Leonie van Bruggen (29) is close friends with Lhomme (19) from Guinea. The contact started about one and a half years ago when Leonie became a volunteer at a language café of Welkom in Utrecht. She was paired with Lhomme, but there was a lockdown almost immediately, and the language café had to close. Leonie then decided to invite Lhomme to her home.

The first time he came to her home, he was very shy and a bit nervous. He had never been to anyone’s home in the Netherlands before. But then he saw a picture of Nelson Mandela and it made him so happy. Now they still speak to each other at least once a week. Almost always at Leonie’s home, but sometimes Leonie comes to visit him in the asylum seekers’ centre.

Usually Lhomme cooks and takes the food to Leonie. Sometimes they cook together. After dinner there is the Dutch lesson.

Leonie and Lhomme have become so familiar with each other that it feels like they are family. That is why Leonie helps him when he finds something difficult or when something is new for him. And vice versa, she learns a lot from him, for instance about Africa, a continent she also has a bond with: during her studies she did an internship in Cape Town and she was in Rwanda for her Master’s research on peace building in this country.

“Lhomme is just like my little brother,” she says. “I enjoy the personal contact.” She laughs. “And the delicious food! Lhomme is very caring and that’s nice too. It is just very cosy!”

“Leonie is very important to me,” Lhomme continued. “She has become my family. I met her parents at Christmas and it was like going to my house.” He is Muslim and they have also celebrated the sacrificial feast together and eaten the iftar (the meal after a day of fasting during Ramadan).

Lhomme has been in the Netherlands for three years now. After having lived in Maastricht for two months, he came to Utrecht. By now it really is his city and he knows many people here. Dutch people, people from Guinea and other countries. He is social, very active and wants to learn a lot. School is very important to him. He gets the chance to develop himself, he learns to play the guitar, taekwondo and kickboxing. Moreover, by being busy like this, he can forget his worries. His head is sometimes too full of them, but all this helps him.

His dream? To become a police inspector – if possible!