August 2014 by ACCESS Volunteer Resources

NEWSLETTER

August 2014

ACCESS On The Move In August ACCESSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; new home at Laan Van Meerdervoort 70

Inside this issue: Volunteer Feature: Magdalini Zografou

Volunteer Feature: Sunita Marwaha

Amaze Yourself!

A Visit to Normandy by Thais Pagani

Communications

Brief

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ACCESS Departments Executive Director Deborah Valentine access.executivedirector@gmail.com

Office Manager Qin Cai manager@access-nl.org

Cancerlink Aine Campbell campbell@wxs.net

CSN Counseling Services Network Brenda Couture csn@access-nl.org

CSD Computer Services John Pellet csd@access-nl.org

CEB Baby Courses Sylvia Kiwanuka / Bintou Keita Maria Krawcyk (Amsterdam/Utrecht) ceb@access-nl.org

CED Community Education Christine Fischer ced@acces-nl.org

Communications Carina Hyllested communications@access-nl.org

E-Zine Editor Sally Squirrell editor@access-nl.org

Volunteers’ Newsletter Editor Sujin Chan-Allen editaccess@gmail.com

ACCESS Guides Madhavi Mistry-Ajgaonkar access.guides.coordinator@gmail.com

Webmaster Monica Meier-Bahl webmaster@access-nl.com

Social Media Matt Rees socialmedia@access-nl.org

Finance Tarek Khalil Ullah fin@access-nl.org

THD Helpdesk Manager Magdalini Zografou thd@access-nl.org

THD Zeestraat Coordinator Antonio Gutierrez guti.antonio@hotmail.fr

THD Training Coordinator Nuria Garcia Saorin training.thd@gmail.com

THD Atrium Coordinator Annelies Ras annelies.ras@denhaag.nl

“Welcome to The Hague” Project Coordinator Aldo Rodriguez

IRD Co-Managers Heiner Pierenkemper / Arto Salojarvi ird@access-nl.org

VRD Volunteer Resources Manager Neha Khanna vrd@access-nl.org

Relationship Management Team TBA fnd@access-nl.org

PR/Marketing - Event Management Roy Lie prd@access-nl.org

Community Liaison Officer Jane Meijer-Zhang Community.liaison@access-nl.org

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Editor’s Note

Dear Colleagues,

After a year of being with ACCESS, it is alas time for me to bid you all farewell. I have tremendously enjoyed the experience of being your newsletter editor as it has allowed me privileged insights into the working of the organization as insider participation in the hustle and bustle of the The Hague’s expat community.

Thank you very much for the wonderful opportunities to co-operate in making ACCESS a vibrant and useful community resource for newcomers and longtimers alike.

Please join me in extending a warm welcome to your new editor, Anne Craig!

Have a wonderful rest of the summer and enjoy ACCESS’ hip new home on Laan van Meerdervort 70!

Sujin Chan-Allen Editor

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Volunteer Feature: Magadalini Zografou “I started a food-blog four years ago and through it discovered a love of food photography and writing: http:// mylittleexpatkitchen. blogspot.nl/ ”

Hello all! I am Magdalini Zografou and I’m currently working as the ACCESS Helpdesk Department Manager. I’m from Athens, Greece and moved to the Netherlands with my also Greek boyfriend seven years ago. My first encounter with ACCESS was two months after arriving in The Hague when I visited the international center at City Hall. I didn’t realize at the time that those working there were volunteers and it took me a few years to discover the organization, but when I did, I immediately wanted to join. I became an ACCESS volunteer in September 2012 and apart from meeting many wonderful and inspiring people from all over the world and feeling part of a team, ACCESS has helped me to practice my skills and learn new ones. My studies are in Psychology, however for the most part, I’ve worked in banking and for multinational companies. I’m also a musician; I started playing the piano at the age of six but later realized that

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singing was my calling. I’ve contributed music to several Greek films and when I was living in Greece I was in a band, performing regularly at clubs. Being creative is very important to me and I constantly seek outlets for my creativity. I’ve always loved cooking, so in an attempt to share my culinary adventures, I started a food -blog four years ago and through it discovered a love of food photography and writing: http://mylittleexpatkitchen.blogspot.nl/ I’ve also had the pleasure to contribute recipes/articles in the ACCESS E-zine. For the past couple of years, the idea of starting my own business, either offering cooking workshops or catering, has been on my mind and I hope in the future I get to realize my dreams. Life is purposeful when you have goals and dreams, isn’t it? I hope you all get to make yours come true! Finally, I’d like to share with you a photograph of the beautiful Greek Aegean Sea taken last October when I was vacationing in my country. I wish you all a great summer, filled with blue seas!

Volunteer Feature: Sunita Marwaha

Counting My Blessings My name is Sunita Marwaha and I have been living in The Hague since March 2013. I am currently working in ACCESS in the CED and IRD Departments. I was born in India and this is not my first expat experience as I have already lived in the Dubai for eight years. When I left India for the first time I had to adjust to the new Gulf life style, leave behind the colourful and vibrant Mumbai (Bollywood) and embrace life in a futuristic, systematic & fast paced Dubai. My life was between air conditioned-home to car to office. I was literally breathing artificial air all the time. I was living with all the possible luxuries, but had no time to enjoy life. One fine day, my husband and I decided to give this lifestyle a break and venture into the possibility of living a natural life, and then before realizing it we had already landed here in The Netherlands. The change was even more radical... I discovered the bike after almost fifteen years; I could actually circulate freely in the city by bike without having to rely on the car every day. I discovered the refreshing air of Scheveningen where children play, moms chat and dogs frolic around. The pretty cafĂŠs that line the streets and the joys of DIY - yes because here you are expected to do all the fixing your house requires by yourself, an alien concept from the country I am coming from... I finally started understanding and relating to the fluctuating weather of this country. After being born and living in hot countries for so long I have an unbelievable inclination towards rainy, cloudy (Dutch gloomy) weather. Believe it or not but those are the most insightful and cheerful days I had in this country. I along with my seven yr. old son are keeping our fingers crossed to see snow someday soon... Finally, I met the best people here and made some very close friends. I finally realize the concept of enjoying small moments of life! Yes definitively our move to the Netherlands has been a positive one; I feel enriched and count my blessings every day.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Sunita Marwaha 5 ACCESS Newsletter August 2014

Arabic Culture Workshop: By Genoveva Geppaart

On a sunny Monday morning, 23 June, six volunteers gathered in the conference room for an introduction to Arabic culture by Khaled Khaled, our ACCESS trainer on this subject. The six volunteers were Brenda, Fontemaria, Marian, Marlene, Qin and Genoveva. In about 1,5 hours we learned a lot about Arabic culture. Too much to tell here, but just some highlights. There are 26 Arabic countries in the MiddleEast and North Africa. Many of these countries have Arab as language (or one of its five dialects). The Arab language is a semetic language, like Hebrew, i.e. words are deducted from the verb. In Arabic culture music, dance, calligraphy and other forms of arts are very important. Think e.g. about the famous carpets, hands painted with henna and belly dance. Internet (social media!) and satellite dish make it possible for people in Arabic countries to get information about what is going on in other parts of the world and to get in touch with each other. The influence of this also led to the Arab Spring.

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When you visit an Arabic country it is very helpful if you can speak a few words Arab. According to Mr. Khaled this will open the hearts of the Arabic people and the price of whatever you want to buy will be reduced. When talking about the position of women, it appeared that according to the Quran, women have the same rights as men. However, the mentality of men makes that women are oppressed in many Arabic countries and considered as inferior to men. We need to realise that in the Western world it is only one or two generations ago that women were not expected to study, lost their job when they got married, had to promise obedience to their husband and were expected to stay at home looking after the children and doing the household. There is a lot to learn about Arabic

culture and about Arabic language. After the summer holidays Mr. Khaled will give a free workshop (about 1,5 hours) for ACCESS volunteers. More details will be sent by VRD when available. If you want to learn more about Arabic culture, the Arabic language and/or calligraphy, you can follow one or more courses with Mr. Khaled. More information is available on his website www.arabisch.nu. If you have any questions, feel free to email him on k.khaled@hcc.net.

Amaze Yourself! By Maria Krawczyk I would like to introduce you to and David, who have decided to ous jobs to start up a new event Events has opened up in August since! A-Maze is an event center cape games. The idea standing but it already has been proven Europe and around the world. difficult to determine. The most have brought it to The Hague.

two young Hungarian professionals, Adam follow their passion and quit their prospercenter in The Hague. A-Maze Escape last year and it has been successful ever where you can play unique live room esbehind it is quite new in The Netherlands successful in many different cities in Where it originally comes from is quite important is that those 2 talented guys

So how does it work? After you basic rules have been explained, specially designed rooms. Each of dles to be solved, codes to be are in the room, the door locks, minutes to search the room and cracked code or opened locker final key and escaping the room.

are welcomed in the lounge and some you enter one of the two (soon three) those rooms is filled with puzzles and ridcracked and keys to be found. Once you the clock starts and you have exactly 60 find clues to solve the riddles. Every brings you one step closer to finding the

There are different themes in every room and this means that every room can be treated as a separate experience. You can join a group of spies and infiltrate a secret KGB hideout or, in case you are looking for something more modern, you can try to unravel an Urban Legend. Do you think that it sounds scary? Don’t worry, you do not have to do it alone! The games are designed for groups of 2-7 people. Also the game is purely designed to serve as a great team building experience and there is absolutely no scary effects involved. The only adrenaline rush you will get, comes from bonding with your teammates and experiencing something fresh and unusual. What about my own experience? I already don’t remember how I found the website of Amaze Escape but I liked the idea from the very beginning and there was simply no turning back! I booked one of the rooms and on one Sunday afternoon I went there together with my partner and his siblings. The experience was great! With some help from Adam and David we managed to escape the room 3 minutes before the time has run out. The common goal to escape the room helped us to work together and become a great team. And the feeling when you open the door to the outside world is priceless! The game is well thought through and very well organized. We were treated very professionally and friendly from the moment we arrived till us saying goodbye. We liked it so much that I offered some help and worked there for some time and my partner has recently comeback for a teambuilding experience with his colleagues. Currently A-Maze Escape can offer you Urban Legend. The plan for the end of called Crazy Doctor’s Experiment. Defi-

two unique rooms to book: KGB and June 2014 is to open the third room nitely the number one on my “to do” list!

And you don’t have to go far! A-Maze Central Station in The Hague ing of Ministry of Economy. The center is Fri) or 12 am (Sat-Sun).

Escape is located 2 minutes’ walk from (Bezuidenhoutseweg 30) in an old buildopen 7 days a week from 10 am (Mon-

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Noticeboard Departmental Reports – June/July 2014 THD – Magdalini Zografou Six new Helpdesk volunteers joined the team in June: Barbara, Lyana, Tejashri, Adugna, John and Anca. We had two presentations at the June Helpdesk meeting:

•

Teresa Moynihan (career consultant) gave a presentation about career development and job hunting.

Marlene Burns (Powertalk international) gave a presentation on effective speaking. Zeestraat Helpdesk : Antonio has worked tirelessly to ensure 100% coverage of the Zeestraat Helpdesk and finding buddies for the new volunteers. This has been particularly challenging this past month as we have many experienced volunteers on vacation or moving to other departments/THIC. Thanks Antonio. The Hague International Centre: Three members of the Zeestraat team moved to THIC this month: Vera, Ana Maria and Ingrid. As always, Annelies and the THIC volunteers have ensured that we achieved 100% coverage of the THIC ROTA. Thank you to Annelies and the team. THD Training: Thanks to Nuria and the training team for organising the training sessions for the new volunteers. Thanks also to all the volunteers who have been buddies at Helpdesk. OAD / Office Manager – Qin CEB (Bintou & Maria) – The Hague: doing well so far. June/July course had 11 couples, August/September has 10 couples confirmed, September/October course has 7 couples registered and 5 paid. Rotterdam : August/September course has 2 couples registered. Amsterdam: For August 4 couples registered and paid, for September 1 couple paid, and for Amstelveen in August so far 1 couple registered and paid. Utrecht: For September, 2 couples registered and paid, for October 2 couples registered and paid. We are still waiting for confirmation of a classroom at the international school in Utrecht. ‘Welcome to The Hague’ 3rd Edition of 22 September 2014 – All invites will be sent out in the beginning of August. City Presentations project – Still looking for volunteers who can help with The Hague, Amsterdam etc. CSN promotion – With the help of Helpdesk volunteers, in June we sent out our newly designed CSN flyers to nearly 400 Dutch family doctors in cities and their regions: Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht. Communications – Carina Hyllested/ Christopher an-Traumer Current Projects – Info mapping for website and guides Creating list of keywords to integrate into ACCESS website so that our website shows up as one of the first entries on Google Working on linking our Google + page with our website Maria playing with infographics to a) present information on our website in a more interesting and visually appealing way and b) to interpret our statistics for the purpose of marketing, can be used for fundraising/getting new partners on board Rewriting more concise descriptions on our website for the ACCESS Guides Creating a user manual/presentation for TRELLO project management software. Would like to use it for the editorial team. Perhaps other departments would be interested in using this software as a tool for project collaborations. Looking for a CRM person to manage MailChimp Team: IRD is seeking for new team members. Partners: Updates are being made regularly. Updating DAISY: 102 records (excluding VRD entries) were modified and 16 were added to DAISY in May. Ongoing projects: Expanding daisy is in progress:

CSN – John Pellet Stats for June are as follows: 37,647 Visits 16,580 Unique Visitors (compared to 17,896 in May, a drop) 55.96 Returning Visitors (%) 00:05:51 Ave Time on Site

New projects: “Data Synchronisatin” between Community articles / E- zine and DAISY “Data Synchronisatin” between guides and DAISY “Data Synchronisatin” between other publications and DAISY

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The stats for May are as follows: 39,004 Visits 17,896 Unique Visitors (compared to 17,138 in April, a slight increase) 54.12 Returning Visitors (%)

Noticeboard VRD – Neha Khanna Laura Arismendi, the Deputy Manager of the department shall be soon leaving ACCESS in pursuit of her Master’s Program. With a heavy heart I shall be bidding her Goodbye but of course we all are very happy to see her move ahead in her career. We shall be soon advertising for a vacancy to appoint someone in her place. Departmental Projects Building of more comprehensive statistics with more information to help build the profile of an international volunteer is almost on the face of completion. Working alongside the research department on the feedback for Past volunteers- Submitted and complete Information morning The information morning of May scheduled for Wednesday 11th June resulted in the recruitment of 7 new volunteers. However, one volunteer didn’t show up at training and may join in the September trainings. The next information morning will be held on 10th September. SocialEvents The social event “ACCESS Social Drinks” on 22nd May was a huge success at Het Heden. A lot of new volunteers showed up and it was great to get to know them better and socialize with them. The next “ACCESS Social Drinks ´ event is scheduled for the 24th of September. We have been offered some free tickets/spots and discounts for ACCESS volunteers for below events as part of partnership agreement with ACCESS, in return for listing their events on our website, or as gifts: VRD Statistics as on 30th April Total 1. Sunsation Beach Party Volunteers as of this month 2. 3 Part Course on Arabic Culture, Language and Calligraphy including CED/CEB/CSN: 134 3. Theatrical “Ocean of Story” in Hague Number of volunteers who left during 4. Concert Cleveland Youth Symphony Orchestra & Fanfareorkest St.Caecilia Heemskerk in the month: 1 Amsterdam. Number of Volunteer nationalities as CSN – Brenda Couture of this month: 31 Two new members have been accepted into CSN, another new applicant is in the process of being interviewed and there are three more applicants awaiting interviews. CED – Christine Fischer The addition of the two new members will bring the total number of CSN members to We have two new trainers coming on board: 19. The group received the new CSN promotional flyers which will be going out to Carolyn Vines <coachcarolynvines@gmail.com> doctors’ offices and they also made recommendations of other organizations where the Dora Lucia Neves <dolune@gmail.com> flyers could be sent. CSN statistics were outlined to the group. They were pleased to hear that there was an average of 220 hits per month on the counsellors’ page on the website. The group decided that they would all like to keep their profiles on the ACCESS website, as its how people find information these days, and it’s okay if clients self-select counsellors. A member suggested it might be an idea to adjust the counsellor list from alphabetical to one where clients can more readily see location and specialities of counsellors. The members agreed that the counsellor on-call system should continue even though the volume of phone calls and referrals are minimal ( 2-3 per month) as it’s still a worthwhile service to our clients. The group all felt there should continue to be no limit on the number of counsellors joining the CSN network……most felt the more the merrier! CancerLink – Aine Campbell The next Healthy Eating Cookery Workshop with nutritionist Kyrin Hall and chef Ivo Schellen is planned for Oct, 5th, to mark Breast Cancer Awareness month. The venue will be the Amsterdam Art Center www.amsterdamartcenter.nl ) The facilities include a large commercial kitchen, which is being made available at a reduced rental. The theme will be “Cooking with Superfoods”. We are currently advertising for an ACCESS volunteer who would like to support the work of Cancerlink also. We had one new Cancerlink contact in June. 9 ACCESS Newsletter August 2014

Information Morning rning The next Information mo ber, tem Sep will be held on 10 s eer unt vol n 2014. All potential e attending the informatio or bef D VR t must first contac for volunteering should be morning. Enquiries about nl.org warded to vrd@access-

Noticeboard Social Event: The next social event is the â&#x20AC;&#x153;ACCESS DRINKSâ&#x20AC;? scheduled for 23rd September, Tuesday from 5:00-7:00. The location is still to be decided.

ACCESS OFFICE MOVE! Please be informed that ACCESS office is moving next week. Our office operation will close between Monday, July28 - Friday, August 2, however Helpdesk answering machine and on-call counsellor service will remain open during that week. We will resume all our services on Monday, August 4. Our new office address is: Rooms 105, 107, 109, 1st Floor, Laan van Meerdervoort 70, 2517 AN, The Hague. To enter the building, the intercom system works as the same as the current one at Zeestraat 100 - there is an entry kiosk outside the building, you press the right button to select 'ACCESS'. Then press the bell sign, somebody in ACCESS office will open the gates and let you into the building, then take the lift to 1st floor, you will be encounter with another kiosk, the code to access 1st floor is 6320#, once inside, look for rooms 105 ( for Helpdesk and Office Manger) , 107 and 109 ( for all other departments). If you come by public transport, you can reach the new office address either by bus 24 (get off at stop 'Laan van Meerdervoort') or tram 1 (get off at stop 'Peace Palace') followed by a walk of 3-5 minutes. Our Helpdesk phone number remains: 0900 2222 377, and office phone number remains: 070 345 1700. To mark this exciting event, the management has decided to have an informal drink in our new office premises on Friday, 15:00 - 17:00, August 8. Everybody is welcome if you are still in The Hague then!!!

Cobra Museum From the Guggenheim Collection: International Abstraction 19491960 As the title suggests, this showcases a selection of works from the collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. For the very first time, works from the core collection of midtwentieth century art from this world-renowned institution are on view in the Netherlands. See: www.cobra-museum.nl ACCESS volunteers and partners are offered a 50% discount on the exhibition catalog (English). The exhibition runs until 31 august. For further information, contact: Marion Wolff 06 24510808. marionwolff@hotmail.com

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A Visit to Normandy: By Thais Pagani Normandy 4 day itinerary

Day 1 - A 6 hour drive from The Hague, the first city is called Etratat. Etretat, a romantic open-air theatre overlooking the Channel, has provided inspiration to some of the most illustrious artists, and even a brief visit is enough to understand why. Whether you are aboard a small craft or on the summit of these limestone dignities, you can only marvel at the splendour of a completely unique seascape. Even if the treasure of the Kings of France were hidden somewhere in these mysterious surroundings, legends do not need to be written, here they have their own lives in this setting whose ageless renown has not undermined its wild beauty.

Day 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A 1 Â˝ to 2 hours drive from Etretat you may visit the D-day beaches. One of the most important beach is Omaha Beach, commonly known as Omaha, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II. Taking Omaha was to be the responsibility of United States Army troops, with sea transport and naval artillery support provided by the U.S. Navy and elements of the British Royal Navy. Near by Omaha beach is Pointe Du Hoc, a major site in the history of the battle of Normandy. Carefully preserved, this site shows visitors the layout of a battery of artillery (with its blockhouses, observation post, shelters, trenches and anti-aircraft platforms) all highlighting the intensity of combat. 11 ACCESS Newsletter August 2014

A Visit to Normandy: By Thais Pagani Day 3 – 1 ½ to 2 hours drive from Omaha beach is Mont Saint Michel. The Mont-Saint-Michel is an international place of pilgrimage as well as a major tourist centre. The different stages of its construction have created a unique architectural ensemble which was classified as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1979. It is believed that Aubert, Bishop of d'Avranches, founded a sanctuary on Mont-Tombe, after 3 successive appearances by the Archangel Michael. Consecrated in 709, the church has attracted both the curious and pilgrim from all over the world ever since. After having been made into a prison from the time of the French Revolution up until the time of the Second Empire, the Abbey became the responsibility of the Historical Monuments Department in 1874. Since 1969 the Abbey has been home to a monastic community, ensuring the continuation of a spiritual presence. Rightly called "The Wonder of the Western World", the Mont-Saint-Michel is surrounded by a magnificent bay, which is the theatre of the greatest tidal ranges in Europe, a grandiose spectacle.

Day 4 – 1 ½ to 2 hours drive from Mont Saint Michel is Rouen With its elegant spires, beautifully restored medieval quarter and soaring Gothic cathedral, the ancient city of Rouen is one of Normandy's highlights. Rouen has had a turbulent history – it was devastated several times during the middle Ages by fire and plague, and was occupied by the English during the Hundred Years War. The young French heroine Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) was tried for heresy and burned at the stake in the central square in 1431.

During WWII, Allied bombing raids laid waste to large parts of the city, especially the area south of the cathedral, but over the last six decades the city has been meticulously rebuilt.

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Open Vacancies Relationship Management Department Funding Assistant: The ACCESS Funding Assistant is responsible for: nurturing existing Partners – together with Relationship Manager, Follow up on contracts, advising renewal times in a timely fashion, Stock control of Partners & Associates’ PR material at THIC and in Office (for Fairs, events etc), Update Daisy and departments* on new or terminating partnerships (including Board by HelpDesk), She/ He will also be responsible to Update website re Partners& Associates, Follow up payment / link with finance, Follow up clicks on banner ads / link with Webmaster : sharing these with Partners and or Relationship Manager , Set up and manage Contact Management System (to be developed w/ Communications & ED) Contact Deborah Valentine: edirector@access-nl.org, access.executivedirector@gmail.com Finance Department Finance Assistant: The ACCESS Finance Assistant is responsible for/should have prior knowledge of accounting/bookkeeping skills and knowledge of relevant software. Contact Deborah Valentine: edirector@access-nl.org, access.executivedirector@gmail.com Project Department -PowerPoint Presentation for The Hague: Do you live in these expats neighbourhoods in The Hague? – Statenkwartier, Bezuidenhout, Benoordenhout, Scheveningen, Valkenbos Kwartier, Kijkduin, Centre (around Buurtschap, Dennenweg and Zeehelden Kwartier), if you do, and would like to share your local knowledge with fellow ACCESS colleagues, and work together in preparing this presentation for other international new arrivals, then this is the opportunity for you! We would really appreciate the participation from all of you. Please send your comments to, or contact Qin: manager@access-nl.org, or ask Qin directly for more details. Communications Department Guides and Website - Synchronization of Content: The Communications Department at ACCESS is currently in the process of mapping information from the published guides as well as the website to ensure that future updates and changes to content are done correctly and universally. We have already created a spreadsheet for this task and are looking to put together a team of 3-4 people to populate it with the required data. This could be something for members of the Helpdesk team. Contact Carina/ Christopher:communications@access-nl.org Distribution of e-zine flyers: Review of current distribution addresses: postal addresses, volunteer delivery addresses, etc. and rethink/target recipients of e-zine flyers. Manage mailing of e-zine flyers and initiate & oversee volunteer distribution of e-zine flyers in city of The Hague - and surrounding cities with residing volunteers? Contact Carina/Christopher: communications@access-nl.org Email Marketing Specialist : The Email Marketing Specialist is responsible for hands-on execution of email marketing programs in support of the Communications Department objectives. This includes ownership of the setup, maintenance, and quarterly review of reoccurring and triggered email communications. Additionally, this individual maintains a current understanding of email marketing best practices and applies them to the execution of our email campaigns. Responsibilities: Manage email marketing campaigns end-to-end, including planning, targeting, set-up, testing, execution, reporting and optimisation • Create email reporting dashboards and custom reports analysing campaign performance in order to provide actionable recommendations and deliver continuous improvements to our email program. • Champion continuous advancement of our email features and capabilities including targeting, personalisation, and template development, stay current with best practices, strategies, and industry standards related to email. Qualifications • Email marketing experience, including strategy, implementation, analytics and reporting • Experience with MAILCHIMP, HTML and graphic design highly desired Contact Carina/Christopher: communications@access-nl.org For all positions: You must be a self starter, self motivator, computer literate and driven by initiative and creativity.

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Open Vacancies Community Education Department Assistant Strategic Consultant Strategically reviews the client needs regarding CED; what courses has CED given in the past and what courses does it need to give in the future. Reviews history of CED and trainers input regarding direction. The candidate shall be shadowing the Manager and Strategic consultant in interviewing trainers. Contact Christine Fischer: ced@access-nl.org, christineandbramemailyou@gmail.com Information Research Department Information Researcher (IRD Team Member) The information and research team member searches, records and updates information in the database (DAISY). She/he will be responsible for: reading, writing and summarising information; researching and recording all new information according to set procedure; deleting all irrelevant information according to set procedure; checking information which is not complete or not clear; ensuring information is kept up to date; assisting with transferring information coming from other departments to our database, if necessary (including updating, creating or deleting information). Current project: Expanding DAISY - researching and recording information regarding the following cities in all the main categories (Childcare, Education, Employment, House, Legal and Admin, Leisure and Entertainment, Medical, Other Services, Social Services): Amstelveen, Breda, Delft, Eindhoven, Groningen, Haarlem, Leiden, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Schiphol, Tilburg, Utrecht, Voorburg, Wassenaar. The goal is to improve DAISY and make it more global, as now the majority of the records are from Amsterdam and Den Haag. Should you be interested in this position, please contact: ird@access-nl.org Cancer Support Admin/Promoter 6-10 hours per month, so could be combined with another function within ACCESS. Includes the following responsibilities: Maintaining awareness of Cancerlink within ACCESS- checking supply of publicity material, ensuring distribution at key events, checking posting of events/news on website & social media Identifying key contacts in cancer centres, schools, social clubs and maintaining/updating mailing list Helping with admin-attending monthly meetings and writing, distributing minutes Helping with organising and publicizing workshops. Should you interested contact Cancerlink Co-ordinator Aine Campbell: ainecamp@hotmail.com PR Events ACCESS is invited to numerous events such as at the Haagse Hogeschool, ISH, Lycee van Gogh among others. You would be assisting at tables displaying ACCESS material and that of our partners and sponsors. Volunteers are also expected to answer questions and provide information to Visitors attending these events. Should you be interested in joining the Events Team and be available from August 2014 onwards, Please send an email to Roy at: prd@access-nl.org NOTE: New volunteers must finish the probationary month before applying for any vacancy.

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Brief from the Communications Department

ACCESS “Serving the Expat Community Better” I recently watched a touching video that we can all relate to – the story of two elderly Dutch women who got the chance to fly in an airplane for the first time in their lives. The thing that struck me most about this story was the joy of their experience. The fear and anxiety, the decision to give it a shot– and then the pure delight of discovering that they could sail high above the earth and land in another country in just a matter of minutes. One of the biggest rewards of travelling is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted. However, as we spend more time in a country or city, we begin to become so familiar with the setting that we actually find ourselves taking for granted all the things that we see and know. Some of us are seasoned expats, while for others, coming to the Netherlands

may have been the first experience abroad. The staff members at ACCESS are a mix of experienced expats that have lived here for several years and newly arrived ones that have been here for just a few months. As an organisation, we are constantly looking for ways in which we can better serve the community. In light of this, the Communications Department at ACCESS is embarking on a keywords project to generate more traffic to our website and looking for ways to improve the website as well. As the website is the first point of contact that people have with the organisation, it is important that it remains both relevant and visible. We would like to tap into the fresh minds of our new volunteers at the Helpdesk and ask them to help us with this project. To the Helpdesk volunteers, we ask you the following questions:

What search terms (words and full sentences) did you use in order to find our website? Ex. “English speaking daycare in the Hague” “counselling services in the Hague” “registering for BSN for skilled workers” “volunteering in the Netherlands” How did you find out about ACCESS? Was it through our website or another expat site/ forum? Upon finding our website, was it easy to understand what our organization is and what it does?

Thanks, C Squared

Volunteers can provide their thoughts and comments at Helpdesk (ask for the forms provided by Communications). Alternatively, you can e-mail Communications directly at: communications@access-nl.org

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Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on in August Amsterdam Gay Pride During the first weekend of August, Amsterdam is briefly transformed into the Capital of Happiness and Love during the Gay Pride event. The biggest gay event in Holland features special movies, exhibitions, workshops and above all parties, which openly give a face to the homosexual community. Everyone is welcome at the Amsterdam Gay Pride. http://www.amsterdamgaypride.nl/ Where: Amsterdam When: July 31st to August 3rd

4 Days Cycling the Achterhoek In August, you can once again cycle along with one of the most popular four-day cycling events of the Netherlands, 4Days Cycling the Achterhoek. This four-day cycle event consists of routes of 25, 40 and 60 kilometers. The 25 kilometer route is also open to families with children as well as mobility scooter riders. Each year, the routes are adjusted to a theme leading you along the most beautiful spots of the Achterhoek. http://www.holland.com/global/tourism/activities/events/august-1/4days-cycling-the-achterhoek.htm Where: Achterhoek â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for more information contact the ANWB office or tourist office When: August 5th to August 8th

Scheveningen International Fireworks Festival Every year the International Fireworks Festival in Scheveningen draws tens of thousands of visitors. In the course of the festival several countries try to put on the best fireworks display. If you happen to be in or near Scheveningen in August, you should definitely stop by in the evening. http://www.holland.com/global/tourism/activities/events/august-1/scheveningen-international-fireworksfestival.htm Where: Scheveningen When: August 15th to August 23rd

Exclusive bags by Fab. at the Museum of Bags and Purses Unique handbags and accessories from Fab.'s collection over the past seven years can be seen at the Museum of Bags and Purses. New versions of the bags have been made specially for this exhibition, which shows the diversity and beauty of Fab.'s designs, produced with love by Fabienne Chapot. http://www.tassenmuseum.nl/en Where: Museum of Bags and Purses - Herengracht 573 Amsterdam When: From July 8th to August 24th

OVG Veerhaven Concert Enjoy a classical open air concert in one of Rotterdam's most special harbors, the Veerhaven. Drift along the water on your own boat or gaze out by docks, while listening to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The OVG Veerhaven concert is the perfect way to enjoy the last days of summer. http://www.holland.com/global/tourism/activities/events/august-1/ovg-veerhaven-concert-1.htm Where: Rotterdam When: August 30th 16 ACCESS Newsletter August 2014

What’s on in August Dutch Fortified Towns Open Days Once a year, old fortified towns open their gates and you are welcome to discover the forgotten stories of medieval times. During the Dutch Fortified Towns Open Days you’ll learn how the defensive system of these fortified towns used to work, you’ll meet historical characters and witness mock battles. http://www.vestingsteden.nl/index.php?taalID=1&menuID=1&hoofditem=TRUE&subitem=FALSE Where: Please check the website for locations near you. When: August 30th to August 31st

Picturing the Great War ‘I had to experience how it would be if someone beside me suddenly fell over and died from a direct hit. I needed to experience it directly. I wanted to. So I’m not a pacifist at all – or am I?’ German artist Otto Dix’s ambiguous attitude to the First World War is typical. Nothing about the ‘Great War’ was simple and straightforward. Every country had its own particular reasons for going to war (or, like the Netherlands, for remaining neutral). And each artist who recorded the experience of war took a different attitude to it. The ‘Picturing the Great War’ presentation in the Berlage Room at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag uses work by German and Dutch artists like Otto Dix, Ludwig Meidner, Käthe Kollwitz, Jan Toorop, Leo Gestel, Jan Sluijters, Piet van de Hem and Willy Sluiter to reveal something of this diversity. http://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/en/exhibitions/picturing-the-great-war Where: Gemeente Museum – Den Haag When: Until August 30th

De Ooievaart canal tour From April to October you can see The Hague from a different perspective in an open boat. The tour takes you through old and new parts of The Hague, including under bridges and through tunnels. The canals of The Hague are almost 400 years old. They were created for the city's defences around 1612. From the water you will see a variety of beautiful buildings and special places, among them the Royal Stables and the Royal Gardens. You will also see the former houses of famous Dutch historical figures such as the 17th-century artists Paulus Potter, Jan Steen and Jan van Gooyen and the philosopher Benedict (Baruch) Spinoza. http://en.denhaag.nl/en/residents/to/De-Ooievaart-canal-tour.htm Where: Havenkantoor Bierkade 18B 2512 AB The Hague When: English tours available every Saturday – until end September

Many thanks to Hima Mehta for compiling What’s On!

17 ACCESS Newsletter August 2014

Workshops By Wendy Fossen

The New Mauritshuis

Having heard and read much about the Mauritshuis, but haven't visited the museum yet? The Mauritshuis is a must when visiting or staying in The Netherlands, being one of the most prominent collections of Dutch 17th century masterpieces. Of course you will see Vermeer's 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' and Fabritius 'Goldfinch', both subjects of famous award winning books, but also other less well known works will be discussed. So why not join Casa dell'Arte for a visit on 23 August. For more information, read the article I wrote for Access (see ACCESS website). To participate on the tour on 23 Augustus, register on my website (see below). ================== Interested in Art History, but no time for a weekly course? Casa dell’Arte offers a three day speed course Basic Art History. During the course you will learn about the continuous flow of Western Art and about the differences between the various art movements. At the same time you will get an overview of European history since it provides the context in which the artworks were created. In the Basic Art History course you will be given an overview of no less than twenty centuries of art, starting with Greek art and finishing with contemporary art. In a professional and lively manner Wendy will show you different media, such as ceramics, mosaics, sculpture, frescos, paintings and architecture, all depending on the fashion of the time.

Date: Monday 1, Wednesday 3, Friday 5 September Time: 09.00-12.00 hrs and 13.00-15.00 hrs (lunches not included) Price: €300,- pp (incl. coffee/tea, a reader and a handout of all slides used during the course). Access volunteers get €30,- discount Min. # participants: 6 www.casadellarte.nl

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JOIN THE ‘ACCESS VOLUNTEERS’ GROUP ON

A Facebook group for ACCESS volunteers has been created, it is called ‘ACCESS volunteers’, search for it (ACCESS in uppercase!) or use below link. Please do join!

We welcome your contributions to the newsletter! Send your input to Anne Craig editaccess@gmail.com by the 20th of every month

19 ACCESS Newsletter August 2014