Woonwerkplaats De Kleine Wereld

Woonwerkplaats De Kleine Wereld in Wageningen, located in a former childcare facility, houses a unique foundation. Founded by Pieter Roza and Sandra Labree in 2018, following a large surge in asylum seekers, De Kleine Wereld offered a way to repurpose an abandoned building into apartments for refugees. I spoke with Gerhard and Bert, who have been involved with the project since its beginnings, to talk about the foundation and its distinctive approach to providing working skills and permanent housing to asylum seekers.

Both Gerhard and Bert, who are now board members of De Kleine Wereld, became involved because they believed in the cause of the foundation, in helping people who came from difficult situations. They recall that three years before the official establishment of the foundation, Pieter Roza was already dreaming of a place where status holders would have access to both work experience and housing. The idea was met with widespread support, and the municipality was enthusiastic about the project: Pieter and Sandra were offered a vacant school building. Acquiring funding, however, proved to be a major setback in the process. As renting the building was not an option, the old school had to be purchased, but numerous banks refused to provide a mortgage due to the high-risk profile of the initiative. Eventually, the organisation of Protestant Churches in The Netherlands agreed to grant them a long-term interest-bearing loan, which was to be repaid from rental income. Combined with investments from other organisations and individuals, the funding was finally acquired. Gerhard recalls that the financial obstacles came as a surprise due to the overwhelming support and enthusiasm that the initial idea was met with - it took almost two years to secure enough funding for the project to proceed.

Pieter, the architect of the foundation, made a plan for the building’s renovation - the former classrooms, playroom, and offices would be transformed into six functioning apartments, all of them with two bedrooms, a living room with a kitchen, and a bathroom. The building phase lasted from January 2019 to April 2020 - a professional construction contractor supervised the people working on site. Throughout the process, a job coach guided the workers towards finding jobs in their desired areas, and volunteers coached them in technical skills. Throughout this process, however, they were met with various other challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the original renovation plans, and as the deadline for completing restorations grew nearer, many workers and volunteers were afraid of getting infected. People from the closest network stepped in to help out on weekends to ensure renovations were completed on time. Workers’ concerns over making mistakes proved to be a significant setback as well - oftentimes, after the professional contractor explained the day's tasks and left the site, only a few of them were completed; ultimately, most of the asylum seekers were trained in other fields before arriving in the Netherlands. Yet again, the volunteers’ coaching efforts allowed the plans to move ahead towards successfully handing off the keys to the residents in May of 2020. Nowadays, De Kleine Wereld houses five families and a Dutch resident, who is responsible for assisting the tenants with everyday matters.

Bert and Gerhard believe that the foundation’s original approach is an important integration method for asylum seekers. Being able to build their own houses not only allows them to learn the language, but also to get acquainted with the work traditions in the Netherlands and to work alongside people who come from similar situations. When it comes to the foundation's next steps, Bert and Gerhard hope that De Kleine Wereld serves as an inspiration for similar projects throughout the Netherlands.


More about De Kleine Wereld
www.stichtingdekleinewereld.nl