Eindhoven News elaborated on the services of the Holland Expat center South (HECS) in Part 1. You can read that here.
In Part 1 you could appreciate the various services offered by the HECS and here in part 2, you can continue to read about the role of HECS in other aspects of the necessities of the expat population.
Education and the HECS
Kris (the manager of the Holland Expat Center South) asserts, “Education is an important aspect of an expat family’s needs”. That is why Kris is part of an initiative that provides bilingual curriculum in regular schools. There are currently two local schools, Wereldwijzer and Slingertouw, which especially cater to the needs of the expat children. The English section of the websites makes the parents understand the school better to start with. HECS together with the International school Eindhoven aim to internationalise a few select regional schools.
On being quizzed “what are your favourite moments that you recall in your experience with the expat children?”, Kris says that there are many. He remembers helping a child to find the right basketball club. Kris cannot forget that shy thankful smile on the little boy’s face when the family had stopped by to thank Kris and he adds that life is about appreciating these simple innocent moments.
Other services
On a lighter note, I ask Kris, “Does the expat center have something to offer the locals?” Kris surprises, “There is a new service for people living in the Netherlands but working in neighbouring countries and vice versa. The HECS provides information on taxes, pension, insurance and SVB for the benefit of this section of the cross-border workforce. SVB is the organisation that implements national insurance schemes in the Netherlands.
I ask Olivia about her thoughts on what the HECS needs to accelerate its growth rate. She ponders and says “maybe more personnel and a bigger budget, but at the moment, we are doing fine”.
The diverse cultural atmosphere
The major nationalities found in the books of the HECS are the Turkish, Iranian, Indian, Chinese and American other than the EU countries. The team certainly agrees that they are not only happy to make people feel welcome but also enjoy the multiculturalism and the internationalism.
For Eindhoven News: Beena Arunraj
