Volunteering is all about giving something back to the community you live in, as well as expanding your horizons and social network. And some 60 would-be volunteers—almost all internationals—turned up earlier this month at IN  Amsterdam’s Volunteer Café to see where they can make a difference in the city they call home.

“The Netherlands has offered me quite a lot of opportunities I didn’t really have in my home country, so I thought it would be good to see if I can find something that I can contribute to,” says 37-year-old tech company programme manager Konstantina, who comes from Greece but has lived in the Netherlands for eight years.

“But some of my reasons for volunteering are quite selfish, as in socialising and getting to know the country more,” she continues. “I’ve been here eight years, and I still don’t feel like I’m very integrated into Dutch culture. I can navigate it because of Google translate, which helps, but I still don’t feel I’m super connected to the community.”

Bursting the bubble

That was a common refrain of the evening: internationals who want to both give back to the communities where they live while integrating into them in the process. Another was coming out of the proverbial “bubble” in which Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema said last year that many internationals lived.

“I want to understand the country I’m living in, get to know other people and also the language,” says 28-year-old American dairy sustainability specialist Zack, who has been living in the Netherlands for the past five years.

“I’m mainly trying to pop my bubble, to meet different people and get different perspectives. I am surrounded by a certain group of people all the time. And that’s great and I love them. But I need to keep my eyes open. I think this is the easiest way to meet wildly different people, from all across the board, doing phenomenal things.”

Dasha van Amsterdam, an organisational advisor with Volunteers Centre Amsterdam that works with IN Amsterdam, agrees that volunteer work is not only about helping others, or even nurturing your own talents, but also about community-building.

“A lot of internationals volunteer to get to know Dutch people,” she says. “Volunteer work gets you out of the bubble and gives you a sense of belonging, of being a part of the neighbourhood.”

Dasha says 30 percent of Amsterdammers do some sort of volunteering. And while she doesn’t have the numbers for how many of them are internationals, she says they’re nevertheless an important part of the mix.

“What I do know is that a lot of internationals also start their own projects or their own organizations,” she says. “Internationals are already looking for opportunities to get out of their bubble, but there is not enough money for organizations who work with volunteers to just be able to give them the time and attention they need, especially if they don’t speak the language.”

Where to volunteer

The organizations who turned up to make their case in 3-minute pitches to the receptive army of would-be volunteers work in local community centres, at language schools and non-profit organizations like the international assistance group ACCESS.

Taalhuis Amsterdam came seeking volunteers for its soon-to-be community-focused library. Cinema de Vlugt in the New West is seeking volunteers to work its halls, which were opened by a few young men who grew up in the culturally diverse neighbourhood of some 180,000 people with no movie theatres.

Kringloop Goudestein in the Buitenveldert is looking for volunteers to make Christmas meals for neighbours during the holidays (and also budgets €500 for independent neighbourhood initiatives), while the VuilnisOproer’s (or Garbage Riot’s) Anne Gentenaar was there to talk trash.

“The New West is neglected, there’s lots of garbage,” she says. “Join us to clean it up and have a meal.”

Hungry Dutch girls

Self-described “fighter for women” Jerrel Wijnhard gives 12 to 17-year-old girls in the city’s Zuidoost a chance to play football through the Patricia Keeldar Foundation, named after the famous Surinamese footballer who came up through what he calls a problematic neighbourhood.

“Most parents are women in one-parent families,” says Wijnhard. “The boys are in gangs, and the girls sometimes come hungry to practice. But the ball rolls everywhere.”

Wijnhard sees to it that the girls have fun and learn about the sport and teamwork, while he helps their mothers deal with problems ranging from addiction to debt relief. “I know how the social system works,” he says. “When you look at the Biljmer station, the neighbourhood is on the left and the money is on the right. But what does Ajax do for the neighbourhood? Nothing.”

Volunteer army

Joyce, originally from Amstelveen, is one of the few Dutch people attending the night’s event. “I’ve been an expat myself for most of my life,” she says. “I moved to Amsterdam about three years ago, and I’m surrounded by expats, so I feel I might as well join them!”

The 61-year-old translator and writer of historical fiction has lived in Japan, Taiwan, China and Egypt, among other places. Her experience volunteering with internationals overseas will likely come in handy back home. “I know what it’s like being new in a country and what you need, and it’s good to get help.”

She’s talking with Pratima from India, who has called the Netherlands home for almost 18 years. A recent empty nester, Pratima says she now has the time and desire to give back.

“I’m going to turn 50 next year, so at this point, it’s something I would love to do.”

Her Dutch isn’t great, she admits, making the integration aspect of volunteering further appealing.

“If you’re working, you’re integrating. If you’re dropping your child off at school, you’re integrating. If you’re going shopping, you’re integrating. It’s just following the rules and the laws of the land here. I think that’s what’s important.”

If you’re looking for volunteering opportunities, you can click on most of the links above or the Volunteers Centre Amsterdam (Vrijwilligers Centrale Amsterdam).

Volunteer The Hague is holding an open meeting for would-be volunteers on November 30.

Eindhoven Doet has openings for volunteers in the region while Samen voor Eindhoven works to build bridges between different communities.

Volunteering NL has English language advice for Utrecht, Delft, Amstelveen, Rotterdam and more.

Other suggestions? Please email editor@dutchnews.nl and we’ll compile a more detailed list.