Ode to Sandrine Lafay | Fighting for a more humane world

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Sandrine Lafay is a woman who is taking determined steps to make a difference in the world and who has overcome many challenges along the way. Born in Groningen, Lafay has worked in various countries and projects over the years and has become a figure who has dedicated her life to creating a more humane and just world. Her time in the refugee camps on Lesbos strongly shaped her life. Lafay's story reflects not only a personal struggle, but also her striving to bring about greater social change.

Amsterdam: a personal and professional bond

Amsterdam plays an important role in Sandrine's life. She often visited the city as a child, as her aunt lived here. This was the first basis of Sandrine's connection with Amsterdam. But over time, her relationship with the city evolved into a more professional dimension. “Amsterdam is now one of the places where I feel at home,” she says. The fact that she lived in Amsterdam for two years helped her get to know the city on a deeper level. These days she works in Amsterdam and travels back to the city several times a week.

In her work at Open Embassy, a research agency that collects knowledge for, with and about newcomers, she offers assistance to people who are new to the Netherlands. In this way she works on social change. For Sandrine, Amsterdam is not only a professional space, but also a place where she feels at home.

The biggest struggle in Sandrine's life has been centered around the question of what she should do to make the world a better place. From a young age, she pondered how she could help people create a better, fairer and more humane way of life. These thoughts led her to study Conflict Studies & Human Rights. However, after her studies, she decided not only to gain theoretical knowledge, but also to do something in the field and bring about direct change. She did not want to just gather knowledge, but to actually realize change in the field.

Human tragedy in refugee camps
 

This desire brought Sandrine to Greece, to the island of Lesbos. There she worked in refugee camps for two years, where she was able to experience the human tragedy firsthand. Sandrine's experience on Lesbos showed her how difficult it is to organize long-term and sustainable change. “We worked hard, but after a while the situation only seemed to get worse,” says Sandrine. The fact that the number of refugees in the camps increased every day made it necessary to offer more help and interventions. When the camps became overcrowded, the living conditions worsened. It was confronting to see that a camp intended for 3,000 people housed 20,000.

Despite these difficult circumstances, Sandrine tried to offer help. She was deeply affected by the systemic obstacles. Not only the failure of policy aimed at people who need help, but also the fact that in some cases this policy is partly responsible for inhumane conditions. For example, the strict and often violent European border policy is related to the loss of human lives at sea. Sandrine realized that governments and international institutions did not solve problems, but often made them worse. “We worked hard every day, but the policy measures only made the situation worse,” she says. This realization led her to believe that a much bigger change was needed. Change did not only mean providing emergency aid, but changing the underlying systems themselves.

Fight to change the system
 

Her experience on Lesbos had shown her how important it is to bring the situation to the attention of the general public. “On Lesbos, everything was urgent and life-threatening, but when I came back, people continued with their daily lives as if nothing was wrong,” she recalls. This prompted Sandrine to take action to raise awareness. She organized protests to draw attention to the situation, but here too she felt that politicians were not listening. This frustrated her, but at the same time she found an opportunity to work at Open Embassy and do something about it. Open Embassy works from the experience of people who have fled and offers the possibility of combining direct support with research aimed at system change.

Sandrine has learned an important lesson from her experience in the refugee camps: “What you do is not as important as how you do it,” she says. In Lesbos, they gave people dry clothes, food and drink, and sometimes even did the smallest things. But the intention behind these simple acts made them much more meaningful. “It is important to help people feel valued and respected,” she adds. This experience taught her that creating change is sometimes not about having a grand plan, but about responding empathetically to people's needs and approaching them with respect.
 

Inspiring women in her life

The greatest source of inspiration for Sandrine are the strong women in her family. The last years of her grandmother's life, in particular, when her mother and aunts took care of her and looked after her at home, had a profound impact on her. Sandrine says that this time made her realize how powerful family ties can be. “Women who support and care for each other gave me a lot of strength and inspiration,” she says. The strength of the women in her family and their independent lifestyle gave her a lot of confidence in the strength and independence of women. ”Seeing a woman who doesn't need another person to be a complete person gave me a lot of confidence.”
 

The women she met during her work on Lesbos are also an important source of inspiration for her. These women, both the volunteers from all over the world and the women in the refugee camps, have worked hard together to achieve the same goal in the most difficult of circumstances. “When everyone comes together with the same values, wonderful things can happen, no matter how difficult the situation,” says Sandrine.

Sandrine’s leven toont ons dat verandering op elk niveau mogelijk is, en dat mensen op verschillende manieren kunnen bijdragen om de wereld een betere plek te maken. "Iedereen heeft een rol te spelen," zegt Sandrine. "Directe hulp bieden, protesten organiseren en systemen veranderen... elk van deze handelingen heeft zijn eigen waarde. We kunnen samen een grote verandering creëren als we moeten verschillende manieren van handelen omarmen. Iedereen kan daarin een eigen rol vinden."

Sandrine Lafay’s leven herinnert ons eraan dat we niet alleen grote bewegingen nodig hebben om verandering te brengen. Soms kunnen kleine, maar krachtige stappen, die worden gezet met goede intenties en oprechte empathie, ook een enorme impact hebben op de wereld.