News

S-Days helps social and sustainable enterprises with their growth ambitions. S-Days does this by helping with business development, product development and project management. S-Days' knowledge & expertise is tailored to support organizations as effectively as possible.

S-Days supports TheBridge2Hope in achieving growth and extra impact in its activities for a target group that desperately needs it. This is done first by discussing long-term goals & ambitions with the TheBridge2Hope organization. These goals & ambitions will then be articulated in a strategy plan. The strategy plan will give direction to the activities of TheBridge2Hope and will, among other things, be used for fundraising for TheBridge2Hope.

From July 1 to 7, our founder Dr. Sheetal Shah, president Angelique Koopmans and secretary Prof. Jean Paul van Marrissing attended the 7th Global Slavery Conference, Past Present and Future in Accra, Ghana. During the conference, attendees discussed their papers on slavery from different perspectives and disciplines.

Our chair Angelique represented TheBridge2Hope with research on the effectiveness of an integrated community-based intervention program for survivors. Jean Paul's introductory address on the first day of the conference referred to the increasing attention in the Netherlands to the effects of slavery on contemporary society. Attendees also had the honor of receiving the Dutch ambassador who spoke, among other things, about the apologies of the Dutch prime minister and king about the role of the Netherlands in the slave trade.

It was definitely a great experience full of learning and sharing knowledge in a country with so much history and past regarding slavery. The topics discussed are all still relevant to this day and important for us to consider when dealing with modern slavery and human trafficking."

Attending a US Independence Day celebration organized by the US Embassy at the Hermitage Museum (henceforth H'ART Musuem) was truly a remarkable experience. At the heart of the event was a sense of unity and shared values. The celebration encouraged people from all walks of life to come together and celebrate the principles on which the United States was founded.

The national anthems of both the US and the Netherlands were performed by a fantastic Gospel Choir Group. Food plays an important role in any celebration and the Independence Day event at the U.S. Embassy in Amsterdam was no exception! We were served a variety of lip smacking classic American dishes such as hot dogs, hamburgers and Macncheese! .

Cirrus Foundation contributes to projects aimed at freedom and equality between people. Equality can only exist by embracing differences, creating a balanced society with opportunities for the development of all. Cirrus Foundation believes in investing in projects where "being different" receives positive attention.

The population served by TheBridge2Hope underwent a violation of freedom and equality, the very rights the Cirrus Foundation supports. TheBridge2Hope guides victims of human trafficking and exploitation towards an economically independent existence in freedom. The victims of human trafficking or "participants" as referred to at TheBridge2Hope, receive among other things, Psychosocial support, Digital literacy, Dutch lessons, Life skills and Nutritional information all aimed at empowering the lives of the participants to be part of the society. Cirrus will try to offer a little more help than just money, although that is of course of the utmost importance," said Angélique Koopmans, chair of TheBridge2Hope foundation. "We are very grateful for their broad support".

On Feb. 23, Angelique Koopman (president) and Anupama Menon (program manager) delivered a presentation to SIT (School for International Training) in Amsterdam as part of an advocacy effort on the topic of human trafficking.

The students were a fascinating group and we had many enlightening questions about the transition from victim to survivor and how we managed that transition. The time flew by as the students engaged in a dynamic discussion with us.

Thank you to SIT organizers for their continued help to our organization and their fight against human trafficking and modern slavery.

We are excited to announce our first business partnership with ESA's Humanitarian Relief Fund!
ESA's Humanitarian Relief Fund is a new initiative established at ESTEC with the goal of enabling their working community to help those in need and offer a helping hand to communities struggling to improve.

As part of this initiative, they made a generous contribution to the rental costs of our community center for 2023. This allows us to continue to provide the skills and activities from our base, the Bontekraai in Amsterdam-Zuidoost, to enable victims of human trafficking to turn into survivors.

We are incredibly grateful for this donation, which allows us to support some of the most vulnerable
members of society in Amsterdam can continue to serve.

ESA's HRF team members are: Caroline Prost, Chiara Lombardi, Linda Robbins, Jinesh Ramachandran, Annalisa Beatrice Galeone, Yanina Giselle Sulleiro, Donny Aminou, Michele Armano, Filippo Concaro, Eliseo Balaguer, Anna Fogtman, Ajantha Ambily, Inigo Alonso Etxebarria, Claudia Paparini, Shamim Velt, Amadou Whittaker.

From left to right: Caroline, Chiara, Linda, Jinesh, and Annalisa

On Feb. 14, 2023, we joined Webster University-Leiden and stood up for freedom on the Beestenmarkt in Leiden as we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the One Billion Rising movement. OBR (https://www.onebillionrising.org/) is celebrated worldwide and is the largest mass action to end violence against women (cisgender, transgender and those with changing identities subject to gender-related violence) in human history.

Created by V (formerly known as Eve Ensler) (https://www.eveensler.org/), the
premise of OBR is that:

"1 in 3 women around the world will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. That's ONE MILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. Every February, we stand up - in countries around the world - to show our local communities and the world what a billion looks like and shine a light on the rampant impunity and injustice survivors most often face. We stand up through dance to express joy and community and celebrate that we have not been defeated by this violence. We rise to show that we are determined to create a new kind of consciousness - one where violence will be resisted until it is unthinkable."

This year's flashmob was a success, with dancing, fun, energy and lots of sunshine. This was followed by an informative and insightful workshop by #Metoo coach Legien - MeToo Coach (https://legien.nl/wat-ik-doe/). Legien spoke about the importance of having conversations and supporting survivors of sexual violence. Finally, we enjoyed a
number of delicious Greek pies from P__D deli pies & coffee Co. We would like to thank everyone involved in creating such an important event, and hope to continue protesting violence against women during the One Billion Rising next year.

On Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, TheBridge2Hope was invited to Sociëteit De Witte in The Hague to speak about human trafficking and sexual exploitation in the Netherlands.

Anouk Talitsch, attorney/mediator and president of Parfemmes, invited us, on behalf of De Sociëteit de Witte, to host a ladies' table discussion on social issues. The meeting took place in the Atlas Room of De Sociëteit's beautiful library.

We were honored that our founder, Dr. Sheetal Shah, and president, Angelique Koopmans, could share TheBrigde2Hope's mission with such a prestigious association. Advocacy is our foundation's third project, and we believe in its fundamental role in breaking the chain of human trafficking and modern slavery in the Netherlands and worldwide.

On December 1, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Foundation TheBridge2Hope. We cannotbelieve how far we have come in the past decade. We began as a research project, "The Bijlmer Project," which aimed to explore the psychosocial needs of human trafficking survivors in the Amsterdam area. Now we are able to meet those needs and provide resources and support to trafficking survivors who do not have documentation. Without you, we could not have made it!

We raised 1,880 euros in our fundraising campaign, thanks to all our donors and supporters who helped us celebrate this milestone. This money will go towards funding programs for TB2H Academy participants and any special needs. The event was a great success: not only did we raise enough money to stay strong in the future, but we also gained more donors!

Thank you so much for being part of this amazing journey with us. Here's to the next 10 years!

Summary
The aim of this workshop is to explore how compassion/volunteer fatigue and burnout can have a negative impact on volunteers. We have organized the workshop to focus on three different areas: personal, working within a team, and working within an organization. All areas will explore current ways that volunteers (the participants of the workshops) cope and manage stress while introducing various techniques designed to improve resilience in the workplace. It is our hope that participants of this workshop leave feeling empowered and confident in how to handle future stressful conversation and situations within their volunteer roles. Since the aim of this workshop is on volunteer fatigue and burnout, we kindly ask that participants are currently volunteering within an organization at the time of this workshop.

Learning outcomes
Participants of this workshop will leave with a better understanding of the following:
(1) The ability to define and identify compassion fatigue, burnout, volunteer fatigue, and resilience.
(2) Techniques to help improve personal integration of self-care and self-compassion.
(3) Techniques to help support fellow volunteers (colleagues).
(4) Ways to identify toxic work environments and how to cope and support within their volunteer roles.
(5) Ability to identify stress signs and signals and drainers and gainers.
(6) Helpful techniques to prepare for stressful or high anxiety induced conversations and events.
(7) Identify assertive versus aggressive behavior.
(8) Techniques for effective communication
(9) Understanding Heart Rate Variance (HRV) and how to improve their HRV (techniques).
(10) A better understanding of current and local resources available to help battle compassion fatigue and burnout.
In addition to these outcomes, participants will also be introduced to other volunteers within their community. We will utilize participants' personal experiences to help empower them to feel more comfortable to handle future stressful situations and environments.

For questions or concerns, please contact:
Mary Jane Roy
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryjaneroy/
&
Amanda Mauro
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-mauro/