In the summer, tens of thousands of volunteers joined the Red Cross and other organizations to help in Wallonia. Solidarity in Belgium is still great. There are still dozens of volunteer initiatives on Facebook and people go to the affected area every week.
The 1000hands foundation is one of the organizations that is active in the region. “The idea was to rebuild 500 volunteers, 1000 hands, in one day an entire village, but that was a bit too optimistic,” says Guy van Nieuwenhuysen, board member of the organization. The foundation was established in September with the aim of providing aid after the crisis in the reconstruction of the affected villages.
Help from all angles
For example, the municipality of Turnhout and 3 surrounding municipalities have sent their technical personnel to the Walloon village of Prayon via the foundation. Companies in Turnhout and the surrounding area were also called up. Prayon is grateful for the help. For example, a park has been sown again and a sports hall has been rebuilt, where it will be possible to shower and cook in the future. “It really should become a community center for people who still live on the first floor of their house,” says Van Nieuwenhuysen. of the 4 Flemish municipalities. But because of the large amount of work that has to be done, the foundation is now also active in Chênée.
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