May 29 - June 4, 2019
Forging Netherlands connections
◆ LENDING A HAND: Janny Staphorst-Bollard, originally from the Netherlands, has lived in Australia for 20 years and spends much of her time assisting fellow immigrants, including fellow Dutch people. PHOTO: Wendy Stephens
By KYLIE WILSON
IMMIGRATING to Australia from the Netherlands 19 years ago, Beechworth’s Janny Staphorst-Bollard has worked hard to make her mark on the local community. Janny said her first exposure to the country came from visiting relatives in the Cooma area in the late 1990s - where she met the man who would later become her husband, John Bollard, on a hike. Their relationship blossomed from there, and Janny moved to Australia in 2000, initially making her home with John near Cooma before the pair moved to Beechworth in 2013. Since then, Janny has become heavily involved with the North East Multicultural Association (NEMA), working on a number of different projects. These have included engaging with migrants who arrived as long ago as the 1950s and 1960s, to help them better access the services they need; liaising with the Albury-Wodonga Ethnic Communities Council (AWECC), forging stronger relationships with mental health bodies to benefit people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and more. Another project was known as the Ovens and Murray Multicultural Regional Area Partnership (OMMRAP), whose priority areas include women’s leadership, domestic violence, youth engagement, community capacity building and leadership development, health, education, employment, and volunteering. She is also involved in a regular morning tea meeting of Dutch immigrants, known as Dutch Connections, in Beechworth every second Tuesday, and she said she loved the chance to connect with some of her fellow countrymen. “It’s good to keep the traditions going,” she said of marking special occasions with fellow Dutch people.
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