English version below

Goedemorgen beste lezers,

Hoe gaat het met jullie? Waar zijn jullie mee bezig? Altijd leuk om te horen wat anderen boeit en waar hun passie ligt.

Jullie kennen me. Ik geef eerlijk toe dat ik niet zo’n goede planner ben. Eerder iemand die van het ene in het andere tuimelt, intuïtief. En dat vind ik goed, ik volg mijn hart.

Mijn laatste project, de jobbeurs

Twee jaar geleden had ik de beurs al voorbereid, samen met een team enthousiaste medewerkers uit verschillende sectoren. Toen hebben we het de dag voordien moeten uitstellen omwille van Covid.

Maar kijk, eind vorig jaar ging het locale asielcentrum ‘Het Parelstrand’ terug open en niet lang daarna staken we de koppen  weer bijeen. De voorbereiding was intensief: regelmatig aftoetsen met de verschillende partijen en bijspringen waar de (soms bureaucratische instanties) het zelf niet verwerkt kregen. We wilden zoveel mogelijk nieuwkomers voorbereiden op de kennismaking met de bedrijven. Dus hadden ze een CV nodig.  We kregen hulp van de VDAB maar ons team van ‘jobcoaches’ heeft heel wat mensen zelf helpen inschrijven en hun CV opmaken. Samen met vriendinnen heb ik honderd zeventig goodie bags gevuld voor de werkzoekenden. We staken er een persoonlijk kaartje bij, om hen welkom te heten en geluk te wensen op hun pad hier in België.

Twee weken geleden vond de jobbeurs plaats hier in Lommel. Een dertigtal bedrijven en interimkantoren nam deel. Het was een  bijzondere dag. Hier zie je het verslag door TV Limburg.

Prachtig om zoveel nieuwsgierige blikken te zien vanuit de twee groepen: de nieuwkomers en de ondernemingen. Een kleine clash van culturen. Het was bij tijden chaotisch en ik heb al heel wat werkpunten voor de volgende keer. Maar het was vooral mooi om te zien hoe onze kantoren en ondernemingen creatief omgingen met de taalbarrière en de culturele diversiteit.

Intussen zijn er al nieuwkomers gaan solliciteren en de eerste contracten zijn getekend. De berichtjes die ik krijg van de werkzoekenden zijn hartverwarmend. Ik plak er enkele hier onderaan 😉

Mijn doel en drijfveer 

Voor de bewoners in het opvangcentrum is het erg zwaar om niets te kunnen doen, en steeds maar te moeten wachten op een antwoord van de Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken.

De mensen die hier toekomen vanuit een vluchtsituatie hebben geen materiële goederen meegebracht, maar wel hun talenten, hun ervaring, hun karakter, hun verleden. Hun beroep is hun identiteit. Door een job uit te oefenen voelen ze terug de trots, de eigenwaarde. Ze kunnen zich terug nuttig voelen.

Hierin wil ik graag faciliteren, de nieuwkomers helpen de stap te maken naar de jobmarkt. Dit is niet evident. Maar ik geloof er sterk in dat we samen met  ondernemingen en interimkantoren, het verschil kunnen maken. Dat we flexibel en creatief gaan denken. Dat we  deze nieuwkomers die deel uit willen maken van de maatschappij, ondersteunen en begeleiden. Dat we hen respecteren in hun eigenheid, hun cultuur en capaciteiten. Dat we samenwerken en de brug maken tussen culturen. Want een job is een eerste stap naar integratie. We willen deze kans niet missen, en deze generatie nieuwkomers niet verliezen.

Toekomst

Er komen veel vragen, wat goed is. Ondernemingen staan te popelen om mensen in dienst te nemen. En hier schuilt een enorme uitdaging.

Ik wil hier graag aan verder bouwen, samen met Yousra Rifi. Zij is de oprichtster van NIYA
NIYA is een cross cultural communication research firm die zich heeft gespecialiseerd in het geven van workshops, HR ondersteuning voor bedrijven die mensen met andere culturen tewerkstellen of willen te werk stellen.

Wordt vervolgd 😉

Dan wens ik jullie nog een heerlijke dag toe en laat me weten indien je ook iets kan betekenen in dit verhaal.

Tot snel,

Sophie

Hello Everyone,

How are you?

I’m happy to talk about the jobfair I organized a few weeks ago. It was a special event. I already organized this two years ago – here you can read more – but we had to cancel the event because of Covid.

My goal is to connect the newcomers and the local companies. But one of the newcomers described it perfectly, here are his inspiring words:

“I want to admit this project amazed me.  And I want to thank the people behind it for their feelings towards us and for giving me the honor to be one of them.
I want to highlight this idea: we want to build bridges, not walls. Many of the new refugees – or as Sophie likes to say, newcomers – want to be active people in this society and do what they can to show their gratitude to Belgium and its people. As soon as we get the opportunity to prove ourselves in a job, a sport or a study, we will do our best to return the favor.
But there are some problems. Employers might not want to give us a chance if we are not perfect, or don’t speak the Dutch language perfectly, but maybe they can give us a chance anyway.
I want to say one more thing. To be an active person and to do something good, no matter how small, it may be a volunteer job, will make you more positive, stable and aware. We all experienced this ourselves one time.
Thanks again for everyone trying to build bridges.”

A job is so important. It is the first step into integration.

The day of the jobfair was amazing. So much interaction. So much creativity and flexibility from the companies. They worked with google translate and icons to communicate with the newcomers. Companies are looking desperately for new people to fill in the vacancies.  So can there be a better plan than bringing those two groups together?

This is just a beginning, but I am so happy we organized this. All these warm and grateful reactions (a few I copy below) give me such a boost to continue.

Have a lovely day, Sophie

Photo on top: Yousra and I
Photos and card by Marie Bouly Photography

Dear Readers,

How are you?
Are you still working? From home now?

It has been a while, yes. Summer has passed easily, and this very special – I wanted to say “horrible,” but I believe we (my family and I) are still lucky – year is coming to an end. Usually I write about my volunteer projects or cultural excursions. But most of these came to an end.

Has your life changed a lot in this past year? Do you see positive things emerging from this lockdown and being limited in your social life?

I’ll just tell you about a few things that kept me going.

Wonderful Things

I was still able to see one exhibit! About a month ago we went to the exhibition of the photographer Tim Walker . He is so much more than a photographer. His photos emerge in his very creative mind, going back to childhood memories and fantasies. It takes a huge team of models, hairdressers, builders, screenwriters, make-up artists, etc to build up the scenery he has in mind. “To me, a photograph is far stronger when something is suggested rather than defined. If you define it there is nowhere for your imagination to go.”, Tim Walker said.

Walker used the garden of earthly delights by Bosch as an inspiration and made his own versions.

The photos look like fairytales. What grabbed my attention also is that his models are very specific in their looks and facial features. The most intriguing part to me was the movie at the end. He remade a short film based on the fairytale of Hans Christian Andersen “The Steadfast Tin Soldier.”. Walker’s version centers around a tin soldier and a knight falling in love. You should go see for yourself, if the lockdown has passed 😉

Touching Stories

We can escape the daily life by wandering through the magical photos by this extraordinary photographer – and this feels good – yet, we cannot neglect the anxiety and absurdity of the times we are living in now.

The most difficult part is that we have all those rules to limit our freedom. Don’t get me wrong, I agree to them all, and they are necessary. But still, it is a challenge to not be able to hug, to see our family and friends. Certainly people that live on their own are susceptible to loneliness.

Yesterday on All Saints Day the sky was gray. I decided to walk to the bakery, to get some fresh air. When I was almost there, it started to drizzle. An old lady with a rollator passed the other direction. She looked at me and said:
– It is starting to rain!
– Well, I hope you are almost home
– Yes, I am, I live just around this corner.
– Luckily, you have had some exercise and fresh air then.
I continued walking, but she definitely wanted to continue talking.
– I make long walks, three times a day. I have to do this or I go crazy. I have a lot of sorrow inside of me, and I need to let it out somehow.
I stopped. Not asking now would be selfish and indifferent.
– What happened?
– My grandson died, last summer. He was twenty six. He was living together in Antwerp with his girlfriend. Yes, he had to take medication for this disease, and he forgot to take it. I am not sure how it exactly happened and if this is what caused it. My daughter cannot talk about it. I think she is hiding things from me. She lost a lot of weight, she’s only 45 kilos. You know I have this rattan little table that is normally in the yard. I put it inside now. On this table are all his photos. My daughter also printed out some pictures from Facebook. He was so popular. And active, never stayed silent. When he died he was wearing this sweater with “Stay Calm” on the front. My daughter couldn’t stand the fact that he was put into a coffin. So he was cremated, just on a wooden shelf. His scouting friends spread the ashes over in the river, combined with many rituals. They wrote a song for him. They put many things near this spot at the river. I would like to see it. But I can’t due to corona. Today is All Saints Day, I would like so much to go there, to see this, to be with him.
They only told me about it later, when he had died already. He was in a coma for four days. I couldn’t go see him anyway, I know, but still. Most of his organs were no good anymore, because of the coma. Except for his lungs. They were giving to a twenty three year old girl that had been on a breathing machine for a year. She made it now. We don’t know who she is. We cannot find out. At least, she has his lungs and is still alive.

By that time I was shivering from this story and the rain.
– It is so sad what you have been through, it is good you are able to talk about it. But I must go now, or the bakery will be closed.
– Oh dear, I am so sorry. You know what. I live at number twelve, if it is closed, you come to my house, I can still give you half of a bread.
– That is very kind. I will do that!

I rushed to the bakery and the woman that helped there was talking on the phone. I saw she was having difficulties to end the conversation.
– So sorry, that was my daughter, she cannot stop talking. Thanks for waiting.
– No problem at all. How old is she?
– Six and she cannot keep silent!
– That is a wonderful age. I hope she keeps on babbling and never stops.

Beyond Borders

Our project on the newcomers in this country has also been put on hold for a while. We still had plans to go to the schools so the newcomers could tell their own story, and so we would create more understanding. Because if one issue has left the news because of corona, it is the catastrophe of the refugees. Not totally, excuse me.  One story I still found in the newspapers: the one of the Iranian family with three young children that drowned on their way to England. The youngest was one.

Plus we have already begun interviewing people. We hope to make a small documentary. A little over a month ago, we drove to the other side of Belgium to meet Abraham and Merhawit, the beautiful couple from Eritrea. They met each other in horrific circumstances: in a Lebanese prison camp. They met there, were separated again and were reunited one year later in Europe. They married in Belgium. Now they are the happy parents of a beautiful boy. Marie made a birth card.

MUSA

This kept me really busy physically. I have been painting, sandblasting floors, decorating, choosing tiles, finding contractors… And still, we are not finished.

Musa will be a place to stay, for a few nights, in an old house in the museum-area of Antwerp. You can find us on Instagram  @ musa_antwerp. I’ll write more about the progress in a next post.

Please take care
of yourself,
and of others,

Sophie