Tjeenk's Zone
Botanische Tuin Afrikaanderwijk 2016

Welkom to Tjeenk's Zone

Volunteering
Nederlands
Eerste plaatje vrijwilligen

From the past to the present

 Some time ago I started volunteering. First at a botanical garden, later also at a shelter for homeless people. Then there came a long period of paid employment, and once this ended I started volunteering at a thrift store.
I couldn't quite find my place there so I decided to look for other things. While looking for other stations I noticed, that more and more sites require you to make an account to even apply to jobs. You can probably guess it.. not a fan.


So I decided to start as an entrepreneuring volunteer. The plan was to do voluntary yard-work in the neighborhood. Since the experience did not match the expectation, it was back to the drawing-board.

Finding my place

 After walking in the local community center there was an immediate. Connection, I was digging the vibe, ant the hostess gave me the feeling she was digging me. So there was some perspective.

 She told me they where looking for a gardener, and I fitted that picture, so I stepped up.


There were times things went a bit slow and I urged for more, so I picked up a voluntary cooking position at another community center, however gardening remains the main venue.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Willow Dome in the Making

The result

So after some time there was an introduction in the garden and things started rolling. The willows had not been knotted for about two years, so that was the first big project.


After the willows came the disposal of sand which had stacked up quite a bit. After that things kept coming naturally, and I tried to deal with them best as I can.


Now the first veggies have been harvested and flowers rose and fell. The level where I'm at now is mostly maintenance. This gives a chance to connect more with the community. You can track the progress here.


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