October 5, 2024|
  • Nederlands

Call first, plan later, only then are you welcome: expats in Meerhoven find it quite difficult to integrate

Do Dutch people and expats live together or alongside each other? In the Woenselse Watermolen district, frustration is growing on the Dutch side, the Eindhovens Dagblad wrote last summer. But is there also hope? Definitely! Bridges are being built in Meerhoven.

Is this the answer to the sorrow of Woenselse Watermolen? It is a sultry evening in September. In Park Meerland, in the heart of Meerhoven, hundreds of residents are sitting criss-cross together. Many Dutch, many Indian. Together they form the audience of the outdoor cinema, where the film “Jumanji” will soon be shown. An initiative of the Residents’ Association Meerhoven.

If only Woenselse Watermolen had such a place where residents could meet each other. Perhaps the conversations would then go beyond politeness and something of a shared feeling would arise. Because no, it was not an optimistic story that the Eindhovens Dagblad brought about the district in July. Things are getting rough in the neighbourhood, where three quarters of the residents are now expats and Dutch people are increasingly feeling like strangers in their own neighbourhood. Time to look for places where things are going better.

Read more on Ed.nl (in Dutch).

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