Nederlands
At a campsite in Marrakech, the then young Gust Lauwerysen, brother of Oostakker, discussed his dream with some like-minded people for the first time in his life: ‘the creation of a place where groups can go during the weekends to have an open and free way to talk to each other about everything that inspired and occupied them in their personal lives’. In short, a place where space and time are created for self-reflection, honest contemplation and exchange.
Once back in Belgium, Brother Gust almost immediately went to work to realize his dream. On May 18, 1978, the Siddartha Meeting Center in Baal-Tremelo opened its doors after many days and weeks of intensive renovation work.
From the start, Gust managed to bring together many volunteers and continue to motivate them to give the best of themselves in Siddartha’s projects. The formula of the Meeting Center as a reflection center was a success, because at that time and for many years the demand for a cozy place to stay for reflection days for schools and associations was high. In the initial period, Gust supervised almost all reflection days himself and, given the high demand, other supervisors were later called in.
Today, there are no more reflection days in the Meeting Centre and, moreover, there is too little demand for accommodation (with or without training) for associations and groups. The board of directors of the Koepel Siddartha, in consultation with the board of directors of the Meeting Centre, transferred the building of the Govinda accommodation centre to the Care Centre at the end of April 2024. They need extra space for the guests and will demolish the building to build new adapted accommodation with government subsidies.
At the same time, we are thinking with the current board of directors of the Meeting Centre about what new forms of meeting can mean in the future and how we can (continue to) shape the original philosophy of Brother Gust. With projects such as the “Klerenshop” (cloths shop) and a bicycle café, we want to create new contemporary forms that highlight the connection between the various existing projects in an innovative and accessible way. In this way, Siddartha wants to remain a place where people can come together and exchange ideas about what inspires and occupies them.
In a first phase, we are investing in adaptation works for an accessible Clothes Shop. The Clothes Shop Siddartha was started on 28 February 1995 in a shop in Heist-op-de-Berg in the immediate vicinity of the Sunday market. The shop was housed there for 27 years and during that period the clothing for sale was brought to the Siddartha site and sorted weekly by the volunteers of the Clothes Shop with the help of the guests of the day centre. From 1 April 2022, the shop space was also set up on the Siddartha site, i.e. in an attic space of the Govinda building.
Since 2023, the Clothes Shop has been part of the operation of the Meeting Centre and the shop has been housed in part of the Farm. The Clothes Shop is kept open every Sunday by volunteers and on Tuesday afternoons by the guests of the Care Centre. Clothing for sale can still be brought to Siddartha. The Klerenshop wants to be an accessible project within which we reach various groups from the neighbourhood, on the one hand via a group of volunteers who keep the shop running and on the other hand via the group of potential customers who have the opportunity to buy sustainable clothing for a small price. In this way we want to contribute to the integration of the various groups from the neighbourhood and the local community through social and circular economy.
In a second phase we want to further convert the Boerderij into a bicycle café. Here too we will set up a collaboration with the guidance and the target group of Apojo/Zorgcentrum, in particular adults with a disability. The operation and concept of the bicycle café will be started in phases in the short term in collaboration with Apojo/Actief.
The establishment of a shop with the sale of our own homemade products in the building of the Boerderij will be included in a final phase of the master plan.
With the support of the Koepel Siddartha, the Meeting Center wants to create contemporary forms of meeting with projects such as the Klerenshop and a bicycle café and continue to focus on volunteer work and citizenship in an innovative and accessible way. All this with special attention for the most vulnerable in society from a recovery-oriented vision of care and support.
With the support of LEADER – Hageland+, a European subsidy program for rural development.