Sjef went on the very first building trip in 2005

In November 2005, the very first group of colleagues set off on behalf of the Vebego Foundation on a building trip to Sri Lanka. Sjef was one of them. More than twenty years later, the trip is still vivid in his memory.

It started with a question, in September 2005: do you want to join the first building trip of the Vebego Foundation? "I did not have to think for long, I said yes straight away," says Sjef. The destination was Sri Lanka, where a tsunami had destroyed entire villages a year earlier and left many people without a home. Together with nine colleagues, Sjef travelled to the villages of Payagala and Waddowa, to help build houses there for a week, for people who had lost everything.

A week helping to build forty houses
Once they arrived, everyone got to work, side by side with the residents. "Everyone helped with the building activities, young and old," says Sjef. In that one week, the group, together with the residents and other volunteers, helped build around forty houses in Payagala and Waddowa. Naturally you cannot build something like that on your own in a week, but with ten extra pairs of hands, things suddenly moved faster: families who had been without a roof over their heads for months came closer to having a home of their own.

Meanwhile, the children in the villages were at least as happy with what the group had brought as with the houses being built. When Sjef's colleagues in the Netherlands heard he was going, they spontaneously gathered three boxes full of drawing materials, notebooks and balloons. "The children were so happy with the things we brought," says Sjef. "I can still picture those cheerful, happy little faces."

What the residents gave back
What has perhaps stayed with Sjef the most is not what the group brought, but what they received in return. "The people were incredibly hospitable," he says. "Even though they did not have a penny to their name, one day they prepared a wonderful meal for us." People who had just lost everything still shared what they had. "We learned that despite the poverty around us, you can still be happy with what you do have."

The farewell was emotional. The group left behind many belongings, such as clothes and shoes, and took home a great many impressions. More than twenty years later, it is not the building work itself that Sjef remembers most clearly, but the people: their hospitality and their resilience.

An experience never to forget
Not just the building trip itself, but also everything around it, brings beautiful, unexpected moments. At the airport, the group saw a king from a neighbouring country arrive, complete with a red carpet and a marching band. And on the flight home, to Sjef's surprise, the captain turned out to be someone he had served with in 1970, during his time in national service. You never know what an adventure like this will bring, but one thing is certain: it is an experience never to forget.

Looking back, Sjef calls it a wonderful trip, with great colleagues who had not known each other beforehand. "On the way out, it was already clear that this was a really good group, one that could move mountains together. It was sometimes emotional and physically demanding, but we also had a lot of fun together."

Since that first trip in 2005, several groups have gone on building trips. Do you want to be part of the building trip in 2026? You still have until 15 August to sign up.