Rachel is celebrating this week that she has been a lunchtime supervisor at Rijk Kramerschool for 10 years. “It brings me a lot because you get a nice break, also outdoors in the fresh air, and you have nice contacts with your lunchtime colleagues, the teacher of your class, and of course with the children. I especially find the preschoolers really enjoyable.”
VCA Centrum
The Coffee House on Haarlemmerstraat is a safe haven for homeless or undocumented visitors. The foundation is a social enterprise largely run by and for participants, along with the necessary volunteers. Together, they provide clean clothing, coffee, lunch, and the cleaning and gardening teams make the surroundings clean and colorful.
A few years ago, Omar started volunteering at Prisma to boost his CV for medical school. Once a month, bowling shoes were taken out of the closet to go bowling with a friendly group of people with intellectual disabilities. In the end, medical school turned out not to be for Omar, but he still goes bowling every month: “That Wednesday is one of the most enjoyable days of my whole month!”
About 75 volunteers and volunteer coordinators came to listen and experience what dementia is and how to deal with people who have dementia.
The pressure on volunteers in healthcare means that there is not always a safe and clearly defined work environment. How do volunteers and volunteer coordinators deal with this situation? We discussed this with volunteer Lodewijk de Mol van Otterloo and volunteer coordinator Alexander Regeling.
To the Dutch lessons given by volunteer Judith at the Amsterdam Neighbor Women’s Contact (ABC), women from all over the world backgrounds come. “They are incredibly eager to learn and help each other where possible.”

