After years of sending food and clothingparcels, with a friendly organisation, to the people of Sovata the wish arose to meet these families personally.
When the parcels were dropped off you talked with eachother and after a while you talked about the circumstances in which the families lived. After a long time of preparations we went to Sovata for the first time in 2001 with a bus owned by Connexxion in Den Haag and driven by Cees Walder.
It became a journey one never forgets! Many of us were shocked by the sad circumstances in which many of our families had to live: stripped concrete flats with very small rooms, toilets and showers in the hallway for common use and huts made of wood and mud with one or two small spaces.
Not to mention broken windows en leaking roofs. Little or no household goods and sadly also very little clothing and food. We learned that a watery soup with a piece of bread, some potatoes and some unions, carrots or cabbage makes up the daily menu here.
And then we haven't even mentioned medical care.
We were terribly ashamed.
Shocked and deeply impressed we returned home after one week. Many of us had trouble to pick up their daily life. We talked with eachother, with friends and family and also with other people who by sending parcels cared for the people of Sovata about the situations.
Every year more people went along to see Sovata for themselfes. The group became bigger and also closer, because a hard core of people formed and went every year.
The talkes became more elaborate and confidential and then you found out that everyone was busy in his own way with the same objective and sometimes with simular situations.
That is how the idea grew to join forces en to see if we could attain more with our individual strengths and organize it better.
Founding a (non-profit) foundation proved to be less simple than we thought at first.
What is allowed? What must be? The law, the taxes, the notary, the chamber of commerce, a joint bankaccount, the name of the foundation, who will be members of the committee? Drawing up the charter, what and where should things be regulated? In short a number of things that had to be done.
Upfront it was declared that sincerity and honesty would be paramount. A foundation that can show the sponsors every year what plans they have made, what has been realized and most of all: on what has the donated money been spend?
A lot of work was done and so on August 16th 2007 the "people from the bus" officially founded Stichting ondersteuning Sovata, in short SOS, with the committee members:
Yvonne Willebrands (chairman/secretary),
Coby Teuben (vice-chairman) and
Dan Kleefkens (treasurer).
As of now money, ideas en power will be joined for one objective:
To sensibly aid the people of Sovata in helping them build a more decent existense.