Photo: Guy Ackermans They are indispensable on campus: cleaners, caretakers, caterers, gardeners, receptionists – the list is long. Resource seeks out these key people. This time, meet Evert van Silfhout (55), a caretaker in the Forum.
‘My motto is: if you haven’t laughed today, you haven’t lived. I like to be enthusiastic and positive and people appreciate that. It’s important that you enjoy your work and if you don’t, you should look for another job.
I never know what the day will bring and that makes it interesting. When I’m on duty in the morning I go round all the classrooms to make sure they’re in order, because then everyone keeps them clean. I test all the screens and microphones, check if the blackboards are clean, and replenish the chalk.
I never know what the day will bring and that makes it interesting
What I like most is that we are the first port of call for ad hoc problems. If a teacher is having trouble with a beamer, for instance, we have to solve it. Along with the ladies on reception, the technical lads, the waste collectors from Ecosmart and the cleaners, we are the lynchpin of the organization. Everything must be kept going under changing circumstances, as you can see now with the coronavirus. We’ve been incredibly busy reorganizing rooms, moving furniture, putting up signposting, and creating new exits. I hope the corona period is over soon and everyone can come back to the Forum – it’s awfully quiet at the moment.
As a lad, I wanted to join the police but after the admission test they said I was too young still. Through connections I got a job at the university library, and now I’ve been working for the university for 35 years. Always in different jobs, but always with a lot of contact with people. In 2007, a colleague and I organized everything for the opening of the Forum. We had a lot of say, in the layout of the rooms for example. That was really nice. It was a special day, too, when the Forum was opened by Queen Beatrix and Princess Máxima. That’s not something you experience every day.
A few years ago, there was a stabbing incident in the Forum. Everyone panicked. I was called and my colleagues and I helped the victims. To help the police, I kept an eye on which way the attacker went. Something like that affects you – it brings violence very close by. But it is good to be able to deal with it with your colleagues.
I’ve still got 13 years to work, and maybe I shall go and work in the new education building Aurora for a couple of days a week – another new challenge. You have to make something of it yourself, don’t you? #b