Stories that Enrich

Henk helps where the government fails with free stuff for the poorest of the poor

By SBS6 in ‘Hart van Nederland’ and on ‘HartvanNederland.nl’, November 2, 2023

In the heart of the old Nijmegen working-class district of Wolfskuil stands Henk van Lierop, a man with a mission. His story is reflected in the report published on Thursday by the Advisory Committee on Strengthening the Resilience of the Democratic Legal Order (VWDR), which advocates a fundamental strengthening of the democratic legal order in the Netherlands.

The 67-year-old Henk has not had an easy life. He was once the proud owner of a restaurant in Ewijk. But after a brutal robbery, in which he was tied up and abused, he lost everything. In the report, Henk expresses his dissatisfaction with the bureaucracy that many Dutch people like him get caught up in.

“Then you go to the municipality, and they say: ‘Sir, you must first arrange accommodation before you can receive benefits.’ Then you want to arrange accommodation, but then they say: ‘You have no income, then we cannot arrange anything.’ With such difficult rules, you would rather not go there,” Henk tells the committee.

This motivated Henk to do something for those who fall between the cracks. Together with his daughter, he founded ‘Stichting Gratis kan je elkaar hulp’ (You can help each other for free). He hands out free stuff to people who have nothing, and arranges Sinterklaas presents so that children from the poorest families can also have a happy December month.

In his volunteer work, he sees a lot of poverty around him. “The government no longer comes into many people’s homes. But we are allowed to go behind the doors of all people, because we are ordinary people,” Henk tells Hart van Nederland. “So we see what people are struggling with.”

This includes issues such as housing shortages, difficulty in providing for one’s livelihood and the impossibility of arranging something with the government. “You are sent from pillar to post,” says the Nijmegen resident.

Henk’s story is a living example of the larger problems mentioned in the VWDR report. The report emphasises that, although support for democracy in the Netherlands remains high, action is needed on essential aspects to strengthen democracy.

One of the problems is that too many citizens are systematically seriously disadvantaged, which means that their basic social rights are not being fulfilled. “Society is changing mainly because the cost of living and facilities are becoming very expensive,” says Henk. He believes that the government should listen more to the people instead of the other way around. “As a population, we have to swallow everything that the government wants and not the people. In The Hague, it is all about money and not about the Dutch people.”

The committee advises the future cabinet to make it mandatory to test and evaluate government policy on basic social rights such as housing and social security. It also recommends a ‘Practical Authority’ that evaluates laws with experts by experience, something to which Henk’s practical experience could make a valuable contribution.

Henk’s story and his tireless efforts to help others highlight the growing gap between citizens and the government – a gap that, according to the VWDR report, urgently needs to be closed in order to strengthen democracy in the Netherlands.

In the meantime, Henk continues to help the people around him, despite setbacks. His foundation does not receive any subsidies, because it focuses not only on Nijmegen, but also on neighbouring municipalities. “And the municipality does not want to pay for other municipalities”, says Henk.

Do you want to help Henk by donating things, for example? You can do so via the foundation’s website.

Space Adventure

By Shell Netherlands when issuing a series of 20 coins about space travel, 1969

In 1969, man set foot on the moon. A dream of thousands of years became reality, thanks to great courage and determination.

Icarus, Wright brothers, Blériot, Lindbergh, Zeppelin Sputnik, Apollo. Just hearing these names makes us think back to moments of excitement and adventure. It is remarkable that the fascinating attempts of man to break free from his earthly chains followed each other in ever greater succession. In the last ten years more has been achieved than in the previous 19 centuries.

The history of the “Space adventure” is largely our history. Of those who witnessed the first walk on the moon, of those who were fascinated by the flight of Sputnik1, or who experienced the first flight of the De Havilland Comet in the early fifties. And many still remember the great success of the Zeppelins or the feat of Lindbergh. Even the pioneers of aviation, the Wright brothers, have not yet completely disappeared from our memories.

Because the “Space Adventure” is the most remarkable story of our time, Shell has commissioned the production of a series of 20 coins, which immortalize the most memorable events of the conquest of space. Each event has been carefully chosen based on its significance in the “Space Adventure”. Each image has been executed with the greatest precision to ensure historical accuracy. They have then been produced with dedication and now form a unique collection.

With “Space Adventure” we immortalize the first steps in mankind’s greatest adventure. An adventure that is still in its early stages, however, as mankind will turn its attention to the stars: the greatest challenge of all time…

The Persijn brothers diffident, cool artistry

By Jac. Lelsz in the daily newspaper Trouw, August 21, 1965

Behind two rows of thick oaks on Kerkallee in Beekbergen stands the blue house. The Persijn brothers, Henk the painter and Piet the weaver, live in that house. Those two rows of thick oaks ensure that the blue house remains in the shade. And that is a symbol for the residents of this house, because the artistry of the Persijn brothers thrives in subdued light. They do not seek publicity, in fact they even ward it off.

We had sent the Persijns a note a few times. Whether they would agree to an interview. Each time a short, polite note came back. It was handwritten. They do not want an interview.

Nevertheless, a conversation with them was worth a lot to us. Because we admired their work, like so many others. Pieces are dedicated to artists who do not reach up to their shoulders.

These days we rang the doorbell at the blue house in Beekbergen. After a moment the door was opened. The oldest and smallest of the Persijn brothers, the shield, let us in. The youngest and largest, the weaver, was in the kitchen and took care of the pot.

They do the housework together and also enjoy a culinary reputation. At tea they usually present a biscuit they have baked themselves. They must be very proud of that. It was quiet and we had the feeling that a word sounded slightly too loud.

On the round table lay a beautiful, softly tinted cloth from the weaver. On it a porcelain dish with a few strawberries, probably picked in their own garden. In the middle a bouquet of cornflowers and other wild flowers, which one so often encounters on the painter’s canvases. On the wall only a single work of their own. Under the mantelpiece an old-fashioned black pot-bellied stove. In the window recess a simple, upright, blue bottle.

The Persijns have received us kindly. They wouldn’t hurt a fly. But an interview for the sake of strength? No, I’d rather not. The painter speaks with difficulty. He seems to be laughing a little all the time. The weaver is better at talking. He doesn’t understand that there are artists who are queuing for publicity.

We have come to the conviction that Henk and Piet Persijn (both over 60 and no one would suspect that behind them) have no objection to publicity as such. If only because they exhibit from time to time. And whoever exhibits risks publicity. Their objection is to the interview. So it has to be different.

The Persijns, sons of an Apeldoorn pharmacist, have lived behind the picturesque medieval almshouse in Beekbergen for many years. We have wondered why they painted their house blue.

It is a pastel blue, clear as the sky on a frosty day. We often see that blue in Henk Persijn’s paintings. In the Kröller-Müller Museum on the Hoge Veluwe we also found that blue with Floris Verster. He painted the blind wall of a farm like that. Do the Persijns also like Verster? We wouldn’t be surprised. It is a small, rustic home, that blue house in Beekbergen. The door is made of pine, as are the shutters. Carbolineum has been applied to it, or a dark stain. Behind the window divided into rectangles stands a shot geranium. Green has encapsulated the house on all sides. Honeysuckle on the side. Ivy entwines the chimney. Young trees grow on the roof. Grass thrives in the gutter.

Piet Persijn, the weaver, is a member of Scheppend Ambacht Gelderland. He has exhibited, but not very often. There are always enough commissions. He does not seek it in eccentricities. His carpets are tasteful and honest. He is a craftsman and that carries his artistry. You can also say it the other way around.

Henk Persijn, the painter, exhibited more. Mostly in his own environment. He is a member of De Kern in Apeldoorn. His work is coveted by many. Unfortunately, he has had a beef hand for a few years now. This slows down his productivity. He paints the ordinary, everyday things.

Just like his brother, we can speak of a shy artistry in them. Silence is essentially present in his paintings. When we see his atmospheric dreamy paintings, we must think of J.H. Leopold, of whose poems it has been said that they were “almost a silence”.

In his landscapes (farms, horses in the meadow, children playing in the snow, etc.) we always discover the wonder of the beauty in the ordinary, of the goodness in everyday things. That, which most people walk past with clumsy feet and with their eyes closed.

They are, they say, a bit foreign to the world, the Persijn brothers. So what? They isolate themselves a bit too much. Is that allowed? They have given many people genuine joy and deep emotion. And that is more than can be said of many who are up to date and have both feet on the ground.

The Persijns still ride bicycles and the carbide lantern was abolished not so many years ago. In the winter they turn the lamp down from time to time in the evening and then go to Apeldoorn for a classical concert. They listen with devotion, the weaver straight as an arrow, the painter slightly bent.

And at home they often take their portfolio with various drawings in hand. In it are some of Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), about whom Bertus Aafjes also wrote. Rare pages of this Swiss painter of flowers and insects, a rich possession.

We had to leave the reader in the dark about many things. For example, the education of the Persijns. We know nothing about it. Is it so important?