“This is Noah and his name means ‘comfort’ and ‘serenity.’ We as parents have experienced exactly that in the first three months of his life. He is such a wonderfully serene young boy! We hope he will stay like this when he grows up, and that he will be good at listening to people.

“Our home is very lively, because I have a brother and two little sisters. I am in fifth grade at the elementary school Het Zaanplein and I really enjoy spelling and recess. Hanging out with my friends and having fun. After school I often go to a center to cook, draw or to make a tie-dye t-shirt.

When I grow up, I really want to become a doctor to help sick people. To me that’s more important than earning a lot of money. My wish for Zaanstad? That more people do good things for each other. It makes you happy.”

“Three years ago, love brought me from the Czech Republic to Zaandam. Do I feel at home here? Absolutely! I have made good friends and I know many nice people in my neighborhood. Whenever we see neighbors while walking through town, we greet each other. I find that very beautiful.

Also, I love the Dutch honesty when it comes to communication. Czechs can learn a thing or two from that. In contrast, Czechs are very friendly people and want to make sure that their guests are feeling at home in their house. I am proud of this characteristic of my people.”

“Originally, I’m from Surinam and as an ex-colony of the Netherlands, the country continues to learn how to stand on its own two feet. I have proven this myself too, in a way: ‘I can do it, I matter and am strong!’ For years I have worked as a nurse and made sure that there was food on the table.

“As a baby I came to Wormerveer and I’ve been really enjoying living here. It’s more difficult for my parents, because they miss their family in Albania very much. But still, we have a better life here. Thankfully, nobody bullies me because of my heritage. Even if they did, I wouldn’t care about it. I am very proud of my heritage and I can only recommend everyone to visit Albania once. I myself go back every summer to enjoy time with family, the mountains, the sea and the fun festivities.”

“For my own safety I cannot show my face. I fled from Myanmar and even my family doesn’t know where I am. They are also hiding from soldiers in my country, because of my situation. They are looking for me, because I have presumably done something illegal by helping Rohingya. Going back would be life threatening, but I still don’t know if I’m allowed to stay in the Netherlands. I’ve been living in Zaandam for a week. I try to be hopeful, but it’s difficult. I have a lot of nightmares.”

“One year ago, I moved from Amsterdam to Zaandam. I immediately felt at home and was heartly welcomed by my neighbors. I grew up as only child at my home in Ivory Coast. Yet, I was surrounded by many uncles, aunts and cousins. Here in the Netherlands, I noticed people differentiate between a household-family and the rest of your family. This was new for me. To strengthen the family feeling in my neighborhood I always wave at my neighbors. For me this is a nice way of showing that we are all ‘family.’”

“I fled the Philippines, because of a very scary ex of my mother. After that she met my stepdad through a dating site, with whom she got married four years later. Since then, we live with him in the Zaan region. Many people feel lonely and it’s my dream to make them see that they matter. My wish for Zaanstad is that we can be a multicultural society without prejudice. So that everyone can live in peace and we can enjoy each other’s cultures.”

Princess Loren wants to share stories of people – through word and image – with the world.

“Fifty years ago, I moved from the Caribbean Island Trinidad to the Netherlands. Together with my father I’ve played throughout all of Europe as musician; I play the steeldrum. We had fun everywhere we went. About forty years ago love brought me to Zaandam.

Life here is good, and yet I believe that the Netherlands can learn a thing or two from my culture. Because, oh man, people are good at complaining here! Take my tennis buddies for example. I jokingly call them grumpy old men, because they think everything used to be better in the old days. No way! Life now is also great!”