The fourth week began as the third had ended: with a lot of paint. Walls turned yellow, ladders were
carried around and brushes were dipped into buckets until even the last corner of the building had
the colour of our imagination. A little later, we slowly reached a point where things we hadn’t cared
about before suddenly became relevant. That means, among other things, that we cleaned the
bathroom, which was full of paint, went hunting for tape remnants and tried to remove dirt and
paint from the floor. At the same time, we were able to give the youth centre more character by
means of a sofa that had been donated to us, a carpet and other furniture. In this way, we drove the
spirit of the construction work out of the building.
The opening followed. We had prepared the neighbourhood for this beforehand by putting up posters
in the streets with invitations to it. Walking around in clean clothes and without paint or dust in our
hair in the spaces we had spent weeks tinkering with was strange, of course, but added mostly to the
sense of closure. The opening included games, live music, speeches and food, as well as visiting from
the neighbourhood, which made our work seem more relevant than ever.
While perhaps not everything went perfectly and still isn’t perfect, we did our best for a month, and
certainly laid the groundwork for a place for the neighbourhood’s youth that now only needs to be put
to good use. In conclusion, all we can say is that we can look back with pride and wish the next 9
teams an equally beautiful and successful time!
