Valuable evening at Value of the Neighborhood

“It gives value to my life.”“Volunteers are the engine of the organization.”“Our mission is accomplished when a child sleeps well.”“We forgot to talk about happiness.”

These are statements from speakers during our event ‘Value of the Neighborhood’. In collaboration with VPRO, we organized this beautiful evening last Tuesday about the impact of volunteers in different neighborhoods in the city, following the VPRO series “100 days in the forgotten neighborhood”.

Moderator Bahram Sadeghi engaged in conversations with program maker Nicolaas Veul, poverty interventions lecturer Anna Custers (HvA), Abdelhamid Idrissi (founder of Studiezalen), and Meike Bartels (Professor in Genetics and Wellbeing VU Amsterdam).

Nicolaas Veul shared about the Laak neighborhood in The Hague, where he did a hundred days internship as a social worker. In that role, he encountered poverty, loneliness, racism, and housing shortage. This experience gave him more insight into the issues, and he saw how crucial volunteers were. Anna Custers focuses on poverty and debt issues in various forms. She showed that according to CBS, poverty has decreased in the past 40 years while income inequality is increasing. She also illustrated how the rich and poor are divided in Amsterdam. Abdelhamid Idrissi from Studiezalen advocates for equal opportunities for children and believes their mission is successful when a child has a good night’s sleep. His live coaches not only consider the child but also all the circumstances in which he/she lives. And to conclude, Meike Bartels, also known as the happiness professor, mentioned that we have forgotten to talk about happiness. Happiness should not be the endpoint but the starting point. And because each person is different, she emphasized the importance of looking at what makes you happy and what doesn’t (and therefore stopping those things). And not to compare too much with others.

In addition to these speakers, volunteers from Mentorschap Foundation, Church and Neighborhood Foundation, and the Sunshine Journey shared equally inspiring stories about what it means for them and others to be active as volunteers. The evening ended with music from Jazz Deco and a pleasant get-together. The attendees were enthusiastic, and we look back with satisfaction on a wonderful evening full of connection!