Farewell to Nijmegen
Life as a refugee is like life as a wanderer. You never stay in one place for a long time, you are always on the move. Since the time I left my hometown, I have never stayed in one place for a long time. I always get to meet good friends wherever I go and start to love the place, but it always gets cut short. And that is what is happening to me right now, because by the time this column is published, I have already moved to another place. This will be my last column in Vox and a farewell to all the readers who were kind enough to give me support and suggestions.
I have been living in Heumensoord for almost two months and it was beginning to feel like home. When I first came to Heumensoord the living conditions were difficult for me and living in a tent was also a new thing for me. There was frustration and dissatisfaction with the accommodation in the camp. But with time it started to get better and somehow we got to like it. People in the camp were especially touched by the generosity and kindness of the people of Nijmegen. They touched our hearts as they were always giving clothes, shoes, bicycles and other things to those in need. They invited people over for dinner in their homes, provided hot drinks near the camp, gave rides to the hospital and lots more. I would like to thank them on behalf of all refugees from the bottom of my heart.
I will miss Nijmegen very much. I will miss all the great people I got to meet, who are some of the kindest people I ever met. Also I will miss all the nice places, especially the Radboud University where I got the chance to attend some courses. I hope one day I will get a chance to study there as a full-time student. And live in Nijmegen not as a refugee but as a resident of that city. Finally, I would like to thank Vox and its staff for their effort in giving a voice to refugees and making me feel like I am home.
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Wim schreef op 2 december 2015 om 20:34
Safe travels! and thanks for sharing your stories with us!
Simon Dekker schreef op 17 december 2015 om 13:33
Het gaat u goed, Biniam!
Christa schreef op 20 februari 2016 om 16:10
Dear Biniam,
Until today I got to know about your blog and I immediately read all your posts. It is interesting to gain a little insight in your point of view and I am really happy that you received and utilised the chances to publish in a Dutch online magazine and to follow some courses at the RU Geography department. I encourage you to follow your dreams and ambitions over there in Almere and afterwards in Amsterdam. Although you wrote about words getting lost in translation, I also would like to beg you to help other Eritrean refugees in the Netherlands as best as you can, since many of them unfortunately did/do not receive the same opportunities, often simply due to the fact that back home they couldn’t learn English nor enjoy higher education. I don’t need to explain that to you, of course… I just would like to mention it, because in my work for the integration of refugees in the Netherlands I see lots of talents of Eritreans being ignored, just because they don’t speak Dutch nor English and just because they didn’t achieve educational degrees as often required for jobs here. I really hope and wish that also these people will be welcomed here, like you were in Nijmegen, to search and find a warm welcome and their own place to rebuild their lives. I definitely will do my best for them. I can help from my network within Dutch society, you can provide indispensable help by translating English-Tigrinya, and hopefully soon Dutch-Tigrinya. Thank you Biniam, for your valuable writing!