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Brother Piet Rijkers did social work in the early eighties at the Schildersbuurt in The Hague.
Some monuments
The brothers in the Congregation are not in the habit of
erecting monuments for their fellow-brothers. I decided
to violate that custom. It concerns two brothers who
have made a lasting impression on me: Brother Kees
Verspeek and Brother Piet Rijkers.
Kees Verspeek lived at the Leggelo Street and taught
Mathematics at the MTS (Secondary Technical School).
He became troubled by the poverty and hopelessness
he saw among the people who lived in the economically
depressed district of The Hague known as the
Schilderswijk. He left the beautiful and comfortable
‘Leggelo’ and founded, together with a few sisters and
priests, the Jacob Maris Groep (Jacob Maris Group),
named after the Jacob Maris Street where the group
was housed. The team members attempted to participate
in the lives of those who lived in the ‘Schilderswijk’ as
closely as possible. They distributed magazines and did
technical chores for people who needed them. A shared
life with the poor developed and Kees felt at home there,
like a fish in the water. I looked up to Kees Verspeek and
took great pride in calling him my fellow-brother.
Our community house in Scheveningen regularly needed
20
nederland
repair work. The Construction Office sent Brother Piet
Rijkers to take care of odd jobs. At one such occasion he
met Sister Elisabeth van de Mast, who managed a house
for severely unadjusted homeless. She asked Piet to come
over and take care of some chores. He saw the living
conditions in that house and realized how important
it was to have a male co-worker permanently present
there. He decided to move and for many years he lived
in that house, where he worked together with Sister Van
de Mast. That was quite an achievement in itself; sister
did not make it easy to work with her. I saw Piet finding
his true vocation: he moved from being carpenter in
Brother Theodulphus’ workshop to become the servant
of the poorest people in The Hague, together with Sister
Elisabeth van de Mast. He showed what CMM stands for.
Enthusiasm
In 1979 I was sent to Indonesia. Once there, I came
to realize even more how much vision, richness, and
enthusiasm my fellow-brothers in The Hague had instilled
in me. Truly, I have good memories of The Hague.
Brother Pieter-Jan van Lierop