Sing your lungs out together, drink a cup of coffee or do crafts. It may sound corny, but nothing could be further from the truth. At ‘Beautiful Connection’, founded by Antoinette Vrijsen, things are going crazy. The Eindhoven women’s club has grown from 15 to 80 members in a short time.
Activities
This week the ladies received lessons from a singing coach. Dutch song lyrics appeared on a screen, one after another, while the participants sang along at the top of their lungs. “Singing is not that difficult”, laughs Bep Jacobs. “And if you can’t keep a tune, you won’t hear it with such a large group”.
Blank space
One of those retired women is Wilma Mulder. She stopped working and ended up in a blank space. “I have always said that when I retire, I will put my walking shoes besides the back door. I also take a walk every day, but then you still have a long part of the day left. Then this activity is very nice to go to. To go out and get to know other people”.
History
Antoinette could not have imagined that the group would become so large. She came up with the idea while she was still working in a nursing home. “And there I saw a lot of people who didn’t know what to do. And that gave rise to my idea to connect ladies. Lonely ladies, people who work and those who don’t work”. The club has workshops, talks or coffee mornings twice a month.
For the time being, these will only be ladies. “The men are not allowed to be there, unfortunately”, says the founder firmly. “They can also set up a club themselves, but that usually doesn’t happen.” So for the time being, only women’s voices will be heard in this community centre.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Seetha
