Children are surprised with a show by a fire breather at the fairytale kickoff of the tenth edition of the KinderVakantieWeek (children’s holiday activities week) in Woensel.
At the entrance of the activity area there are signs with on each panel a visual retrospective of a year. For Ron Krielen this is extra special. “It was a surprise to me, because I didn’t know they were going to do this”, he said. Most of the photos on display were taken by Ron. It is therefore also an overview of his time as a volunteer with the KVW.
Ron takes a special moment to look at one sign. It is the year in which he started, in 2014. You see a group of about 50 children around a big campfire and below that picture is another one of a kind of fire wheel. “There was a resident then who did a game with sparks. This year we’re doing it again with the fire breather”.
KVW provides connection
The first edition was in 2013, but at that time Ron was not there yet. He came to live in the neighbourhood via Trudo housing corporation and felt involved immediately. “Through Trudo I did volunteer work for the neighbourhood and that’s how I came into contact with the activity week for the children. At first it also revolved around residents getting rent reductions if they volunteered in the neighbourhood. It then slowly grew into what it is today”. Especially that connecting factor was a big motivation for him to help out.
This year he is once again making beautiful pictures, but not during the whole event. A replacement is already in place because he finds it difficult to stop completely. Ron will still be here for a few days. “I simply don’t have the time to do all days anymore, but otherwise I would definitely be here more often this week”.
After the morning performance, the children are already busy with activities. In a tent they are busy practicing kung-fu and in the middle of the lawn a group is doing a robot dance during a hip-hop course. Like other years there are two large swimming pools, so in the afternoon they can enjoy splashing around in them.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
