How do you get ex-convicts to rebuild a network? By matching them with people like John Keijzer (54), a volunteer with De Regenboog Groep. A tough guy on slippers. What drives him?
John is a customs officer, always alert. A man in uniform, who, while wearing slippers at home, does not like to color outside the lines. Boundary judge, soccer coach, father, husband and, for the past five years, coach at De Regenboog Groep. His last two buddies, he prefers to call them "coachies," are ex-prisoners. Not tough guys, because John wants nothing to do with them, but guys who have colored outside the lines in their lives. That doesn't match, you might say.
"Just so," John laughs and slaps his left leg over the right. A bathing slipper dangles from his foot. Next to him on the couch sits Milo, the "guard dog" who forgets to bark when visitors come in. "As a customs officer, you are at the very beginning of the criminal chain; there is a suspect of, say, cocaine smuggling that I have to apprehend. My coaches are at the very other end of the criminal chain. Those guys are with the probation and social work departments of Inforsa, which the Regenboog works with again."
I don't see those people as scum
Mutual respect
"Ex-convicts are often not very fond of uniforms. Not infrequently they have an authority problem and get stressed when they see someone in uniform. Then I visit them - their coach from the Regenboog - and it turns out that everything is not that bad. There's just a human being in that uniform, I see them thinking after a while. In that respect, any cop or anyone in a uniform should be doing this work. It brings two completely different worlds together, increasing mutual respect. Now I had no prejudices anyway mind you. I don't see those people as scum or anything, even if they live in a mess that never gets cleaned."
John is buddy for ex-offenders
Dream volunteer
"My job is to make sure these people rebuild a bit of a network. For example, I knew from my last coachie that he loves boats. I then arranged for him to do odd jobs on a project in the harbor. Refurbishing a boat, sanding a bit, painting. His dream is to have a boat of his own. I had filtered that out of our conversations: only on the water does he calm down. So I set out."
It marks John to get right down to it. He doesn't like to sit still, the dream volunteer. When his son stopped playing soccer and his job as linesman was over, he went to see what else there was to do in terms of volunteering. He googled and saw that they were looking for buddies at De Regenboog Groep. "They were specifically looking for people who wanted to help other people get their records and finances in order. I liked that, because I am very good at doing administration. I am good at organizing and I had some spare time. Of course you can do something for yourself, but I like to use my free time a little. For example, arranging a job for my coachie."
Winning confidence
"What was very painful was that he didn't show up on the first day. I had made everything in order, also coordinated everything with his manager from Inforsa, he reported sick! Something to do with his leg. That really upset me. A wise lesson: you can think up all kinds of things for yourself and have a beautiful step-by-step plan in your head, but not everything works out. Certainly not with ex-prisoners. Perhaps a tip for anyone who wants to do this: don't have high expectations. If you want quick results, you shouldn't do this work, because it really is a very difficult target group. On the other hand, you get to experience something. My first coachie was a porn addict. I thought: what have I got on my bike? But someone like that tells me. That's the beauty of volunteer work: sooner or later you win someone's trust. And from there you can move on."
Other World
"I also learn a lot from it, I notice. First of all, you get very good training at the Volunteer Academy when you become a volunteer at the Regenboog. You can take all kinds of free courses, which even helped me in my work as a customs officer, Dealing with Resistance for example and Aggression Training. But the meetings with my coaches also help me to think out of the box. At my work, everyone is more or less the same. We are all civil servants. Through the Regenboog, I meet very different people: artists, vagrants, ex-convicts. People with a completely different mindset. That broadens my view."
Would you, like John, like to do something for an ex-convict? Then sign up here for a free introductory interview.
Text: Nicolline van der Spek; photo: Merlin Michon