On April 14, 2024, another Spelletjesdag (Games Day) took place in Amsterdam for LGBT+ asylum seekers and refugees from post-Soviet countries. More than 60 people participated in this event, which lasted about five hours and included an information session, a quiz game, and a game called “Weerwolven.”
Oranje Fonds and Het Blauwe Fonds finance this series of events. The representatives of Het Blauwe Fonds, Ibrahim Cirak and Bas Meeuwsen, visited the event and were impressed by the degree to which participants were engaged during the information session.
The informational session covered various aspects of STDs and the Dutch healthcare system. The speaker was Alexandra Volgina, a political activist from Russia who lives and works in the Netherlands. The session was very lively and interactive, with about 50 people participating. It’s no surprise that the session lasted much longer than expected, extending to 2.5 hours. Participants asked the organizers to invite Alexandra to the next Spelletjesdag event to coordinate another information session covering the same topic.
The session began with introductions, where each attendee introduced themselves and briefly shared their personal experience with the healthcare system in the Netherlands. Then, after summarizing the initial feedback, it was clarified that there are indeed more positive aspects in the healthcare system. Alexandra, together with the audience, discussed the issue of HIV prevention and chronic viral hepatitis, as well as the peculiarities of receiving therapy for these diseases. The consensus was that accessing such therapy poses no significant difficulties in The Netherlands.
The issue of drug use and abuse was also discussed. While almost everyone was aware of the twelve-step support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous, few attendees knew that no database in the Netherlands registers those who use drugs (in Post-Soviet countries, this is a common practice that causes considerable problems, stigma and discrimination for many people). Alexandra emphasized that HIV-positive individuals, as well as those infected with hepatitis viruses (B, C, etc.), are not outcasts for the healthcare system of the Netherlands but rather “ordinary, normal” patients.
The next Spelletjesdag event will take place on May 11, 2024, and Alexandra will again coordinate the information session.
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