I no longer live on a garbage heap!

A little while ago, Present received a question from a woman. She wanted some help with painting her house. We paid her a visit to talk about the project and to see what exactly needed to be done.

The woman received us happily and talked about all her wishes. We looked around, at some places the wallpaper was taken from the wall, and most of the woodwork had a nice old looking yellowish colour because of the smoke. The woman already started with some renewal, the curtain in front of the window shined white.

The house was full of old stuff. Two old freezers, some microwaves, an old bed, far too many chairs to be used by this woman alone. The woman had fled war, lived with her family here for many years, and already long ago the other family members had passed away. But now it was time for a new start, because in half a year, her brother will visit her.

So I decided to cut up the ‘painting’ project into different parts. First we try to organise the clearing of the house. After that, the wallpaper can be removed, and lastly, the painting will start. After that, we’ll see if there are some other jobs.

Far too slow for this eager woman, I tried to find some volunteers who could help with clearing the house. And then there was an enthusiastic student who offered help. He could drive in the Present van, and he and me tried to find some other people. A refugee who lives on the refugeeship in Wageningen harbour, and who helped last week with carrying furniture of an elderly couple moving, already told me that he’d like to help again. A friend of the student also came.

When I arrived at the house, already the student and the woman were carrying stuff out of the house. With the help of the other two people, after a morning hard work, the house was spacious again. The woman was so happy with the volunteers. And she described the feeling of her house a ‘I no long live on a garbage heap!’. The new start started!