Bonaire, like other islands in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, faces a considerable challenge in preventing vital heritage from being lost. In 1996, the Mangazina di Rei Foundation was founded to meet this challenge. The Mangazina di Rei is a former storehouse located in the middle of an area of natural beauty. Nowadays, one of its main purposes is to create experiences that bring Bonaire’s culture to life for the people of the island.

We reach so many different groups that it’s hard for me to choose. I am proud of all the activities we organise. But if I have to name one, then Talento Kultural springs to mind. It’s a project that brings local music and dance to the attention of children and young people.  The participants work under the guidance of coaches who have extensive experience in the local music and dance scene. They are given lessons in music, singing or dance, always in relation to a particular theme. I say lessons, but they are more like jam sessions. After getting involved for a few months, they start to master the instrument they are playing. 

Each phase always ends with a performance. Talento Kultural is all about the sound of Bonaire, the island’s own special brand of swing, and that’s something the kids really get into. Besides learning to play an instrument, it enables them to discover their own talents. It’s a great way to boost their self-esteem and build their self-confidence. They also learn about the context of the songs, through field trips in the island’s interior (or kunuku), for example, or guest lectures by older people who help them grasp the deeper meaning of the songs.

New children and young people continue to join the project. Participants who have been involved for a while sometimes take on the role of coach. This fosters their personal development and is a way of constantly breathing new life into the project.

We have noticed that coaches without a teaching background sometimes lack pedagogical insights. With this in mind, we are now working on a learning pathway to equip them with the skills they need. We do this with the help of two students from HAN University of Applied Sciences.

Another project well worth mentioning is the Learning Orchestra. This is of course an established initiative with plenty of experience and a tried-and-tested approach. We have entered into a partnership with them to give children from Bonaire the opportunity to play orchestral instruments that they would otherwise never have encountered on the island. The great thing about this collaboration is the productive interaction between the Learning Orchestra’s teachers and the coaches of Talento Kultural. Building on one another’s strategies has made them even more accessible.

For these music projects, we like to work with a full array of music teachers and coaches. These are mostly individuals, often members of a band. Local band Tutti Frutti is one of our regular partners. They also have a foundation with educational goals. By working with our projects, they become familiar figures to the children and young people they teach. And this in turn provides them with new recruits.

We also collaborate with a variety of other cultural organisations, the government, research institutions, local schools and higher education institutions in the Netherlands, with the aim of doing as much as we possibly can for the island. I am currently working from the Netherlands in an effort to obtain an overview of the subsidy opportunities for our work on Bonaire. We work with such a small team on the island and are always so focused on running our activities that we have next to no time and capacity to explore that side of things. It’s good to dive a little deeper into the funding situation here in the Netherlands so that we can form a clearer picture for our organisation.

What we are actually trying to do is look for pearls on the island. We shine a light on the pearls that Bonaire has to offer and seek to bring them to the attention of the population and visitors in various ways. By making people aware of what is precious in their own culture, you can create development opportunities and encourage entrepreneurship.

We have run several apprenticeship programmes that give schoolkids, students and underprivileged groups the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience with us. This not only offers them the chance to discover their talents but also to develop them, so that they are better equipped to enter the job market or embark on their studies.

We have succeeded in helping 70 to 80 young people over the past 15 years, perhaps more. The impetus for these apprenticeships comes from the government, which sometimes makes it difficult to build continuity in this area.

I studied Rural Development and went on to work as a facilitator. As a Dutch national working abroad, it’s important not to act like you know it all, but instead to focus on facilitating others. Shine a light on people from the local area. They are the ones who should be proud of their culture, and that pride should serve as the starting point.

It is also vital to keep an eye on how you connect with everyone. Make sure you cultivate goodwill, so that organisations and individuals are ready and willing to work together.

Another important point is engaging with people at grass roots level. You should never talk over their heads. In 2015, we set about renewing the Mangazina di Rei exhibition and we made a clear and conscious choice to involve the target group. As a result, we are now in a position to tell an authentic story that holds a genuine appeal for visitors.

During the Covid pandemic, we launched an online platform for course materials. This is going to be a new form of fundraising for us. By selling our courses digitally, we will be able to reach more people and raise more money for our projects.