Jesmien is a retired Bonairian lady, who joins as a participant and a volunteer at Hòfi Kultural. We wondered what drives her and what was the impact of Hòfi Kultural on her life?
How did you start with Hòfi Kultural?
I started at the beginning of 2019 when I arrived on Bonaire. I had just retired and did not want to sit at home and do nothing. When I was 16 years old, I left Bonaire to go to the Netherlands to study. When I arrived here last January on Bonaire, I did not know anyone, only my family. But I really wanted to do something and interact with people. Through my sister I heard about Hòfi Kultural so I decided to try it and I have been visiting Hòfi Kultural ever since.
What makes Hòfi Kultural so special for you?
It has activities for young people, adults and elderly people, you don’t find that anywhere. That makes it fun, because nobody is left out. It is a place where young people can discover their talent (something that is really important). It is some kind of a community center but for Bonaire as a whole, something that is very peculiar, as it is something that I have never experienced on Bonaire.
I have done different activities with the children; we played some games from my childhood and also I have done storytelling with older people. It helps to learn our culture, learn who we are, how Bonaire is the Bonaire that it is today and why it is so special. You can say that Hòfi Kultural helps to promote our culture and that is very important because you have to know your origins, you have to know who you are.
What kind of impact has Hòfi Kultural had on your life?
I got to know myself here. I left at a very young age so I have lost that connection really early. Now that I am here I have that connection again, doing all of these activities that I used to do when I lived here really brought some nice memories. You normally do not think about it, but Bonaire is really unique, it has its own culture, its own ways of doing things, its own way of living.
I have some sort of connection with the other participants, we sit together and talk about the good old days and about the things that we used to do. These are things that we all have experienced. That is how we try to keep the culture of Bonaire alive, by singing and making music (typical Bonairian songs) of the old days, This way the young generation can have a sense of what we did in the old days and how we grew up, so they can pass it to their kids and so on and so on.
It is great that you are not alone when traveling back in time, you have a group of people who knows exactly what you talk about, and share the same stories and that is just amazing.