Verhalen

Start the weekend well with painting!

When?

On a Saturday morning, before 9 o’clock, a group of people gathers in front of an appartment block in Wageningen. One of them has a big bag with painting equipment. The group is a nice mix of PhD students from different places of the world, all living in this little town in the Netherlands. Together they go into the building and meet a kind woman, who serves coffee and tea. There’s a tiny dog that is trembling all over, thrilled to see all the people in the house, it’s running all over the place to sniff at everyone.

What?

But they’re here not to pat the dog, but to paint! Some of the group have visited the place, and know where to start, and everyone is appointed a wall to paint. There’s paint, rollers, brushes, tape to prepare and there they go! Preparing is always a time consuming effort, but it helps to tape of the ceiling and the walls that shouldn’t be painted, because it creates nice sharp lines.

One of the walls in the bedroom is painted antraciet, a rewarding colour because the change is immediately visible. The whole room gets more athmosphere, and especially when the window-stills are painted the room looks a lot better.

For whom?

The woman is a really good host, she serves cookies, tea, coffee, although it’s also quite an overwhelming experience. She is unable to do so much work alone, because she has a sickness, which takes a lot of her energy away. During the Christmas holiday, she moved into this appartment, and got some help from friends. That’s why the living room doesn’t need any paint. However, after the holiday, it was harder to organise help, and that’s why her buddy from Humanitas recommended her to Present. During the morning, in between the painting, the people share a little bit of life together.

Meeting eachother!

It’s nice to see how the presence of Wageningen University has such effects: That people from all over the world come and help someone in Wageningen on a random Saturday morning. That they meet eachother, and chat. Share their talents of painting and serving others.

At the end of the morning, the group leaves the house again. It has improved, the hallway and the bedroom have a much more welcoming athmosphere. Everyone happy!