CONNECT: Healthcare & Wellbeing Information Market | 23 October 2023

Calling all expat parents! On the whole, The Netherlands is a great place to live for expats, but as with anything, there's always room for improvement. The International Community Advisory Panel , established in 2016 to challenge misperceptions and increase knowledge about the international community in the Netherlands, focuses on issues of particular interest to expats, including housing, healthcare, diversity, and education. They're currently conducting a survey of local expat parents who have children in school in order to add to their research and come up with action items to advocate on behalf of our community. What are your experiences of the education system, local or international? Do you have suggestions about how to make it better for expats here in The Netherlands? And how do you feel about our local schools' response to the pandemic? Make your voice heard and participate in their survey! It just takes a few minutes and can help a lot of people in the future! You can find the survey here .

The Latest Version of the Access Magazine - Now Available for Download!

On 14 March (and for the 7th year in a row!) Volunteer The Hague once again enthusiastically participated in The Hague Online's Feel at Home International Community Fair! Every year, this fun and informative event brings together local internationals with businesses, service organizations, and activity groups of every type imaginable with one goal in mind: making those of us from other lands who now live in The Netherlands "feel at home!" This is one of our favorite events - not only because we tend to run workshops and panels showcasing the work we do, but also because it give us the opportunity to meet directly with the international community that we serve. And despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the show went on as planned thanks to The Hague Online's hard work in putting together a wonderful online program of virtual panels, workshops, and information booths. Despite the limitations, things really went off without a hitch; we were not only able to offer an informative panel on volunteering, we also participated in the fair's Work & Career Program and were also able to chat directly with attendees in our very own virtual booth! Our panel titled " No Dutch? No Problem - Volunteer! " was hosted by VTH's very own project manager Tetyana Benzoural. Tetyana was joined by Deborah Valentine, executive director of Access , as well as local professional speaker Cathy Delhante, who also founded one of our favorite local organizations, Wool for Warmth . Together, they discussed the importance of internationals stepping up to volunteer here in the Netherlands, as well as the many benefits - not only the benefits for our local community, but also for the international volunteers themselves. Later in the program, Tetyana was also joined by Ali Ayoub and Rodica Malancea, two local internationals with extensive volunteering experience here in The Netherlands. They answered questions about volunteering and spoke about the many fringe benefits they gained during their time as volunteers at various organizations - from expanding their support networks, broadening their CV and job skills, and giving back to causes they care about in the community. There were some great conversations during this panel, so for those of you who weren't able to make the fair, we hope you'll take a look at the video of the full program, which you can find below. We want to thank Deborah, Cathy, Ali, and Rodica, as well as all of those who attended the fair and joined us in our virtual booth! We had a fantastic time once again this year, and we're very much looking forward to participating again in 2022!