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

7 November 2023

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 who are struggling in West. They do this with lunches, cooking workshops, and distributing food packages. In this way, they contribute to the fight against poverty and social exclusion. And that is something Annet has personal experience with.

“When you are poor, you quickly feel guilty; you think you are not good enough. Poverty makes it hard to trust people, you isolate yourself. You feel unwanted. If you grew up in poverty, you unconsciously adopt things in your own parenting that you don’t want to. I have a background of poverty and abuse myself. I have warned my children from a young age about people who are not good for you. In doing so, I have made them anxious. Generational poverty affects three generations.”

The volunteers who contact Annet want to take a step further, get back to work, and develop themselves. First, she sets up an activity in the neighborhood together with them. Giving drama lessons, a cooking course, a lunch in a community center, a restaurant for children, a fashion show. And as soon as it’s 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

In the Month of Connection, Annet organized five evenings on various themes such as customizing denim jackets, cooking, dialogue, plant care, and acting lessons. “During those activities, I talk to people, I observe, and I wonder what someone needs. Then I try to give good advice. Recently, I told a neighbor who hardly sees anyone anymore and who 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 that you see people grow. The happy faces ensure that I can continue with my life. It’s a way to deal with my own traumas.”