“Twenty-three years ago I came to Amsterdam as a refugee from Burkina Faso. I didn’t know anyone and I barely had any money. For three months I slept outside in the Sarphatipark without any place to go. It was summer so luckily it wasn’t too cold but neither did I had much expectations after leaving my homeland behind. Back home I was an actor so after a while I got involved in the acting scene of Amsterdam. Soon I understood that acting wasn’t going to make enough money to provide for a living. I decided to go back to school and get a degree in finance and now I am working in a bank.”
“What is the most important lesson you have learned from your journey?”
“To let life carry you instead of trying to carry life itself, it’s to heavy anyways.”

“The Tulip was an exotic flower in the golden era. The flower originates from Turkey and when it arrived in the Netherlands they were rare and extremely expensive. A tulip was the kind of flower you could actually make a statement with. You cannot imagine the kind of prices people would pay for a single tulip. The most expensive Tulip ever was named the Semper Augustus. It was worth around 10.000 guilders. For that same amount of money you could buy a canal house in the most expensive area in Amsterdam.”

As some of you might have noticed I´m attending Amsterdam fashion week this year. While I stood at the entrance of the event I noticed this Italian couple sitting on the side steps being highly entertained by the crowd. When I walked up to them and asked them for their photograph they were perplexed. They barely spoke any Dutch nor English but the little man gave me a big smile which I assumed was a yes. While I took their photo he strongly held on to the balloons. I suspect he was keeping them for a granddaughter or son. Though we couldn’t really communicate I tried to explain them why I took their photo. I’m pretty sure they didn’t understood a word I was saying but the man kissed my hand and kept saying: Graci! Graci! I tried to give the woman a hand but she ignored and instead gave me a big hug and then she pinched my cheeks.

How do you know each other?
“We’re all medical students studying at the same university in Amsterdam. We are currently medical interns in different hospitals.”
“If you could change something about the medical system what would it be?”
“The current system is very hierarchic. As a medical intern you work full time for three years without getting paid a dime. The appreciation you get for the hard work comes mostly from the patients. Most of the doctors are under big pressure and that why they don’t get to spend a lot of time with their patients. The good thing is though, that we as interns get to spend a lot of time with them.”
“Isn’t it hard to have a close relationship with patients, even though sometimes there is a chance you won’t be able to help them?”
“That is one of the biggest misconception people have about being a doctor. Many think that as a doctor you’re supposed to extend the length of life but in fact as a doctor you’re supposed to contribute to the quality of life, while the patients are still living.”