What DWARSers do: Becoming a chamber member!

In our series 'What DWARSers do'; become a Member of Parliament! The following candidates are from our region: Rik Grashoff (Delft), Ilias Mahtab (Leiden), Dirk van der Bosch (Leiden), Maya (Leiden), Michel Klijmij (Gouda) and Jakobien Groeneveld (Zoetermeer). We wish them very good luck in the candidate referendum and hope to see them again at DWARS.

Jakobien Groeneveld (40, Zoetermeer)

"In 1993, I founded DWARS Zoetermeer with two other people. One of them was Farid Tabarki, no stranger to GroenLinks. We had a poster campaign in the city centre of Zoetermeer. We pasted all the pillars in the city centre with DWARS posters, late at night, very secretly. At the last pillar a policeman stood. I still suspect he was quietly waiting for us. Under his watchful eye, we were able to take down all the posters again, one by one. From mega-cool campaigners to children who got a stand. But oh well, that's how you learn the trade in practice. First the posters, then the plush! ;)"

Michel Klijmij (35, Gouda)

"Tonight to DWARS, where I was active 10 years ago as a member, congress president, candidate board member and all kinds of activities. One of the most fun was together with Mohammed Mohandis, then active for the JS and also as a councillor for the Labour Party. To draw attention to the importance of sex education in education, we plastered the town hall with condoms. A lot of attention and the subject was immediately on the agenda. Hopefully tonight will be as much fun as before on the old nest!"

Maya van der Steenhoven (23, Leiden)

"I used to be a member of Vuist, a club for politically active children with a club magazine vuist in which we wrote and circulated stories, still on typewriters and with staples. I was 12 at the time, which was really very cosy. But we even had letters to the editor!

My whole campaign of 'gas free' is also about how young people have a role to play in the transition. How it's their turn instead of my generation deciding it for them!"

Dirk van den Bosch (22, Leiden)

"I founded Dwars Leiden! And then the youth city council. The first was after I was at an election meeting at the Stedelijk Gymnasium in Leiden (as a student) and caught the attention of GroenLinks there. I then found out that DWARS Leiden did not exist. So that's how it happened. :)"

Ilias Mahtab (20, Leiden)

"Solidarity, equality and inclusiveness - that is the strength of the Netherlands. Our open, colourful and social society should be a home for all Dutch people. This can be done by breaking with short-sighted policies based on individualism. And by opting for a sustainable and social vision that everyone can identify with."

Rik Grashoff (5, Delft)

We have not been able to reach Rik, but we like to tell an anecdote. After one of the Meetups, Rik and DWARSers travelled home by train. Unfortunately, we had just missed the train. So we went to get something at the AH to go. Rik grabbed some small coffee cups as he walked out. On the train, we found out why: he had brought a bottle of organic wine and was treating the DWARSers present. After this, we had a pleasant and good discussion on the train back to Delft. Definitely a local we are proud of, then!