In the second episode of the Griftpark dialogue series, we mark World Refugee Day with a dialogue about “feeling at home”.  We are joined by writer and social entrepreneur, Saskia Harkema, who will talk about her latest book, “Alles is terloops”, an account of her work with refugees and her own quest to feel at home . Due to the current measures we will meet on Zoom for an online dialogue. Everyone is welcome! Share your experiences, listen to those of others and imagine the future together. Sign up via the red button!

Feeling at home

In the second episode of the 2021 Griftpark dialogues, we will be inspired by the stories of Saskia Harkema. Her latest book, Alles is terloops (Everything is casual), deals with a recurring question: Who are you if you don’t grow up where you were born, if you keep leaving? Where are you from and where is your home? In this dialogue, we ask ourselves the same questions: Where do you call home? What makes a place feel like home and how can you create this feeling yourself? How does this feeling change with time? What does it mean to have a home? How do you envision a home for yourself and others in the future? How does this look different to now and how can you bring it closer?

Alles is terloops (Everything is casual)

Alles is terloops (Everything is casual) is a novel inspired by the life of the author. The main character is Johanna who falls seriously ill after a life of studying and hard work. During that period she takes the time to dwell on her past and takes the reader to all the places she lived and visited throughout her life. It is a life of adventure and full of encounters and experiences centered around the question: what is home? While she is trying to get better, she meets people and shares her stories with us. She goes back to what she considered as her home and vividly describes how it is to go back to what you consider as home. Can we ever really feel at home, or that we belong, when we have to leave home? is the main question. After traveling back to all the places where she grew up, she finds the answer to this question and with it answers a universal question what it means to be rooted when you have been uprooted.

At present more than 250 million people are on the move worldwide for a variety of reasons. This number is just an estimate and only expected to grow. 80 million of them are refugees. This novel is an important document because it highlights the journey refugees make, from a totally different perspective. The questions are similar, as are the feelings and this shows the importance of stretching our idea about what home is so we include others in it.

Saskia Harkema

Saskia was born in the Netherlands but grew up in South America where she spent her entire childhood.

She feels like a citizen of the world, after a long search for the meaning of home in her life. She continued to travel, and had a second home in Spain for over 20 years. She studied Sociology, Business Administration, and obtained her PhD and debut with her first book in 2018. This is her second book, inspired by her life. her latest book was recently published about her work as a human rights activist. She founded Faces of Change in 2010 and has been working with refugees and vulnerable groups ever since. The meaning of home is a common thread through her life, her work and the programs she develops.

Summer Griftpark Dialogues

We hope to be able to continue the familiar dialogues under the trees in the Griftpark later this summer! For now, we will meet online via Zoom, but as soon as it is possible, we will return to the park with old, young and new for our dialogues. Everyone is welcome! Share your experiences and ideas for the future, warm to each other’s stories and explore what you want and can do, yourself and with others. Register for the whole series:

22nd April – Warmth

10th June – Home

8th July – Mother Earth

12th August – New green life

9th September – Working together, worthwhile

What is a dialogue?

A dialogue is an open conversation about experiences, dreams and possibilities. In a dialogue you really enter into a conversation with each other and you meet people you do not normally meet. Everyone is invited to share his/her story and everyone is heard. A dialogue contributes to mutual understanding, connection and insight.

Since the corona crisis, we have been talking online so that everyone can participate at a safe distance. We use Zoom for the online conversations. You can sign up for a dialogue via the red button at the top of the page. You will then receive an email with a login link and password that will give you access to the Zoom room where the dialogue takes place.

Read more about what a dialogue is >>>