Roots Guide Community

the first meet-up

Utrecht, 17 Nov 2018. A small cozy room tucked away in the heart of Utrecht with walls decorated with vibrant art, windows adorned with blue patterned curtains and the air full with the delicious aroma of freshly prepared Syrian cuisine, became host to the first of many get-togethers of an incredible community.

The Roots Guide is envisioned as a noved guidebook to the Netherlands for local resident to take an inner and outer journey in order to realize the essence of migration and celebrate the diversity this land has to offer. After interviewing almost 80 people across the country on their stories of migration and movement, the core team of Rehab, Daan, Hamzah and Ingi teamed up with Meghann from the University of Wageningen to help curate all the rich content into a guide book with 60 stories.

But the task of further developing the book is not limited to this core team. With the purpose of involving the contributors of the stories and building not only a tool but a community , the team organized the first ever meet-up where all the contributors interviewed were invited to get to know each other, to share their experiences of storytelling, and to understand how they can contribute in this journey going forward. The program was hosted by Steven, whose interesting story about moving from the city of Amsterdam to a quaint Dutch village in Zeeland he now calls home, is featured in the book as a prime example of exactly how far the boundaries of migration can stretch.

The day started on a relaxed note with everyone trying to get to know each other as part of the Human Bingo game. The objective was to  find another person with certain qualities or quirks and this immediately ensured interactions around the room. Steven hosted a round of introductions and quick discussions on what expats in the Netherlands find strange about the Dutch culture (toilets and herring!!), but then lunch was ready and no one could wait to sample the incredible dishes prepared by Zeinab from De Voorkamer. The lovely spiced vegetarian and non-vegetarian rice dishes with salad, dips and Lebanese bread made for a hearty and wholesome meal complementing the occasion. Some of the contributors also took this opportunity to share their experiences on storytelling and their future hopes for the book.

Since the book is a window into the lives of people from diverse cultures, it was indeed a difficult task to predict whether people would be willing to share their stories in the first place. One of the contributors Sami who moved from Haven to the Netherlands 7 years ago, perfectly captured the basic unspoken rule of storytelling that made people comfortable enough to share their journeys during their interviews:

“Telling a story is always a powerful experience, because the first thing you look for when you shares something personal with a stranger, is trust. You need to trust the person listening to you. It’s not just a story, you are sharing your personality and a bit of your life with someone“.

A second challenge while interviewing for the book was to overcome the mindset that some stories are less important than others because the journey was relatively easier. More often than not we only think of refugees when we think of the word

 migration. The whole idea of the guidebook is to change that notion. 

“At first I was really awkward because people had such inspiring stories of fleeing and making a life for themselves in a different country and culture, so I thought what can a privileged German student here really contribute to the book”, said Mila who moved from Germany 4 years ago to do her Master’s degree in the Netherlands. “But in the process, I realized how important it is to share your story. My hope for the book is that it will be able to change this perception and make people realize that migration is a continuous chapter in the history of human evolution. And the story of every journey is important, every struggle is inspirational.”

This thought was reinforced by the core team in a post lunch Q&A session where some important  milestones for the book were discussed. The launch is planned for late Autumn 2019 as there is still a considerable amount of work to be done in bringing the stories and pictures to life in a cohesive and meaningful manner. And this is where it became essential to bring back the contributors and involve and encourage them to further collaborate on the next steps. Keeping this in mind, the core team organized a carousel of activities where each team of contributors were asked to give their ideas and opinions on certain aspects of the book.

As the day drew to an end, amidst all the activities, the teams bustling from one station to another and sharing an incredible cake made by contributor Madina, it was heartwarming to see the synergy between the people who together made this distant vision a reality. The feeling of being united for a shared purpose was palpable in the room. De Voorkamer came alive with laughter, reminiscence and hope for the incredible impact the book is about to create. And this first step taken to bring the Roots Guide community together is momentous as in this extraordinary journey, the only way to go far, is to walk together.