{"id":305084,"date":"2026-03-25T15:33:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T14:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/?p=305084"},"modified":"2026-05-04T15:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T13:36:26","slug":"the-gambia-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/en\/the-gambia-blog","title":{"rendered":"A journey that stays with you: how The Gambia inspired us to take action"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The past few days at De Groene Linde have been marked by two special events. On 20 March, we celebrated the launch of Marianne\u2019s book, a milestone we as a team look back on with pride. Over the weekend of 21 March, we celebrated De Groene Linde\u2019s anniversary (2007). Both occasions brought people together and created a warm and familiar atmosphere. The involvement of our customers, colleagues and people from our local area remains something very special to us. It is precisely this connection that makes our work so worthwhile.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A visit to some good friends in The Gambia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wat veel mensen misschien niet weten, is dat Marianne en Ton eerder deze maand, van 3 tot 10 maart, in The Gambia waren. “We bezochten Carolien en haar man Seabas, die wonen in een kleine compound. De week die we daar doorbrachten heeft diepe indruk gemaakt.” Ton gaat verder: “Het leven is er eenvoudig en puur. De natuur is intens aanwezig en het dagelijkse ritme wordt gedragen door zorg voor elkaar. Mensen delen wat ze hebben en niemand staat er alleen voor. Dat hebben we van dichtbij mogen ervaren.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carolien & Ton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Seabas & Marianne<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

“Tijdens ons verblijf in The Gambia vertelde Seabas hoe belangrijk de bananendozen voor hem waren die hij jarenlang ontving via een Nederlandse stichting die hulpgoederen inzamelt en verstuurt. Carolien organiseerde die shippings speciaal voor hem. De inhoud van de dozen gaf hem niet alleen praktische steun, maar ook de mogelijkheid om als man bij te dragen aan het inkomen van het gezin. Het gaf hem eigenwaarde en zelfstandigheid. Dat verhaal raakte ons en is sindsdien blijven hangen.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Nederland zijn meerdere stichtingen actief die bananendozen verzamelen en naar Gambia verzenden. Carolien werkte jarenlang samen met Gambia for You. Nu zij samen met Seabas in Gambia woont, is dat stilgevallen. Ton: “Tijdens onze reis voelden we hoe waardevol het zou zijn om die keten van steun weer op gang te brengen. Daarom willen we vanaf 24 maart 2026 vanuit onze eigen regio opnieuw bananendozen en vergelijkbare pakketten gaan vullen en versturen. We nodigen klanten, collega\u2019s en iedereen uit de omgeving van harte uit om mee te doen.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From now on, you can drop off all sorts of useful items at De Groene Linde, and we\u2019ll take care of the rest.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For education and development, we welcome exercise books, pens, pencils, felt-tip pens, pencil cases, small rucksacks, educational materials for primary schools, calculators and children\u2019s books in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vocational training courses require sewing and fashion supplies such as thread, fabric, scissors and pins. Small tools such as hammers, pliers and screwdrivers are also needed. Gloves and safety goggles are useful for welding. Bicycles, children\u2019s bikes and bicycle parts are also required. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, there is a need for sanitary towels, nappies, warm coats and jumpers, as well as summer clothing made from light fabrics, good shoes for children and adults, sheets and towels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anything that fits into a banana box or that we can pack properly is welcome. Our brothers Arie and Ton will then ensure that the boxes and other items are sent safely and reliably via Gambia for You to Carolien, Seabas and their local community. We hope to be able to surprise them again this year with something lovely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Ton\u2019s motivations is to help people move forward in a respectful way and empower them. We believe that, through this project too, we can achieve something valuable together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019d like to contribute, you\u2019re very welcome. You can drop off your items at our showroom.
If you have any questions, please contact ton@degroenelinde.nl<\/a> or 06\u201111530308.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With fragrant regards,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ton Leeuwrik<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

l l De afgelopen dagen stonden bij De Groene Linde in het teken van twee bijzondere gebeurtenissen. Op 20 maart vierden we de boekpresentatie van Marianne, een mijlpaal waar we…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":305110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_title":"","_genesis_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1728],"tags":[3376,3378],"class_list":["post-305084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nieuwtjes","tag-gambia","tag-goede-doelen"],"acf":[],"meta_all":{"access_roles_list":""},"meta_all_flat":{"access_roles_list":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305084"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309576,"href":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305084\/revisions\/309576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/degroenelinde.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}