“Sometimes I see pictures on Facebook where people are on a beach and jump in the air. Because of my physical condition I am not able to jump, so when I see those photo’s I am reminded of the fact I don’t have all the physical freedom I would like to have. However, despite of my condition I still feel free. I was born with this condition but it is up to me to decide how I live my life. I play music in a latin band, I volunteer and I am part of the national 4 and 5 May youth committee, a committee who draws attention to the Dutch Memorial and Liberation day. Together with a multi-cultural group of young people we organise a yearly memorial service in Amsterdam at the Van Woustraat. Where there used to be a ice-cream shop named Koco. The owners, Alfred Kohn and Ernst Cahn were both Jewish. In Februari 1941 Alfred Kohn was deported to a concentration camp and one month later Ernst Cahn was executed by the Nazis. The story really touches my heart because it shows what it is like to lose all your Freedom. I never been through war but I do realize how important it is to be reminded of the freedom that we have. That is why I am involved in the committee, so people don’t forget.”

“About a year and a half ago, someone knocked on my door late at night. When I opened it, my mother was standing there with tears in her eyes. She didn’t have to say anything – my father had died. He had a rare heart condition, so we knew, at some point, that he would just go. It was peaceful, apparently, and very quick. My mother found him in his favorite chair at home with a book in his lap and a coffee on the table. My world collapsed. Growing up all I wanted was for him to be proud of me. I was so afraid he’d die and think of me as a disappointment. But three days before he died, during our last phone call, although we didn’t know that yet, he said “kid, the world is yours for the taking, and I’m so proud of you, and my work here is done.” I had just graduated with a bachelor’s and I was making plans for grad school. When I was younger, because of his condition, he was always trying to impart wisdom just in case he wasn’t around when I needed it – so for example he gave me serious relationship advice when I was twelve and it made no sense to me. Six months after he died I went through a really difficult breakup, and his decade old advice suddenly came back to my mind. He did everything he could as a father, to prepare me for the world.
I came to Amsterdam a year ago to do a master’s degree. The first few months were really hard. I was afraid to make friends of get attached, I think, because I was afraid to lose more than I already had. But there’s something about Amsterdam that either forces you or encourages you to just figure things out, and slowly I reached out and made friends and connected to family and really settled in. And Amsterdam became home. Coming here when I did turned out to be the best thing I could do for myself. This city has healed me. Right now I’m on my way to meet my Mum. She’s visiting because tomorrow is my graduation. That my Dad isn’t here as well is – is really hard. But today would’ve been his birthday, so we’re going out to get cake and celebrate.“

“When I told my mom I wanted to quit my studies she wasn’t mad or disappointed. I explained her that I needed more freedom in order to grow and she understood. I created a plan, I wrote everything down and she promised to financially support me for a whole year. I promised her that I would be able to stand on my own feet after that. That year I was able to experiment and try out new things. I started writing, presenting and making short films. Soon I discovered that I love sharing stories and film became my favorite medium to do so. That year led me to become a freelance filmmaker. My office is here right around the corner and I come here to this little spot a few times a day. To me this is the most beautiful place in Amsterdam. Whenever I am editing and I need a little break I sit here to think. I try to remind myself on daily basics what I am thankful for. It is so easy to lose yourself in the every day chaos. I personally am most thankful for the freedom that I have. That I can come and sit here whenever I want to. In a way that freedom is a present given by my mother because she always believed that I was able to make the right decisions for myself.”

3/3 “Following that incident, Americans were adopting children from the orphanage. Almost everyone got chosen but no one adopted me. In total, I got rejected twelve times. My best friend, number 26, and I had the same name. So when her adoptive mother got a phone call from the orphanage asking which Mabinty she wanted to adopt, she said that she would adopt both of us. My adoptive mother had previously adopted 3 sons, which she lost to HIV/AIDS. One of her sons who passed away, left her a note which stated; ‘’Please adopt a child from West Africa.’’ That is why she decided to adopt us. I was named Michaela DePrince and my friend, who is now my sister, became Mia DePrince. The very first thing I did when I met my mother, was to show her the magazine cover of the ballerina. We didn’t speak the same language but she immediately understood what I was trying to say. She said, “I promise you that when we get to America, you will dance.” America was completely different from Sierra Leone and I have never seen so much food in my life! I didn’t understand the concept of paying for food. So whenever we would go to the supermarket, I would just eat the grapes from the fruit section. We were living in New Jersey and life was really good. I was taking ballet classes but I was still very nervous about my vitiligo. As my mother promised, I started dancing ballet and I would practise every day. I had one goal and that was the become a prima ballerina. My vitiligo wasn’t a problem but I was discouraged to dance ballet because I am black. When I was 8 years old, one of my ballet teachers told me that they weren’t putting much effort into the black ballerinas because she said they end up getting fat anyways. I knew it would be really hard to reach my goal to become a ballerina but I was not planning on giving up on my dream. At seventeen, I started performing at the dance theatre of Harlem and at 18, I got hired at the National Ballet Company here in Amsterdam. A few years ago I got to dance in Beyonce’s music video ‘’Freedom’’. If it wasn’t for my adoptive mom and sister, I am not sure I would have survived. I have been angry for a long time but I have decided to leave the past behind. Of course, it makes me who I am today but also I want to look forward to a bright future. I am not afraid of obstacles because I know that I am strong enough to survive anything.“

“In the late 50’s my dad was on his way to become a successful composer when he met my mother at a music festival right outside of London. She was a beautiful girl from The Netherlands who studied piano and that summer they fell in love. Back then there was no easy way to keep in touch so they promised to come back to the festival the following year. The next year my mother returned to the festival but my dad never showed up. He had got a job as a composer for a ballet company and he had fallen in love with a ballerina. It was quite devastating for my mother and after the festival she went back home. Later on she went to study piano in Vienna. One day she received a letter from a friend asking her if she remembered a certain David from the festival. He had spoken about my mother and had said that he would love to see her again. In spite of what had happened she decided to visit him. They spent the day together which went rather awkward. By the end of the day he brought her back to the station and just before she left he said: ‘’Well that is a pity’’. That one sentence suddenly broke the ice and that is when it all started. After a while they got married. My father became successful and that is why they decided to stay in London. They first had my brother and a few years later I was born. When I was three years old my father got a job offer at the conservatory of Twente here in The Netherlands. We moved to a very small and peaceful village. Still I never felt completely at ease. I ‘d rather spend my days at home than in school. Music was a big part of my upbringing. Whenever I heard the sound of a violin I would react so strongly that my parents decided to buy me a violin when I turned five. When I turned eleven my parents took me to violin classes on the in Amsterdam. Over here I felt a sense of belonging so when I finished school I decided to study in Amsterdam. Because of my music career I have been traveling and performing all over the place but this year I get to perform in Amsterdam during the Prinsengracht concert. For me this is a dream come true. Playing outside on the canals in front of all these people and moreover this concert is just around the corner of where I used to study violin when I was only eleven years old.”

When I left Syria the war just started. I was twenty-two when I got selected for a scholarship in Spain, Granada to study fine arts. Unlike many Syrians I came here on a visa and so I’m not a refugee. Before coming Spain I used to study art in Damascus and work as a DJ. While living in Granada I kept working as a dj and last summer I even got to go to Ibiza to perform with big headliners. It was such an amazing experience. After a few months I returned to my apartment in Madrid. All of a sudden I got a message from my best friend who lives in London. He is also from Syria and are still really close. He send me a ticket to come and hang out with him in Brussels for a few days. We have that kind of friendship where we send each other plane tickets. I went to Brussels and we had a lot of fun. When we got to the airport we both realized we didn’t want to go home so we said why not go to Amsterdam? We skipped our flight and we bought train tickets to Amsterdam. From the moment I arrived to Amsterdam Central Station I said to my friend: “This is it. I’m in love, I’m moving here.’’ He was laughing and thought I was joking but after a few days when I returned to Madrid I packed my stuff and moved to Amsterdam. That was about seven months ago and now I have finally found an apartment here and I’m excited for the future.”

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I met Ribal at BenchesCollective – BankjesCollectief a really awesome initiative in Amsterdam which transforms public space into a meeting place for everyone. BenchesCollective is a movement that organizes the largest open-air café in the world consisting of ‘opened’ benches on the pavement in front of houses, in the park or on a city square. Together with BenchesCollective I created 2 portraits to share stories of those who are a part of the movement. I believe it’s initiatives like these and people like Ribal that make our city into this incredible place.

A bench host decides what he or she wants to serve: a nice cup of coffee, home baked cake, a marble competition or dancing lesson. At the opened benches you meet your neighbours. From students, young families and chatty grannies to awesome people like Ribal. The next open-air café is on July 1st & 2nd. It’s a really nice way to meet new people so if you are in Amsterdam next weekend make sure to check it out.