The Community Hub

                          

Jayden who didn't like reading

                              Storytime with The Community Hub

Today on the 12th of January  I woke up really early and headed out to The community Hub. (Yes Manime fans hold your horses, I'll get there. ) The community hub is located in Flora A Ormosia street 22. It is surprisingly easy to find. That is already a big plus point for me after you pass the police station you immediately see a  sign that reads " The community hub".  I walked in looking for my friend Mark. He is the one who invited me, and yes most of you already know him as an artist/book illustrator and even a writer. In the past Zerachiel Mark has even made headlines with his work that he entered into writing contests. He doesn't like to talk much about it and is a very relaxed guy.  Mark volunteers for The community hub and he offered to let me know more about it since I told him about how the movie Idiocracy from 2006 scarred me.  He introduced me to other Volunteers as well.  I can tell you right now how impressed I am with the work they do at The Community Hub.  So we at Story Time decided to do something special. The volunteers at the Community hub love teaching children in a very creative way. In doing the work they love, they create a safe environment for the children who all visit The Community hub. They interact with them and teach the kids to be able to tell their stories. So Just For You the volunteers of The community Hub,I decided to do something special.  I called my friend who owes me a huge favor, and he was glad enough to help me surprise the children and volunteers of The Community hub in a small way.  But before we get to that let me tell you more about The community hub and the amazing work their volunteers do.

 

                                         What is The community Hub?

I already told you where The Community hub is, now you must be wondering what The Community hub is? The first thing you have to understand is that The community hub is more than it might seem. If you think this is an ordinary library in Flora then you are wrong. It serves the purpose of a community center with a dedicated active volunteer basis of 20 people. If you google the word community center you will read on Wikipedia that community centers are public locations where members of the community tend to gather for group activities. The community hub offers its volunteers the freedom to initiate their own projects. Therefore they give community members the opportunity to develop leadership skills and the ability to initiate projects that give back to the community. In other words, they help shape and form young minds so that our future does not involve electrolytes. Pardon for the Idiocracy pun.  The Community hub has a very relaxed vibe, when you walk in you see a set of rules that all the children and adults follow.  The moment you take of your shoes and walk in you indeed do feel relaxed. No wonder that during my entire visit at The community hub it kept getting referred to as the safe zone.  The Community hub first opened up its doors in December of 2016. I spoke to the different project coordinators who volunteer for the community hub about this year's ongoing projects and also their experiences volunteering. In the short time, I spent there I noticed the importance and value of places like this for children. I got to look at it from the volunteer's perspective and also spoke to some of the children at The Community Hub. This of course made me realize that this was a story that storytime had to share from all angles. So I couldn't post this article on the 12th of January,  instead, I have been patiently waiting until today the 3rd   of February. Holding off all the other exciting stories I wrote after my 1st visit to The Community hub.  I have already visited The Community Hub three times since the 12th of January, I participated in some of their activities and most of all I also spoke to the children and parents visiting The Community hub. To be honest I had a lot of fun and right now I do miss going back to The Community hub.  Most of the children and parents I spoke to had no idea I was there to write a blog.

                       What it takes to be a volunteer for The Community hub.

I spoke to Roche Kersout one of the volunteers and project coordinators for The Community hub. He was very friendly and in the confidence of his voice, you could hear that he is very passionate about his work at The Community  Hub.  He has been a coordinator for  six months now.  Roche Kersout says that if you want to be a volunteer for The Community hub you are free to drop by for a conversation. We like to find out what the volunteers are passionate about. That same passion is then transformed into projects for the children who frequently visit The Community Hub.  The ultimate goal is to teach, educate and guide the children. Roche Kersout says that is the reason why their logo is " Lezen is dromen met je ogen open". That's Dutch for reading is dreaming with your eyes open. Their logo is painted on the walls in the library of The Community hub.

                                        

Rohit Sadhoe volunteer at The Community hub

The Community Hub is open for fresh and new ideas that volunteers suggest. That also shows the different clubs they have.  When you finally decide to turn your passion into volunteer work, the Community Hub will invite you to join some of their activities and then you can fill in the registration papers.  The volunteers are trained in skill development and peer to peer conversations. In the end, Roche Kersout says it's all about the children having a place where they can be themselves. You have to give them the freedom to be able to express themselves, and if they don't want to listen we call them to the door. They then get to read the rules we have written down out loud and after that, they already understand and respect the rules". Roche Kersout was eager to make me meet one of the children that frequently visit The Community Hub.  A young boy named Jayden introduces himself. Jayden tells me that he didn't like reading at all until he started coming to The Community Hub. Now he can't get enough of reading. I asked him what makes reading here different? Jayden quickly responded, " It's fun, I get to learn to read while playing interactive games". Roche then explains " We teach the children to read in different ways. We let them decide how they want to read, that way they can explain to us what they understand from the stories.  Sometimes we do see children that have problems at home. When we notice something like that, we try to approach them in a way where they know that The Community Hub will always be a safe place for them".

The Community hub is a place where children are free to express their talents. With proper guidance from the volunteers, they are taught life skills.  Roche Kersout says; "It is important to give the children the freedom to be a kid".

Roche Kersout: " It is important to give the children the freedom to be a kid"

                                     The Community Hub and tutoring. 

The Community Hub also provides tutoring for children between 6 years and 20 years old. I spoke to Sidnyl Kenswil. He has been tutoring children for about 10 years now. In the last 3 months he started working with The Community Hub they have been tutoring children in Maths, Physics, and accounts. Of course, there are many other subjects they help the Children with. Sidnyl Kenswil says " We prefer it if the children come with their parents. Because the parents can explain to us what the child his or her problem is with studying. Sometimes children can't explain so well why it is they are struggling with certain subjects.  When we know what the problem is we can take a positive approach towards the problem. That way we can work on improving the child's study.  Today we had 6 children come in for tutoring. Some come on a regular basis and some come every other week." Sidnyl Kenswil also likes to do motivation sessions for the children. " Yesterday I did a motivation session with one kid who has failure anxiety. I gave her advice on how to deal with it. The Community Hub has some professionals in house. We have 8 people that tutor the kids and some of them have a pedagogical background". I asked Sidnyl if they also facilitate tutoring for children with dyslexia and dyscalculia. " We have 1 child who we tutor with dyslexia, she just recently started.  Sidnyl Kenswil is also one of the coordinators for creative reading. " I think it is important to teach the children creative reading. Because when they can understand what they are reading they tend to do better in school. You have some children that are good at math but because they don't understand so well what they are reading they tend to make mistakes that could lead to bad results in school.  We do have some resources to tutor the children. Right now we have 1 table and 7 yellow chairs".  Not enough you might think that is also the reason why Sydnyl says that they tutor the children in groups throughout the day.   The Community hub provides tutoring for children attending G.L.O, V.O.J, and V.O.S schools ( elementary to high school).

                                                       The Hub Kidz.

The Hub Kidz is a club for children where they get together to learn new languages. I asked Hub Kidz coordinator and volunteer Jetro Anches to tell me more about The Hub Kidz. "  The Hub kidz is a club where the children get to do activities and self-expression. We also teach children languages like Dutch, Sranang tongo Spanish and English.  Every month we have a theme and this month our theme is to make your own superhero.  We let the children work out their own superheroes and the values their superhero stands for.  They get to decorate their own superhero. At The Community Hub, we like to communicate with the children so that they can tell us what they like.  If one of the Children comes up to me and talks to me in Spanish, English, Dutch, or Sranang Tongo I have to respond in the language that they talk to me.  But we also like to learn from the Children. I don't know all the languages yet. There is a little Brazilian boy he taught me some Portuguese phrases and I keep learning from him".  Jetro Anches clearly likes doing volunteer work for The Community Hub. I asked Jetro what makes him like volunteering for The Community Hub? " I get to do what I am passionate about.  I always wanted to share my knowledge with other people.  Volunteering for The Community Hub gives me space and tools to do so with these children. They even give me a small fund to buy arts and craft materials for the children. We have good teamwork going on here at The Community". Jetro Anches says he has a natural passion for languages and he credits his family for that. " I have a lot of Dutch teachers in my family and ever since I was a kid I was a bookworm. I love reading especially English books".  Jetro mostly works with children between the age of 6 and 12 years but the Hub Kidz has an even younger member.  " 4-year-old Toshiro is very bright, he is never ashamed to speak up ad he picks up new words fast. Communicating with the children only ensures that we at The Community hub have a bond of trust with the children that visit The Community Hub". Jetro says that right now he is the only one coordinating The Kidz hub but there are 8 other ladies who are interning at the moment. He would love to learn more and new languages but his volunteering work for The Community Hub takes away most of his time.

Jetro Anches coordinator Hub Kidz  

Children playing interactive games

                                             The Gentleman's hub.

After my conversation with Jetro Anches, Roche Kersout introduced me to another coordinator and volunteer Rohit Sadhoe.  Rohit was previously occupied with creative reading in a quiet room full of children. I got to take a sneak peek when Roche Kersout was giving me a tour of The Community Hub. You can really see that the children are very focused on the story. They each got a turn to read out of a book. I didn't want to disturb him at that moment so when Roche introduced us I immediately grabbed my chance to find out more about The Gentleman's hub from Rohit Sadhoe.  Rohit told me that " The Gentleman's hub is a club for young men between the age of 13 and 45 years old. We teach the young men what it is to be a gentleman. This project has been going on for longer than a month now.  The Gentleman's hub is all about teaching men to be in their own comfort zone. Growing up boys are often told that they aren't allowed to express their emotions.  We do psychology sessions with the members of The Gentleman's hub and motivation nights. They are also taught about role models, sports, and self-defense".  Yes, you read that right, apparently, Rohit Sadhoe  is a member of the Krav Maga academy. That makes it easier for him to teach kids to kick ass, of course for self-defense cases.  The Gentleman's Hub also teaches young men how to dress.  When they have an activity the Gentlemen wear a neat polo shirt with long pants. If they are going out they wear a suiting polo shirt with jeans.  I asked Rohit what he would advise people who want to volunteer for The Community hub? "  You have to witness it for yourself first. Come by to The Community Hub and witness some of our activities. Only then can you ask yourself if volunteering is something you want to do".

Rohit Sadhoe during creative reading with the children of the community hub.

February the 1st was the launch of The gentleman's hub. Below are some pictures of their launch. Of course, all of these photos with The Community hub their logo on it come from another talented volunteer. So a shout out to Konsensi''s photography.  Be sure to like their Facebook page.

                                                     The Book Club.

When I finished talking to Rohit my friend Mark called me on the side. " I forgot to tell you about The book club".   Of course, The Community Hub also serves as a library. Everywhere you turn you see a book. There is something to read for everyone. Mark has been volunteering for The Community Hub since May 2018. While sorting books on the shelves Mark told me all about the book club. " Book Club is organized once a month, this month the book club gets together on the 25th of January.  In Book Club, we discuss different kinds of books. How the reader experiences the story. We introduce the children to analytical reading. This month the discussion will be about " Het achterhuis van Anne Frank" ( The Diary of Anne Frank for my foreign readers). There is a list with literature to go through for the next 10 months. 

                                                      The Girls Hub.

Of course, The Community Hub also has a club for girls.  Risma Bissesar was happy to tell me all about it. "  The Girls Hub is all about female empowerment. We get together every Thursday of the week. This Thursday we will be doing a modeling workshop for the girls". To find out more about the Girls Hub Risma suggested introducing me to another volunteer.

Boujoura Hasselbaink

So I visited The Community hub for a third time to have a conversation with Boujoura Hasselbaink . 
She was already expecting me so the moment I sat down she already came over to introduce herself. A very energetic personality, you can clearly tell that she already feels at home in The Community Hub despite only being a volunteer for three months. Boujoura explained to me that when she was just volunteering here she grabbed the opportunity to create her own platform. And that is how she became coordinator of the Girls Hub. She and Marcelino Geldorp are both coordinators of the Girls Hub. They just started with the Girls Hub this January and so far they are doing a great job. " The Girls Hub is for girls between 13 and 19 years old.  We are all about empowering women, we do that by organizing different sessions, motivational seminars, and workshops. We get together every third Thursday of the month between 5pm and 7 pm. During each sessions, we work with 15- 20 girls". I asked Boujoura why she thinks it is important to be a part of the Girls Hub? " When you join the Girls Hub you get to learn new things. You get to know yourself a little bit better. We teach kids to keep believing in themselves and to never give up on their goals. Being a volunteer has its nice and not so nice moments. But is indeed a chance to influence important life decisions. So that the youth can make good choices. We have to have a positive influence on them". Boujoura also thinks that this is a good reason to be a volunteer for The Community Hub. " I hope that the people who decide to join The Community Hub come to join my team. There is plenty of work to do with The Girls Hub. It is a safe place where you be yourself". When I heard Boujoura say that at the end of our interview I understood why these are the exact same words that all of the children and volunteers of The Community Hub use to describe this place. A woman suddenly walked up to us, she was apparently there to pick up her children. She had mistaken me for a volunteer and told me " I love the work you guys do here, you do a lot for the children. This is good work". Of course, I had to explain to her that I wasn't a volunteer there. So I pointed her towards Boujoura as I made my exit out of The Community Hub. Just so I could finish this story for the readers". Below you will find pictures of one of The Girls Hub activities that Risma had told me about.  Read on for Manime Club!

                                                     The Manime club.

Risma Bissesar Manime Club Coordinator 

Risma Bissesar has been volunteering for The Community Hub since August 2018.  She coordinates The Manime club, yes manga, and anime lovers this is the moment you have been patiently waiting for.  Manime is a clever combination of the word Anime and Manga.  Anime is a popular term used for Japanese cartoons and animation movies.  But in Japan, the word is used to describe all kinds of cartoons and animations, no matter what the origin country is. Shout out to my readers in Japan.  Manga and Anime mostly go hand in hand.  That is because when Manga becomes popular it mostly gets turned into Anime. For example on of my personal favorites Hero Academia. No spoilers please I'm behind. It was a manga that is what the Japanese call a comic story, when it grew popular they made an anime from it.  The Manga Anime ( Manime) club first started with 4 kids according to Risma Bissesar. " Mark and I use to have intense discussions about anime. While volunteering for The Community Hub we noticed that some of the children had an interest in Anime as well. We held our first focus group meeting with 4 children and we improvised on day one. We sat down with them and asked them what rules they wanted for Manime club. They came with their own ideas and expectations for Manime club.  When it came to introductions I told the children to introduce themselves with their name and Nindo". For the readers who aren't familiar with Naruto, Nindo means the Ninja way. It is a personal rule that each shinobi lives by. It is their way of life, motto, or even dream. Naruto his Nindo is to never go back on his word.  Risma Bissesar says it is about the core values. " Some children say their Nindo is about becoming a firefighter or becoming the greatest animator in the world.  We like to encourage the children to keep those dreams because the older you become the more dreams fade away. We keep the children motivated to stay true to their Nindo. The Manime club gathers 4 times a month. Mostly on Thursdays, right now we have about 12 children. 7 of them show up frequently. Depending on the number of people present we mostly start around 4:30 pm. After watching an anime we have discussions about the anime we watched. We ask the kids what they learned from the anime and what part they like about it. This helps them work on their debating skills. They know that this is a safe space to watch the anime they like. During Manime club they get to learn Japanese words as well. "One time I was teaching the children about Hisashiburi, that is Japanese for a long time no see. I asked the Children to name something they haven't seen in a while. One of the children raised his hand and said that he didn't see his father in a long time. Then 2 other children told him that they haven't seen their father in a long time as well. It made the kid realize that he wasn't the only one without a present father figure. They know that this is a safe place for them to share their feelings. And after that, the discussion continues. The children love discussing anime. One time we started late and I thought we could skip the discussion. One of the kids was immediately disappointed and said that he came for the discussion. So we had to do the discussion. After that, we started doing Anime movie night for the older anime nights, because there was an interest in it". Risma Bissesar told me full of excitement about what Manime club stands for." One time a kid even came with his own action figures".  Of course, they have a lot of other projects planned out. But don't you think that is a story for another time?

                                                   Anime Movie Night. 

Of course, I had to see some of these activities myself so I went to Manime night with a friend of mine. I asked him to help me bake some cookies and hook up something nice for Manime Night. Since he owes me a huge favor he kindly agreed. Naturally, it would not be an Anime Night if I can't dress upright? So Yes I did dress up.

Feel free to dress up when visiting Manime club

When my friend and I arrived the kids were very friendly to greet us. They kept asking if we were new Manime members and made us feel very comfortable. They were all so nice but none of them had any idea that we were there undercover for this blog. 17-year-old Xaviera rushed over to introduce herself, well she is almost 17. She is a Pisces and a frequent Manime club visitor. I asked her if she comes to Manime club every time? " I never miss a night and I wouldn't know what to do if I do miss a Manime night. " Xaviera already knows what she wants to become, she wants to be a voice actor for a Japanese Anime.  Who knows maybe one of my Japanese readers can hook her up? Xaviera certainly convinced us to keep coming back for more Manime night. Before the movie started my friends and I decided to do a small donation for The Community Hub. It may not be much but a little goes a long way. And we could clearly tell that everyone enjoyed it.  We got the chance to see the action figures ourselves and laying down in a safe relaxed place we enjoyed the movie. This kid even came up to me and offered me some of his snacks. He figured someone might as well share with those who donated. It made me smile, thanks Kid I appreciate it.  But that was it for this edition of Storytime, let me know in the comments what you think about The Community Hub. Be sure to keep an eye out for more articles. For the rest let's let the pictures do the talking about Manime night, for young and for old.