We look back with gratitude to all the projects and initiatives through which we have been able to support the Romanian community in the Netherlands in 2024.
Each activity brought an added sense of connection, support and sharing of cultural values. We invite you to take a look together at some of this year's most memorable moments.
Romanian School Amsterdam
With a lot of dedication and love for children, we ended another year of activity at the Romanian School Amsterdam, marking eight years of existence.
Continuing the pattern of previous years, in 2024 we had three thematic workshops: the Dwarf Workshop, the Romanian Language and Culture Workshop and the Personal Development Workshop for Pre-teens, divided into two modules.
In module 1, January - July 2024, we organised 20 workshops for each age group. Each Saturday was dedicated to activities that covered a variety of themes, from numbers and maths, dinosaurs and personal hygiene to space and money, delving into many of them through experiments, games, letters, books and songs. We discussed emotions, friendship, trust and courage, spring and summer, celebrated Mother's Day, Mothers' Day, Marțișșor, Tricolour Day, introduced the children to Easter traditions and customs. We practised our ability to say NO and YES, to maintain our boundaries and respect our differences, and we practised our ability to talk in front of others about something important to us and to answer each other's questions.
We were there with the national football team, the children, with their hearts and in unison: 'Go Romania!
On 1 June, the first edition of 𝗕𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗡 Netherlands to the Romanian School Amsterdam took place! We joined forces with Bikeathon Țara Făgărașului , to raise money for good causes in Romania that are in dire need of our help. We had a great time together and the children were very excited to cycle and celebrate their birthday.
From 15 June to 6 July, the Romanian School organised a pilot maths workshop for children aged 8-12, led by Iulia Pintilie, where children had the opportunity to explore the world of maths in a fun and educational way.
After a well-deserved summer holiday, we're back to module 2 from September to December 2024. In the 13 workshops of this module, we discovered together the harvest festival, the world of books, we talked about "different gifts", about emotions, crafts and passions. We talked about the power of being kind, of being there for each other, of giving of your time, of helping and listening, and then we focussed on developing civic spirit, social responsibility and proactive attitude. We celebrated Romania's National Day together by learning about democracy and our right to vote, then Santa Claus and Father Christmas.
On 5 October we celebrated children's books at the 7th Kinderbookenweek and were delighted to have Oxana Greadcenco (who captivated the attention of the Dwarves) and Diana Tivu (who delighted the older children by drawing together a personalised tea table) as our guests. They both dedicated reading moments, offered dedications and delighted us with their talents.
On the 16th of November the children had a memorable experience and it was thanks to the presence of our special guest, Greta Templeman. Greta's activities taught us how to use our manual skills, patience and perseverance.
The last workshop was unforgettable! We celebrated Christmas together, making festive arrangements, singing traditional carols and welcoming Santa Claus with great excitement. The children's smiles, creativity and warm atmosphere reminded us how beautiful our traditions are.
Our heartfelt thanks to the teachers for their dedication, passion and effort to make every weekend an opportunity for children to learn and grow.
Last but not least, we thank the parents for the trust, support and involvement you have shown by enrolling your children in our school and supporting them in this beautiful journey of knowledge and preservation of the Romanian language and traditions.
Romanian Library Netherlands
Here is the BiebRO retrospective. It is with great joy and delight that we look back on a rich and eventful year of discovering great books, authors and illustrators.
➡️ In March we chatted with the wonderful author and translator Jan Willem Bos at a meeting hosted by OBA Javaplein and organised in collaboration with ICR Brussels and the Romanian Embassy in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. After discussing his memoir "From the Rhine to the Danube and back", we were joined for a panel discussion on translations from Romanian into Dutch and vice versa by Pegasus Publishing Director Susan van Oostveen and translator Cătălina Oșlobanu.
➡️ On 29 June we had author Robert Șerban with us in Amsterdam. We discussed his impressive work but also his process of writing books such as "People in Tracksuits", "The Amazing Happenstance of the Hasty Ena", "Grandma's Four Wings" or "Almost Nothing Certain". In the second part of the meeting we were joined by author Cristina Winters for a panel discussion on "The challenges of a Romanian author in diaspora" and how visible her work is in the Romanian literary world.
➡️ In October we continued our tradition and organised a new edition of Kinderboekenweek: Book Week with the Romanian School Amsterdam. The illustrator Diana Tivu came all the way from Bucharest and told us about her creative process for the graphic novel "Cozonăcei cu Stafidide" published by Frontiera. Together we also organised an illustration workshop for children. The author Oxana Greadcenco was also present. She told us about how she wrote and published her children's book "Calin and Nina".
➡️Am organised 10 physical reading workshops at the OBA Oosterdok, part of the "Reading Carousel" project.
➡️Cu with the help of Roxana Popescu we organised 38 online reading workshops for our super BiebROets.
➡️În first part of the year our showcase at OBA hosted works by Romanian artists from the Netherlands. Thank you: Alina Allen, Mihai Chirilă, Lara Pintea and Magdalena Pătrășcan for their collaboration.
➡️Din September we exhibited 20 works by artists from the Illustrators' Club, part of the Back to Childhood exhibition. These works can still be seen until the end of January.
We thank the Department for Romanians Abroad for their support. We also thank all the volunteers who made all these projects possible.
And last but not least thanks to all the participants who help us to continue these initiatives!
We hope 2025 will be just as generous!
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