Maruska Ulcikova

The We Thought in the Lavei Forest

After an eventful life, Maruska Ulcikova has been living in the Lavei Forest with her second husband for several years. She is originally from the Czech Republic, when it was still called Czechoslovakia. Here she worked as a crane operator. In 1978, because of love, she came alone to the Netherlands.

Her energy is contagious. She is a people person where she balances between paying attention to people in the apartment, her husband and herself. Due to her fibromyalgia, her body needs regular rest. "I have a great will with a disability, but that will is not so well controlled," she says with a smile.

Connecting with people is important to Maruska. "Originally, I grew up thinking 'we' and not 'I.' She has learned to deal with different people. For example, in her work as a receptionist at a notary's office. But also afterwards at the Kessler Foundation, a location for sheltering and counseling homeless people. "I worked there for five years in the kitchen, but I was sometimes like a mother to those guests!"

Now she has other challenges. Besides cleaning up litter around the apartment 3 times a week, she is especially busy connecting with people. For example, by organizing "Soup on Sunday. A time when she serves soup she has made to single, lonely residents without children in the flat. "We've done it once now for 8 people. But we can add a few more. We got money from the municipality to start this plan. The idea is to do this a few times and then we'll see if it works!"

Maruska is also involved in the coffee hour. Every Thursday morning between 10.30 and 11.30 am. Here apartment residents catch up with each other and new plans and ideas arise. Like 'Soup on Sunday', for example. She has a lot of support here from Jan Rous and Ineke Monshouwer of housing association De Goede Woning. In the beautiful space made available by DGW, the residents brainstorm about what is possible. And then they just try it out. This is also how she started a walking group. "We walk every week on Wednesday mornings with a small group of people over 60 from the Laveibos to Eigen Wij on the Voorweg. There we have coffee or tea for a while. Everyone feels welcome and at home here. And then really together out, together at home. So if you walk with us there, you also walk with us back."

"I can't help but not participate in the community. I just have to."