Operation Friendship - Netherlands

Operation Friendship was founded in the Netherlands in the early seventies. In the beginning the exchange of youths was only between the USA and the Netherlands. In the mid eighties some 100 youths travelled over the ocean back and fore. The Dutch cities participating were at that time Amersfoort, Soest/Baarn, Rhenen/Veenendaal, Zutphen and Vorden. In the nineties Eibergen and Doetinchem were added to the list.

In the beginning of the nineties European exchanges were set up. First to the countries of Great Britain, like Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Also Sweden and the eastern European countries were discovered to exchange with like Estonia and the Czeck Republic, later on to the Ukraine and Hungary. So in Operation Friendship the Netherlands play their part in already having had exchanges with nine different countries, even having youths travelling to countries at the same time as hosting youths from other countries.

To organise the travelling and hosting Operation Friendship - The Netherlands has a national board of three people who co-ordinate the hosting and travelling for the different places in the Netherlands and to communicate with the International Board and the National Boards of other countries. The different OF chapters in the Netherlands have their own Boards, called the Local Board for that particular place. These Local Boards bring together the youths and their families. In the case of travelling the Local Board provides the travelling group with an Advisor, who travels with the group. In the case of hosting a group from one of the O.F countries, the Local Board, together with the host families, drafts a programme for two or three weeks.

They also organise the fund-raising aspect for it. This fund-raising is done through the youths and their families. About three or four times a year, representatives of the Local Boards have a meeting with the National Board to discuss the actual and future exchanges and to evaluate the summer programmes experienced by the youths.

Once a year there is an International Meeting where all the O.F countries meet and discuss the exchanges of the last and coming year.

The Netherlands is a rather flat country with a lot of water: rivers, lakes and the North Sea. You can see a lot of things that is related to the everlasting struggle of living against the water. The Netherlands is positioned in the deltas of number of rivers. In hosting programmes there is always some of this struggle to be seen. But also ancient trading cities along the rivers, which were founded in the middle ages, are worthwhile to visit. Also the many castles or the palaces of the Royal Family. Of course Amsterdam never fails on the tour through the Netherlands, neither an amusement park.

Besides all this sightseeing there is lot of time left for partying, swimming and BBQing. So Operation Friendship is a lot of fun in a different culture with different things to see and to experience.

If you are interested and your age is between 14 and 21 years, you can contact the Secretary of the National Board of O.F. - The Netherlands as mentioned below. Thank you for reading this page and we hope you contact us. See you!!!

Secretary of the National Board of Operation Friendship - The Netherlands

Henk Brouwer, Veenendaal [e-mail: [email protected]]