My mother is the second from the bottom left. Hertha Gullit is the one behind the man holding the LP. Rita Dorothy Lijkwan is the one next to him also holding the record, mother of Serge Tsai.
Have you seen the documentary "Sisters from Suriname"? I thought it was beautiful. My mother Hertha Gladys Ritfeld, was also part of the group of women who left for the Netherlands to work in nursing. Although she herself is not seen in the documentary, she unfortunately passed away young, I recognize some of her friends. Especially Nel Kappel Stadwijk, mother of Ettienne and Derrick Stadwijk founder of SoulNL .
I had heard those stories about the journey, the bathhouses and such before, but now after watching the documentary, I can put it into perspective a little better.
Saying goodbye to your family and friends without knowing when you will see them again, followed by a three-week boat trip to the Netherlands, seems heartbreaking to me. I can also vividly imagine the homesickness. It must not have been easy to leave warm Suriname for cold Netherlands as a girl at that time, with houses without heating, without showers, as the sisters from Suriname tell us, crying and laughing.
Even with TV, the internet and social media, it can be a culture shock to arrive all alone in a different country with a different culture, let alone in that time.
Yet I never really heard my mother complain about her time as a nurse in Rotterdam where she had received her training or Deventer where she went to work afterwards and where my brother's eldest son was born. It is exactly like you see those nurses in that documentary. They take things as they are and just make the best of it, as if it were nothing. They deal with it.
This reminds me of the attitude of the women in 'Hidden Figures '. The scene where Mary Jackson states that she can't get an education because no Black people are allowed in, to which Octavia replies, 'What are you going to do about it?'. End of scene. The next thing you see is her in a courtroom getting her rights and becoming the first Black person to not only get in, but to pass with flying colors.
I think this group also laid an important foundation for many women in Suriname. The country was perhaps still developing at the time, but it was also reasonably prosperous. I have not heard from any of the women that they lacked anything. What drove them was ambition.
They didn't like education, they wanted much more. The girls of that time wanted to be the world, travel and more than the limited opportunities they were offered in a developing society. Of course (almost) everyone wants that and it may seem easy, but just do it.
How do you tell those people that you don't really like the food without offending them? And what do you do when you find out that they think your food stinks? Today's Dutch supermarkets with kouseband and mangoes are a testament to the foundation these women laid.
And I'm not even talking about the actual work they did in nursing. Even now, Mrs. Joyce Boucke does volunteer work. I recognize so many of my mother's friends in her.
Nurses everywhere work hard, but I have special respect for Surinamese nurses. It may not be so clear in the documentary, but from personal experience I know they are special.
Not only in the Netherlands have Surinamese nurses managed to survive through all circumstances, but also in Suriname today, where the situation in the hospitals is sometimes really miserable, the nurses manage through everything.
Because of my grief at the time, I can hardly remember who they were when my mother passed away, but through the tears I could see them, those nurses in the AZ. My brother Jeff even brought cakes for the sisters in the Neurology department, in the St. Vincent hospital, after my sister was buried. To show our gratitude for their patience, their support, their hard work.
In this day and age, it is only understandable that many people leave for the Netherlands for a better life. Every society has its own challenges, but nursing is hard, physically but also mentally. Sisters, wherever you are, wherever you are, whatever your choice, I am enormously grateful to you. Without you, the ins and outs of hospitals would be impossible.
A special thanks to this group of nurses who were groundbreaking in more ways than one. Your ambition, humor and perseverance, made it possible for me and so many other Surinamese girls, to study in the Netherlands. When I sometimes lay shivering under my duvet next to my stove I thought "how did mom and dad do this?" Then I knew I had to show character as Mrs. Kappel called it in the documentary.
You have not only paved the way for those of us who came later, you have set the bar high. As a result, I will strive for that height, that excellence that you exemplify, as long as I live. Not only to make you proud, but so that you can live on.
Also read: Tineke's Healthy Hair Growth Spray, the hairspray named after my sister.
You can watch the documentary here: Sisters from Suriname NPO
