Sometimes, a bad day can turn into a bad week, a bad month or even a bad year. And then, a friendly person that has an open ear as well as an open mind and listens to us and our problems can be of great help. But what if we do not have such a person in our lives? Then there is the organization Bel me wel, founded by Saisha Partiman. The psychologist and a team of volunteers provide call-backs to people that are in urgent need of emotional support and try to help them over the phone. In this episode, Saisha talks about how she came up with the idea, why this work makes her so happy and how she manages to protect her own mental health during her work. 

AmsterDames Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastamsterdames

Website Bel me wel:

When she was only a few weeks old, Dilani Butink was adopted by a Dutch family and was brought from Sri Lanka to the Netherlands. Years later, she found out that the information in her birth certificate is not correct. Was Dilanis's mother forced to give her baby away, was Dilani stolen from her mother or even sold to a Dutch adoption agency? She is not the only one with such a mysterious case. From the 70's on, about 40.000 children from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or South America were brought to the Netherlands by adoption agencies. Now, Dilani Butink wants to know the truth and is sueing the Dutch state to finally stand up to it's responsibility. 

AmsterDames Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastamsterdames

Pink Cloud Photo Project: https://www.instagram.com/pink.cloud.project/

People who are on the autism spectrum often struggle with social interaction and spontaneous situations. Saskia Maas, co-owner of Amsterdam's comedy club Boom Chicago, came up with an original idea to help teenagers and young adults. Her organisation Inter-Acting offers workshops for people on the autism spectrum, using techniques of improvisation, to make them feel more comfortable in unexpected situations they are confronted with in daily life. Because after all, life is not scripted either, right?

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/

Website Inter-Acting: https://interacting.amsterdam/

Between 1956 and 1984 thousands of unmarried pregnant women were forced to give their babies away. Yet, many people in the Netherlands have never heard about this. Neither did freelance journalist and writer Christel Don, until she heard the story of one of these women and decided to write a book about the Dutch Afstandsmoeders to get attention for the injustice that has been done. But during the process of writing this book, she came across another dark chapter of Dutch history that also nobody ever talks about...

AmsterDames Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastamsterdames

Christel Don Website: http://christeldon.nl/

If you want to learn more about Afstandsmoeders, check out the podcast Separated by Force: https://broadcastamsterdam.nl/shows/separated-by-force/

Please note: The appointment in the law case of Trudy Scheele-Gertsen that I mentioned in the outro has been postponed from 6th of September to 24th of September.

In our society, girls are still taught to be nice, careful, and to not take any risks. The Amsterdam-based NGO Project Fearless, however, wants to encourage girls to get out of their comfort zone, take risks and to learn new things that are not necessarily considered 'girly', such as skateboarding or boxing. In this episode, founder Merida Miller talks about gender stereotypes, the programs of her NGO, and its visible impact on the girls.

Website Project Fearless: https://www.projectfearless.org/

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/

It is a win-win-win situation. Getting some physical exercise, seeing Amsterdam from a unique perspective and protecting the environment. Kajak Kollektief ticks all the boxes. A few months ago, Marlene 'Leni' Breitenegger came up with the idea for her own NGO that helps to clean up the canals in Amsterdam by kayaking. In this episode, she talks about her inspiration to found this organization, weird things she finds and how the pandemic has affected the amount of trash and plastic in the water.

AmsterDames Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastamsterdames

Kajak Kollektief Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kajakkollektief/

Plenty of women experience pain during sex but feel either too ashamed to talk about it or simply believe that this is the way it is supposed to be. Vaginismus coach Jamie Klomp wants to change the misconceptions of female sexuality and helps women to change their mindset that sex can actually be enjoyable for them, too. In this interview, we talk about vaginas in dutch school books, sex in porn and what happens during Jamie's coaching sessions. And at the end, there is also a surprise :-)

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/

Jamie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamieelisecoaching

Is it just a crush? Am I bisexual? Am I gay? Women who thought of themselves to be hetero but who suddenly develop feelings for another woman often feel very lost. Gender and sexual orientation couch Diana Arkeveld experienced the same in her past and now wants to help other women in similar situations. For that, she founded Vrouw uit de kast (Woman out of the closet). In this interview, she talks about the fear of leaving a perfect life, the repression of your sexual identity and what happens during her coaching sessions. 

**Disclaimer: Even though Diana refers to herself as a gender orientation coach in this episode, she now finds that the term gender and sexual orientation coach fits her work better.

AmsterDames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amsterdamespodcast/

Vrouw uit de kast E-Book with AmsterDames discount: https://vrouwuitdekast.nl/amsterdames/

A big wig, impressive heels and a huge ego: Lady Galore is fabulous and she is one of the most famous drag queens in the Netherlands. She has traveled the world for her famous drag shows, but she is also a passionate activist for the LGBT community. Even if that means that she has to march in heels. No matter, what it is, she does it GALORE style.  

AmsterDames Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastamsterdames

Instagram Lady Galore: https://www.instagram.com/the_lady_galore

Has learning Dutch always been on your to-do list but somehow, you never really got to it? Or maybe you already have a certain Dutch level, but you feel too shy to practice it in your daily life? Then Praat Nederlands Met Me is perfect for you. The founders Frederique Fabels and Ida van Koolwijk started a project to match Dutch natives with non-natives in order to practice the language. So, no more excuses, just get started ;-)

AmsterDames Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/podcastamsterdames

Website Praat Nederlands met me: https://www.pnmm.nl/