With pink balloons and a buffet of dishes from all over the world, expat women celebrated the fifth anniversary of their club, International Creative Women, at the Muziekgebouw. A club that is growing like crazy.
It started in 2019 as a small club of women who supported each other by doing creative things together. Now International Creative Women has 350 members with a lot of different nationalities, a building behind Stratumseind and its own annual sales fair. “And that was during the census in July. Now there are probably even more” says Sally Ocana, one of the founders of the club who trained as an interior designer in Colombia. ”We also do projects with companies and organize fundraising events. We more or less sustain ourselves.”
The club aims to make expat women feel at home and prevent them from feeling lost, or lonely. Often the members are highly educated, had a great career in their home country but stopped doing so in order to move with their husbands. That often makes integration more difficult, Sally knows. “We have scientists among us, lawyers, geologists and chemists. All of them are forced to stop working. They become isolated, lose their self-confidence and don’t have their own money. It is really a difficult situation. Having your own little network then helps tremendously.”
Philippines
Michelle Nocom, born in the Philippines but emigrated from Shanghai with husband and daughter, is one of the guests at the party. “I came here this spring. I am lucky that my husband is Dutch and has family here. That already makes quite a difference.” Still, Michelle finds the process of adjusting quite difficult at times. “What do people find important here, how do they live? The culture and the language, those are the most important things. I can get by now, because a lot of people are kind enough to speak English with me. But eventually I will also have to learn Dutch to really get by here.”
Nocom has already benefited greatly from the club of international women during her months in the Netherlands. “You do have your own little network. I am very grateful to them for that. And look around you, how nice the atmosphere is here. SO many different nationalities together. I really feel like I live in a vibrant city.”
Resources
International Creative Women received a small contribution from the Municipality of Eindhoven to get started. To grow, the association needs more resources. It is still unclear how that can be financed.
Source: Studio040.nl
Transalted by: Anitha Sevugan
