Abdul woonde met zijn gezin ongeveer 16 maanden in de Osse vluchtelingenopvang. In die tijd was Abdul actief in de Bewonersraad als vertegenwoordiger van de Arabisch sprekende mensen in de opvang. Inmiddels is Abdul verhuisd naar Cuijk, maar hij is nog regelmatig in Oss. Want, zegt hij: “wherever they move me I belong to Oss”.
I belong to Oss.
Wherever they move me I belong to Oss, actually I wasn’t born in Netherlands. but I was born again in Oss, that’s what I have been feeling and still feel after having lived in Oss, really that is what Thuis in Oss has made me feel.
I know that life is hard and sometimes life is not fair, don’t worry it’s normal it’s not going to be perfect all the time.
Indeed, Thuis in Oss has become a successful model to follow, as it combines the spirit of humanity and the quality of work, and not just the application of laws, and this great achievement should be circulated to the organizations and associations responsible for refugees.
Working with refugees requires a spirit of volunteerism. You need to feel them before you feed them. You need to listen to them without them having to speak. They did not come here without a reason. Each one of them carries many stories, memories and pains.
The lives of many refugees tended to be white before the war, but it certainly became black with the war, and very few of them returned to life as how white life was for them, and they are the lucky ones to have been able to arrive in the Netherlands, and the luckiest ones arrived in Oss.
So, wherever they move me: I belong to Oss.
