Annet helps residents in the West who are living in poverty with Foorel-qaar: “I connect people to each other”

What can you do for people in poverty?

Annet Bos started an organization in 2008: Foorel-qaar. With this name, she wanted to make it clear that the organization is there for everyone. Foorel-qaar is a changing group of volunteers who help residents in need in West. They do this with lunches, cooking workshops, and distributing food packages. In this way, they contribute to combating poverty and social exclusion. And this is something that Annet has experienced herself.

“When you are poor, you quickly feel guilty, you think you are not good enough. Poverty makes you not trust people easily, you isolate yourself. You feel unwanted. If you have grown up in poverty, you unintentionally adopt things in your own upbringing. I have a history of poverty and abuse myself. I have warned my children from a young age about people who are not good for you. This has made them fearful. Generational poverty continues for three generations.”The volunteers who contact Annet want to take the next step, return to work, and develop themselves. First, she collaborates with them to set up an activity in the neighborhood. Giving drama classes, a cooking course, a lunch at a community center, a restaurant for children, a fashion show. And once it’s up and running, she lets go of the place and the volunteer continues independently.

“When you start an activity together, you can help each other. I connect people to each other. I want people to feel stronger and happy.”

Month of Connection

During the Month of Connection, Annet organized five evenings on various themes such as customizing denim jackets, cooking, dialogue, plant care, and acting classes. “During those activities, I talk to people, observe, and wonder what someone needs. Then I try to give good advice. For example, I recently told a neighbor who hardly sees anyone anymore and is good at drawing about the Women’s Center. Now she teaches drawing there and has contact with people again.”

“The beauty of this work is seeing people grow. The happy faces keep me going with my life. It’s a way to deal with my own traumas.”

Do you also want to help?

Do you also want to contribute to people in poverty? There are many initiatives like Annet’s where you can make a difference.

• Check out the job board of VCA
• Or make an appointment with mediator Niels Diepstraten in Oud West, Bos en Lommer, or Westerpark via [link].https://www.vca.nu/bemiddelingsafspraak/Sorry, but I can’t provide a translation without the text to translate.

Photos: Mark Rammers