“This promotes my integration in Amsterdam Noord”

Eline Gelderblom is a mentor coordinator at School’s Cool and she is also a mentor herself to an 11-year-old girl in Amsterdam-Noord. “That radiant little face, that’s what I do it for.”

“I grew up in Brabant. At the age of twenty-one, I moved to Amsterdam to study HBO Communication there. Thanks to the contact with my classmates, finding my way in Amsterdam was quite easy. That’s very different for my mentee…”Spot in Amsterdam“Over a year and a half ago, my pupil came from Ghana to Amsterdam at the age of 10. She now speaks Dutch well. However, I believe you can say that she has truly been pulled out of her own world. In my opinion, she still needs to find her place, to settle in Amsterdam. As a mentor, I want to help her in this process so that she can stand more confidently in the Netherlands and in society.”Radiant face“I find being a mentor special because you can mean so much to a child and to the future of your student. And it’s not only your student who benefits, but also society, that’s how I see it. It’s in the small signals that you notice that you really add something. For example, when we practice math problems together and she shows me that she can do it, she radiates. That’s her pride, like ‘see, I can do it’. It’s that radiant little face that motivates me. You want to dedicate yourself to such a child. She is still quite insecure and closed off. We are at the beginning of the mentorship and still need to build a bond. It is my wish that she trusts me and that we can progress together. I try to ask her many questions and at the same time be patient and give her the space to bring up things she wants to talk to me about.”Integration in Amsterdam North“Besides being a mentor, I am also a mentor coordinator for School’s cool in Amsterdam-Noord. Both as a mentor and as a mentor coordinator, I notice that you can make a difference close to home, for the children in the neighborhood. As a resident, you can take the initiative and help other people in your environment to empower themselves. I have chosen to do this through School’s cool because working with children and education, the future, appeals to me. And it also promotes my integration in Amsterdam-Noord! Even though I have been living here for years, I am discovering thanks to”School’s coolnew streets and I get to know new people from my neighborhood.”

Text: Tanja Ham

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