Netherlands
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Hello everyone and thank you for reading this profile. I am totally new at this, so please bare with me and feel free to ask anything you like.
My name is Pradeep.
I come from Surinam and living in the Netherlands for about 20 years already. Now 40 years old, I speak Dutch & English fluently, a few words in Spanish/German/Hindi/Russian.
Last December, my mom and grandmother moved to the Netherlands as well. My grandma and mom are living together in Ede and I live apart in Utrecht. I do would describe us as warm, family minded, easy going and caring.
Since my mom is taking care of my grandma (90 years in JAN 2022) for already couple of years (since 2015) and now very tired, I have decided to take my grandma with me for half of the month.
In general granny has a very lovely vibe, likes to play board games or cards, watches TV and has naps during the day.
Because I have an office job, I can't have her on her own at my place, so I am trying to arrange that I can work from home for two weeks in the month. Once this is arranged, I can execute my plan. I will still be working from home, so I can't be with her during those hours. That is why I need someone to "watch" my grandma during that time.
So my grandma will go to my mom for two weeks and the other two weeks she will be with me.
I hope to find someone who can help me with the two weeks at my place.
For the rest, we enjoy walks in different cities or nature, restaurants, cooking or just watch a movie.
A funny fact: she is crazy about MC Donalds.
Charity Work
Elderly Companionship
Gardening
Help around the house
Utrecht is in the middle of the country and carries a rich history. It is not as colourful as the Roman Empire, but was the border of that empire. being conquered several times by the French it shows many interesting places. Since Utrecht is in the middle of the country, other interesting cities are close by and easily accessible.
You will be part of the family and join in all activities that we do. All costs will be on us of course.
We do value personal hygiene and we like a clean and tidy house and we have been told that we are pretty strict with that :) At the same time I will show you of course how things are to be done. Things that surprise people are that we don't walk with the shoes in the house, but we take them off in the corridor. Breadcrumbs, spills from drinks etc are cleaned, wiped or vacuumed while others just swipe those on the floor. When we come home from being outside, we wash our hands. Also, we shower twice a day. Just some examples.
My grandma speaks English and Dutch and can teach you as well. She used to garden a lot and can tell you a lot about roses and gerbras. She used to do a lot of pottery and make a lot of her own clothes. In short, she was a very artistic woman with the ability to still surprise me. Now I try to find parks, animal Zoo's, nice cities to walk her so we can break the routine.
At her age, she is not very interested in new dishes and mostly comfortable with her own food (Surinam, like the pictures). I would be happy to teach you those as well. Turkish, Greek, Italian food is also fine for her.
I studied at the university of Utrecht and work in a pharmaceutical company as quality assurance. I can teach how to make a cv and how to prepare for job interviews.
Also I provide basic training for Quality Assurance in Pharmaceuticals. This can also be used for medical devices and food industry.
For the rest I like to do sports, read, watch movies, cook (Surinam cuisine is known to be very good, since it is a mix of Indian, Indonesian, Chinese) go for a bike tour or just take the car and go to some other city and roam around.
I like history and love to read about the history of a place when I visit. I try to learn guitar (somehow I fail miserably, I play used to play & teach tabla which is an Indian percussion instrument, and I used to practice and teach taekwondo).
In my earlier years I was teaching meditation which, for some reason, I stopped practising. One of my goals is to pick it up again, along with healthy lifestyle.
Also, I my charity projects for Ukraine and my home country, Surinam.
A partner in crime in any of these activities mentioned above is always welcome.
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
My grandma is forgetful and needs someone to remind her what she needs to do. The help that is required, is mostly making sure that my grandma has her breakfast/lunch/fruits/drinks (especially drinks on regular times), making sure that she remembers to do everything, maybe play a game with her sing with her or just keeps her company and explain to her what is on the TV at the moment. There are many moments that are empty since she wanders off to her own world or goes for a nap. It is fine to leave her for a while with the tv, as long as you have a quick peek to check on her from time to time.
We enjoy cooking and cook mostly vegetarian. In case we prepare some meat, it is mostly chicken or fish. For the food part, you will not regret :)
Once a month, granny will go to stay with my mom for about two weeks. When my grandma is staying with me, your help will be required. When my grandma will be staying with my mom, your help is not needed, but we might ask you for small things. But the idea is that those days you will have the time for yourself.
Ethnically we are Indian so we do know a bit about the philosophy. We don't do prayers, but do (try) to practice meditation. Since my grandma went to a Christian school, we also know a lot about that. The beauty about Surinam people is the general thought of 'all religions have their own beauty' and there is no right or wrong in it.
Play the well know songs like Ave Maria, Amazing Grace or some songs from her childhood, she will sing her lungs out.
Difficulties with my grandma.
- She is most comfortable with her own people, those are my mom, aunt, uncle and myself. With any new person she
needs time to adapt and get used to. Her first reaction is defence and ignoring you, but this will fade after some days
when she gets more familiar with you.
- She forgets, so we need to be very patient with her and answer the same question time after time
- Especially in the beginning, it is difficult to find the balance between being strict and still kind to her, and also to reach
her in a proper way. I guess this comes with age.
- Of course I will always be there to help and support
Personality
the kind of personality that we are looking for:
- someone who is calm and patient
- emphatic
- respectful
- communicates clearly
A personality like an energy bomb is also lovely, but will not work in our case since that will scare my grandma very much :)
Thank you for reading and feel free to ask any questions you may have!
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
German: Beginner
Spanish: Beginner
Russian: Beginner
This host offers a language exchange
Me and my grandma can offer you to Dutch/English and I am interested in learning either Russian/Ukrainian/German/Spanish. When it comes to Russian, I speak a few words, my German and Spanish is slightly better
You will have your own room and utilities will be provided. Since you will be part of our 'family', you will have no expenses at all and will join us in every activity that we will take. Please note that this is a no smoking house.
In your time off you are free to do whatever you like and I would be happy to show you around, also other cities.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
WIFI at my place is strong and stable. Of course you are more than welcome to do your own work when I am home, and for obvious reasons download of illegal stuff is prohibited :)
There is free parking on walking distance from my home
One
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
