The celebration of St. Nicholas’ birthday on 5 December each year is a big event for children in the Netherlands. St. Nicholas, or Sinterklaas, arrives by boat as early as half November and he stays until the day after his birthday. The saint brings presents for every child, and he is accompanied by his funny silly helpers, the Pieten. Wherever they appear, they bring joy and happiness. Although the young children believe they meet the real Sinterklaas and Pieten, in fact they are being entertained by dressed up adults. All other adults participate in this ‘conspiracy’ so for children these are wonderful magical weeks full of presents and surprises.

We are a group of friends and relatives who call ourselves the ‘Pietenbende’. We can be hired as St. Nicholas and his Pieten by schools, foundations, companies, and parents for a (house-) visit. The children we visit can shake hands with St. Nicholas and talk with him. They sing together, and the Pieten do a funny dance and make jokes with the children. Of the money we earn this way, one third is needed to cover the expenses (sweets, gasoline, new suits), and the rest we give to charity. We make children happy, we enjoy it ourselves, and we support a good cause: what more could we wish for?

We wanted to support people from the Netherlands who do charity work in another part of the world. On the website of broadcasting company LLINK, we came across a video about Peduli Anak in Lombok. We were immediately enthusiastic! So it was an easy decision for us to chose for Peduli Anak. We found it also important to support a concrete activity. At Peduli Anak there is a range of concrete activities to be supported. We chose for the vocational school. We hope that the teachers will help and stimulating the kids who live at Peduli Anak in their development!

Kind regards from Rianne van den Heuvel and the Pietenbende