Netherlands

Emmaus in the Netherlands

Emmaus has had a presence in the Netherlands since the mid-1950s and the movement now has 10 member groups in the country. All these associations are either community structures or shops run by volunteers. The Dutch groups benefit from the support of the national organisation, Emmaus Netherlands.

Origins

In 1955, Jean Wilken, a young Dutch nurse, was a volunteer at the Emmaus Neuilly-Plaisance community. There, he looked after guests at the international youth hostel and meeting place. A Dutch newspaper published an interview with him. On his return to the Netherlands, a reader invited him to tell of his experiences in a parish in Eindhoven.  The following Sunday when the priest spoke of him in a sermon and a collection box went round at the end of the service for Emmaus' work, the amount raised surpassed all expectations. Other churches followed suit, and the organisation of Emmaus Friends was set up in September 1956. People donated clothes, which the organisation sorted through and sent off for initiatives in the third world. In 1958, they launched the magazine Faim & Soif in Dutch. The first Emmaus community in the Netherlands opened its doors in 1966 in Haarzuilens, near Utrecht.

Main Activities

• Welcome, providing accommodation, reintegration
• Collecting, reusing, recycling and selling on objects
• Political campaigning and awareness raising
• Local, european and international solidarity initiatives

Secondary Activities

• Home collection service
• Fixing objects, upcycling
• Emergency welcome
• Solidarity café
• Organic farm/vegetable patch