Volunteering: The first step in the Netherlands

Amjad (20) volunteers at Resto van Harte and the Film Festival, is in a bridging program for nursing, participates in theater, and is actively involved in environmental and human rights issues. This busy schedule all started with volunteering. “Volunteering was my first step in the Netherlands. It has changed many things in my life.”“When I was 17 years old, I came to the Netherlands from Syria with my father. After living in various asylum centers, I ended up in an asylum center in Amsterdam. Here, I met people from Vrijwilligers Centrale Amsterdam who matched me with fun volunteer tasks. I became a volunteer at Resto van Harte and the Film Festival. I wanted to do something because in the asylum center I wasn’t allowed to do anything, and that was very boring. When I started volunteering, I found it very interesting, and I felt that I wanted to do more and more.”

‘I had never seen such a festival before’

With his interest in care and love for cooking, volunteering at Resto van Harte aligns perfectly with the things Amjad loves. “At Resto van Harte, we first cooked the food and then served it to the guests. Mostly older people came, they were very kind and friendly. At first, I saw that they were mainly talking to each other, but when I sat with them, they also started talking to me. At first, I was a little scared because I didn’t speak Dutch well yet, but it was good practice for my Dutch language. I also volunteered at the Film Festival, which was very enjoyable. I had never seen a festival in my life, so it was a great experience for me. Together with two friends from the asylum seekers’ center, we helped set up and dismantle there, and during the festival, we, for example, guided people to their seats or provided information about the festival.”

Experience and coziness

“Volunteering has brought me so much experience. It has taught me a lot about Dutch traditions and improved my Dutch language skills. At first, I didn’t know how to interact with Dutch people well and thought everyone was very critical, but when I started, I found out that this was not the case at all. Besides the experience, it was also the camaraderie that it brought me, I couldn’t wait for the day each week when I did volunteer work. People at the asylum center often thought: ‘Why is he doing volunteer work, you don’t get paid for it anyway?’ But the experience and camaraderie were enough for me. I made many friends during volunteering, whom I still keep in touch with. At Resto van Harte, I would sometimes bring friends who wanted to help out for a day, and we would chat all day long.”

‘You don’t need to have studied for ten years first’

The concept of volunteering was something new for Amjad when he came to the Netherlands. “In Syria, we don’t do volunteering. When I came to the Netherlands, I didn’t know what it entailed and I thought that volunteering was the same as regular work for which you don’t get paid. Something that requires a lot of experience, you have to do everything right, and strict rules apply. I found out that this is not the case at all, through volunteering you actually gain experience and you don’t need to have studied for ten years first. Thanks to the experience I gained from volunteering, I had the opportunity to do a nursing bridging program. I needed to know the language for this. Furthermore, through working at Resto van Harte, I had been in contact with older people a lot. For my studies, I sometimes have to work in a nursing home and the experiences at Resto van Harte help me a lot.”

Do what you want and be who you are

“There are so many opportunities in the Netherlands. You can do what you want and be who you are. If I want to do something in the Netherlands, I can, and many people are willing to help you achieve your goal. I see many people in asylum centers who are afraid to start doing volunteer work because of the language or the Dutch community. The only tip I can give is that they should just give it a try because it’s not as difficult as they think.”Photo: Kim Cerrone
Text: Kiki Dusebout

Are you also interested in volunteering?

In our online job board, there are about 1000 fun and meaningful volunteer opportunities in the city. For every talent and schedule.Search online or make an appointment with one of our mediatorsVCA is committed to new Amsterdammers. We do this together with volunteer organizations, the Municipality of Amsterdam, language schools, and a team of ambassadors in theProject Status Holders:No content to translate.hereRead more about it. This project has been made possible by: