Energetic Seniors

Maybe you already knew them: The Energetic Seniors of Amsterdam Nieuw-West, abbreviated as ESAN. Seniors gather almost daily to have lunch, watch a movie, or catch up during the coffee meetups. For those interested, there are creative workshops and interesting lectures. Everything to keep the mind young and the body fit – tailored to everyone’s abilities. Coordinator Joke Veldkamp (photo below) and Nel Bons (photo above), who was honored last year with a royal decoration for her dedication to ESAN, talk about their volunteer work here.

This interview took place before the coronavirus. Meanwhile, some activities have resumed in a corona-proof manner.On a Tuesday morning, about twenty visitors are sitting around tables arranged in a square. Nel, together with another volunteer, takes care of the snacks and drinks, just like for the café, the musical gathering, and the Saturday afternoon salon. The two of them are a well-oiled machine.

Joke, a prototype of an energetic senior, is a board member of ESAN. After retiring from a welfare organization in The Hague, she wanted to expand her circle of acquaintances in her hometown of Amsterdam. She started activities for the Dutch Union for the Elderly, ANBO – since 2017 under the name of ESAN. She works about forty to sixty hours a week. “Every now and then I have to leave to take time for myself, when I’m at home I find it hard to do nothing.”

Nel joins them. Her weekly schedule is also tailored to the energetic seniors. “Only on Friday or Sunday do I have nothing to do for ESAN.” Nel is eighty and wants to live to be a hundred. In addition to her work for the bar and cooking group, she sings in ESAN’s choir and leads the creative morning where they knit, crochet, and play rummikub. Coming from a large family, she finds the coziness here.

Scooter users on the go

The core group of ESAN consists of about fifty to sixty visitors. Joke: “We focus on taking initiative ourselves: We are not a care institution. Whenever possible, the workshops are organized by members themselves, and if necessary, by external experts.”
Nel: “It is important to look at aging positively. You may get ailments, sometimes it’s difficult to still enjoy the good things in life. I always focus on what is still possible.”
She shows a photo – a group of free-spirited scooter riders on their way. “We’re going again this afternoon!”
Joke: “In January, we screened a dance film about seniors, Finding your feet, where dating is in full swing. Everyone was jumping and dancing here!”

Book of Life

“Looking ahead is important, but looking back is too,” says Joke. Since 2015, she has been organizing the Life Books project. People over seventy tell their life stories, recorded by volunteer writers. Nel also has a Life Book, with the motto: ‘Nel is a fighter and will always remain combative.’ “They made that up,” says Nel, nodding towards her colleagues, but it is true: “I want everything to be clear and fair. If I do something wrong, I apologize. When I see people being treated unfairly, I speak up. A fighter and above all a free fighter: I hate the word ‘must’.”

In the meantime, we are still all sitting around the tables, eating a ham and cheese toastie.
“Is it good?” asks Nel.
“Delicious,” I say, and Joke nods too.
“Then I must go back to my pantry now,” says Nel.
There is always something to do at ESAN.Interview: Angélique Derks
Photos: Huub Zeeman

Would you like to do volunteer work too?

HereFind more information about ESAN.Check here for all kinds of other volunteer opportunities in Amsterdam.