly roasted beans. Recently, the only daughter of the family made a Mother\u2019s Day cake for her mum, Alga, with the help of one of the group members\u2019 daughters.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

\u201cIt took some time testing the waters in the beginning\u201d, Liesbeth remembers. She mainly refers to getting to know the family\u2019s needs and learning what they could do for each other as a group. The parents had a very clear goal: allowing their kids to settle properly in the Netherlands. But how to go about this? And how to find the right balance between helping, supporting self-reliance, and getting to know each other on a personal and social level? \u201cThroughout the year we have had several meetings in which we evaluated our needs and way of working with the help of a community-builder\u201d, says Liesbeth. \u201cLuckily, we were always in full agreement, and we are all very happy with the match and our contact!\u201d<\/p>\n

This Samen Hier group consists of Liesbeth, Claire, Marja, Lorette, Danielle and Femke, and the family Alga, Negasi, Robel, Samsom, Asmait, Dani\u00ebl and Aklilu. <\/em><\/p>\n\n

\n Read more about Samen Hier <\/a>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

advocating a community response to refugees’ needs <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"story_category":[70],"class_list":["post-12086","story","type-story","status-publish","hentry","story_category-awareness-raising-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLiesbeth - Justice & Peace Netherlands<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/justiceandpeace.nl\/en\/stories\/liesbeth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Liesbeth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"advocating a community response to refugees' needs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/justiceandpeace.nl\/en\/stories\/liesbeth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Justice & Peace Netherlands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeandPeaceNL\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-01T12:19:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/justiceandpeace.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Foto-8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Liesbeth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/justiceandpeace.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Foto-8.jpg\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justiceandpeace.nl\\\/en\\\/stories\\\/liesbeth\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/justiceandpeace.nl\\\/en\\\/stories\\\/liesbeth\\\/\",\"name\":\"Liesbeth - 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