SCS students assist Dutch Museum Saba

The Foundation Dutch Museum Saba was already very grateful when they were contacted by Ms. Michelle Martie and Ms. Esther Schasfoort about participating in “Community Serviced Day, 2016”. Students from the Saba Comprehensive School have been serving on several places to assist as volunteers and also in this museum.

Early in the morning on the 14th of December Ms. Esther showed up with three girls. Actually the plan was that two students would clean the front side of the museum by brushing the painted wood and after that flushing the wall with water from a hose. The other two were planned to help with polishing copper and brass antiquities of the museum. It was very nice and kind that Ms. Esther showed solidarity with the girls by volunteering herself as well.

First there was a small tour in one of the rooms of the museum where questions were answered about lacework, about the fifty old books that were printed between 1640 and 1700. Explaining how the beautiful copper engravings were made was part of that but also the questions about how the printing of the books was done, about the making of the very very small letters made from tin and lead and mirroring those letters. And how to put all those small things in place so that pages could be printed.

But also the history between what is often called “Blue Delft”, but actually the Chinese porcelain from between 1600 and 1775 was giving an answer to their questions.

After this two students started to clean the wall and one student plus Ms. Esther started polishing copper and brass in the porch. They were also accompanied by our President Ms. Judy Bobel. René Caderius van Veen, collected some better brushes for the cleaning and went to the shop for more soap. He had decided not to use chlorox because of the risk for the students especially when they would be working on the stepladder.

In the meantime some music was playing as what has been called in the past “labour-vitamins”. And after an hour there were cookies and all different kinds of drinks while heaving a break in the porch. Also some changes were made for it was nice to switch between the two different activities.

It was about 10:45 that it was decided that the work could be stopped. Two walls of the cottage were so clean, that it looked as if they had been painted last week. Many kettles, buckets, chandeliers etc. were shining again, which made part of the exhibition more attractive.

Everybody seemed to have had fun in being at the museum and doing the work for it. The board is very grateful to the organizers of the school and even more to the students who had been willing to do the work in such a perfect way and with so much fun end enjoyment.

For reasons of privacy photos of the volunteers have not been published, but they have been sent to the SCS.

Press release Foundation Dutch Museum Saba.