It is time to change again. Which has been the case for a while now. I have left the development sector over 6 months ago, which still – in all honesty – gives me a bit of a heartache (how I loved the people I got to work with and the cause I worked for!). But it is in many ways sweet sorrow. It was time to move on, to follow my own authentic journey after an authentic partnership journey.

There are more committed and incredible colleagues and activists with – I believe – a much deeper understanding of what authentic partnership means, and what development collaboration and solidarity should look like. They were already working on it and they will continue to take it further. Stepping out, for me was also me taking the authentic step, younger generations should take the reins, especially from the countries I worked for and with. They have and should have the power to make the changes they need and want.

But what is next? I’ve stepped into a new world, a Dutch world, where we make the essence of life, drinking water and try to preserve the best of what mother earth offers us, nature. I’m starting to slowly connect to this field, I already felt a deep connection to the sea, which is only 100 meters from my home, the river IJssel I grew up next to, which actually now feeds the source of my drinking water, IJsselmeer, the dunes where my son loves to run down and I just love to stare in the distance.  It is a complex world as well, where over the last years, the reality of climate change and the availability of sweet water in our Dutch Delta is becoming a serious problem, both for our human needs and nature’s needs. One of the things I’ve already noticed in my new field, the distinction between human needs and nature’s needs are blurring, which fits my understanding of the world. We have always been part of nature, setting ourselves aside with technology and as owners or rulers of nature is coming out of an economic and modern way of thinking that is showing us an incredibly harsh reality right now. The consequences are dire for all forms of life and the surroundings we now live in.

My role is not focusing on dealing with these root causes per se, but I do try to weave them into the conversations I have and paint a bigger picture. I think this is already one of my added values here, coming from a sector which always looked at the heart of the matter, with all the complexities, challenges and often excruciating consequences of the situation in mind. Now, I ask questions around where do our (chemical) resources come from (what are we colonizing still and are we colonizing our resources of the future? Both in what we extract and pollute in creating potable water), what is the real source of our water (regionally our IJsselmeer, or should we go much further upstream to the River Rhine?), why do we only look at sweet water quantities and not at its quality? Do we really still believe we need to conquer water, rule it, maintain it, or can we actually live and let it flow besides and with us? Can we trust water after centuries of looking at it as the enemy? I’m making it sound slightly black and white, but I think all these questions reflect the transition we are in as a water and nature sector as well as a society. We need to reinvent how we treat our water and nature, or otherwise these resources will no longer be able to offer us their partnership. Because in the end I did move sector, but my values moved with me. A deep believe that building sustainable and authentic relationships are the core of the best human experience and how we can best preserve our society at large and on a personal level, the communities we live in the natural world we are part of.

Another thing that has changed, I feel inspired to follow my own art path. It is one of those things that feels right now. I put together two exhibitions as part of a local art route in the past two years and the fun and joy this has given me is immense. In the upcoming weeks there is another art initiative I’ll be joining, an art route in churches in the village and surrounding villages I grew up in. I’ll slowly transform this space therefore into an art space. I hope you’ll join me on this new leg of my authentic journey.