Noortje Amite, the journey begins

The day of departure was finally there and my parents and I went to the train station. In the central hall at the meeting point we met Lady Davenport. I was the first of the girls to arrive but within 15 minutes the other girls and their parents arrived. Lady Davenport and the girls all looked very nice, and we were all giggling, probably because of the nerves, normally I NEVER giggle.

My dad told me to be brave and that he would sent me many postcards. My mom told me to behave myself as a proper girl and gave me a tight hug. I felt her arms around me and heard the sobs in her voice when she told me she would miss me and she loved me. When the train finally took off I waved so long until my arm felt soar. I turned around and saw 3 faces, Thekla and Merry stood there with red rimmed eyes and Lady Davenport had a very strange look in her eyes. She told us to get our luggage and follow her to her car. From there on things took a very downhill turn.

Although her house looked very nice and cosy, the room that was supposed to be our room was dark, cold and damp, there weren't even proper beds. And the strange part was that as soon as we were in our rooms the door was locked behind us. Nothing to eat or to drink, no beds but only a mattress on the floor and some blankets. The first night was horrible. The next day Lady Davenport woke us early in the morning and told us to get dressed because she had work to do. She took us to houses in the neighborhood and we had to clean them. The owners had paid her money to keep their houses clean. It was horrible work and we got very little to eat. The second night we quietly discussed how to escape, this wasn't what our parents planned for us.

So after a few days we put our bags in the buckets with cleaning supplies we had to take with us. And we started cleaning, secretly keeping an eye on lady Davenport, we knew she would take a nap around 10. As soon as she was sleeping we took our bags and snook out of the back door. We ran as fast as we could. After 10 minutes we finally stopped and stood there panting and grinning. We made it! We were free and our search for our parents could start.

To be continued.

Noortje Amite, Adventure Dungarees

My dad always was a very adventurous guy and my mom very organized and strict. She always wanted me to wear pretty dresses and french braids. My dad took me to a seamstress who made me these adventure dungarees, he said they were necessary if you want go on adventures. 

He bought them for me because we would go on a big adventure as a family, I don't understand exactly why, but he told me that he and my mum would go first and when they had settled they would come back for me. I didn't agree off course and begged and nagged to go along, but my mom wouldn't give in, instead she even braided my hair again…….

I didn't know the lady who would take care of me, my mom told me she was called Lady Davenport and that she was a well known lady with a very very good reputation and that she would also take care of two other girls, named Thekla and Merry. I was very exited when the day finally came that my parents would leave and I would meet the new girls and hoped Lady Davenport was a nice as my mom told me. Boy oh boy, if she only knew how wrong she would be.

To be continued!

Please read Thekla's story
Please read Merry's story

Noortje Amite - Memories

When I was a little girl my mom used to have a big vegetable garden at the back of our apartment building, she would be there every day. I loved to be there and had my own corner with flowers and strawberries. Not many of those strawberries made it inside because I ate them all right away. I used to pretend there were fairies living in my little corner of the garden and had long conversations with them. 

Often my mom would let me pick the vegetables for the garden and then I ran outside with a wicker basket to pick them. My favorite vegetables are baby carrots and lettuce. Our neighbor had chickens and once a week I traded a basket filled with vegetables for a box of eggs. I like chickens but I don't like eggs, the eggwhite feels so weird in my mouth.

In the evening my dad would come home and I would sit in the windowsill next to his big chair and while he would stuff and smoke his pipe he would tell me the most wonderful adventure stories. I remember gazing out of the window to the stars and wondering what adventures I would go on in the future. Little did I know…..


Click here to read Thekla's story
Click here to read Merrie's story