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Rotterdam | November 9, 2022
Coordinator Iebèl Vlieg: 'Culture is for everyone'
Five Thursdays. Five different activities. Five visits to the Cruyff Court in Rotterdam. Coordinator Iebèl Vlieg: “A perfect combination. The courts are already there. The children know where to find them. Now, instead of just keeping the ball in the air, they can experience music, dance, fashion, or building for free. This year, we had a year-3 MAVO class organize the event. A win-win situation.”
Rotterdam. A city with a lot of poverty. Estimates vary, but 1 in 4 or 5 children in this city grows up in a family with financial problems. “That's a lot. I think almost 40,000 children in Rotterdam don't have the opportunity to do anything after school. Joining a club, for example, is too expensive for them. Yet it's so important. Besides school and family, there really should be a place where children can develop in a different way. Where they can experience a 'different world'. Where they can relax, learn new skills, but also meet new people and forget their worries at home for a while. It can also increase resilience and contribute to children's self-confidence, and that's always welcome. Poverty is often not an isolated problem. It's complex and deeply impacts all aspects of a child's life. It's a collection of challenges they have to face. In that case, sports and culture are a way for children to grow and relax.”
Collaboration is a win-win
Iebèl Vlieg has organized the Cultuur@CruyffCourts event twice before in Rotterdam. “This year, we took a different approach. We partnered with the Cultural Education Knowledge Center and a local school, De Hef vocational college. Teachers from this pre-vocational secondary school integrated the project into their curriculum and put the students to work devising and organizing everything this year. It was a huge undertaking! These students are 14-15 years old and, of course, don't have much experience yet. It was fantastic to see how they tackled it. Of course, a lot of guidance was needed, but together we created a fantastic program.”
An interesting experiment
The kickoff was on June 2nd. From that date on, children could participate in the most fun cultural activities for free every Thursday afternoon for five weeks at the Cruyff Court. Freestyle footballer Nasser El Jackson opened the season. A DJ was also present. For five weeks, approximately 100 children from various Rotterdam primary schools participated in various activities. These workshops were supervised by professionals. After school, all children from the neighborhood were welcome to join in dancing, drumming, or painting T-shirts for free. Iebèl Vlieg: "The program was developed based on research by the students of De Hef. They mapped out the neighborhood, spoke with children, looked for activities in the area, and thus created the program. They also explored topics such as production and publicity."
This was an interesting experiment. Young people were given the opportunity to learn about the role of arts and culture in society. What does the neighborhood have to offer, what do the various target groups need, and what services meet these needs? And how do you achieve this on a limited budget? For the participating children from the neighborhood, it's a great opportunity to experience cultural activities for free. They can experience what it's like to make music together with others, build something, or decorate clothes. And hopefully, it will spark something. A new hobby can be born this way. And if the child then wants to join a club, we can help.
Tying it all together
"What I've noticed is that everyone is eager to get involved. All sorts of organizations in Rotterdam are involved," says Iebèl Vlieg. "My role is to connect everyone and keep communication lines short. We often share the same goal, so let's work together. It's difficult to reach the children or their parents directly and introduce them to the Youth Fund. But it's precisely the intermediaries: the teachers, the neighborhood coaches, the social workers who need to know where to find us. They have contact with the families we can help. And this activity, Cultuur@CruyffCourts, puts our work in the spotlight again. This way, we can show once again that culture is for everyone!"
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