Yesterday evening the Ukrainians in the city were invited to a socialising event in the city. This is the introductory event that aimed to show the Ukrainian community the upcoming projects and also tell us a little more about the city we live in.
This event was put together in collaboration with the city council and welcome app. Last year I organized a Christmas party for Ukrainians in the city which also doubled as an integration event. This event was in a much bigger scale.
Among the speakers there were city council representatives, citizens of the city, as well as the founder of the welcome app. It is safe to say the foot count was well above 300 people. The panel was very informative and gave a very welcoming vibe to the attendees. It became more than clear that the city itself is new - founded in 1975. As such, it has a lot more challenges to face compared to cities that have been on the map for much MUCH longer.
Nevertheless, the city, the city council, and the residents do not want to let the age of the city limit what can be done for the Ukrainians residing in here.
It was a very pleasant evening and getting to know the people working hard behind the scenes was nice. They have some amazing plans, among which I'm part of 2, and many more yet to brainstorm and execute. For the first time, after a very long time, I was able to finally talk face to face with the people that have been supporting my initiatives.
We are all on the same page. The best part was I didn't have to waste time introducing myself or remind anyone about the initiatives. Good to put faces to the emails. I believe it is part of the Dutch culture - not wasting too much time on formalities and getting down immediately to the nitty gritty. Since it was a busy evening with all the organzing and last minute changes, I was happy to talk about actions and further planning without wasting too much on formalities.
During the evening we all had the chance to get to know one another. There are plenty of Ukrainians here that never got the chance to socialize. Also, many people have just newly arrived to the city.
There was a special section for the children where they enjoyed creative activities like drawing and painting. For the adults there was a bar, a food stall with Ukrainian borsch, finger food and many stalls with books and leaflets to learn about the city and activities happening around the city.
Since the talk was in Dutch, there were headsets through which the attendees could enjoy the talks being translated to English and Ukrainian language in real-time.
We tried to use the same resources from the last party - the same Ukrainian DJ, the same Ukrainian kitchen, and volunteers. The event closed with a meet and greet session followed by an open dance floor where the attendees had a fun moment to enjoy.