“It was really nice, no, it was amazing!’

Those were the words of a Syrian man on the bus back to the azc in Oog in Al, after a great afternoon at Play-in Utrecht.

Under the coordination of NL Cares, employees of the Chamber of Commerce invited residents of the asylum seekers’ centers in Utrecht to spend an afternoon at the indoor amusement park. We went inside in pairs, consisting of one Chamber of Commerce employee and one asylum seekers’ center resident. While one pair fanatically set out to cover all the holes, the other preferred to stand beside the course to chat and get to know each other or to practice some phrases of Dutch.

We ended the afternoon in the arcade hall, which was surely the highlight. While enjoying a drink, people enthusiastically raced cars, did air hockey and pinball.

It was a very nice afternoon of meeting, relaxing and building bridges. Thank you NL Cares and Chamber of Commerce for this great day!