Turning Tables
What is Turning Tables?
Turning Tables started in 2023 as an initiative by a group of friends living at AZC de Galaxy in Amsterdam. They wanted to create a place where they could share their cultures, meet new people and connect with residents of Amsterdam. They started by hosting small community dinners: cooking together, sharing food and simply getting to know each other.
The idea quickly grew. Together with volunteers, they started organising language cafés twice a week, bringing newcomers and local residents together to practice Dutch, learn from one another, exchange experiences and build friendships. What started as a few evenings around the table grew into a warm and welcoming community where people support each other and feel at home.
Today, Turning Tables brings together hundreds of people through weekly language cafés, monthly community dinners and other activities. Our community continues to grow, with more than 500 people regularly joining our events. What makes Turning Tables special is that the connections go beyond our activities: people become friends, help each other and build a network in Amsterdam.
What do we do?
Community Dinners
Our community dinners are the key and heart of Turning Tables, and, initially where it all started: gathering around the table, sharing a meal and sharing stories.
The monthly community dinners are truly the festivity of the month and a moment where we all come together. A moment, a place and space where everybody and everyone is invited. A moment where the sense of belonging and community is created and celebrated.
Together with both residents from asylum centers as well as non-residents from the asylum center, we prepare and make the most delicious traditional recipes from homelands all over the world, we share culinary traditions, stories, an evening, and a life-long lasting memory. The dinners are an invitation to challenge your thoughts, and judgments, break barriers, foster dialogue, and create a sense of belonging.
Turning Tables Taal Café
The Turning Tables Taal Café weekly opens her doors to (and by) eager language learners and volunteers to come together and learn together: open to all people who are interested in learning the Dutch language and having a fun time.
Together we transform venues into vibrant and informal settings where, naturally, a new language wants to be learned: with coffee, tea, snacks, and on Monday evenings even a home-cooked warm meal.
Language is the key to integration and empowerment. It truly is the first step to making oneself feel comfortable in a new country and a new environment. Learning the language helps build confidence and the possibility to confidently interact with the people around you, communicate, and build new friendships.
Since the language café is fully run by Dutch-speaking volunteers, locals living in the city, the classes offer an amazing opportunity for different worlds and languages to come together and for newcomers to connect with their neighbours in a welcoming setting.
Fundraising
At Turning Tables, we are also committed to raising awareness and funds for critical global issues. We have organized fundraisers to support communities affected by the ongoing crises in Palestine and Sudan. Through these efforts, we aim to extend our impact beyond our local community, standing in solidarity with those affected by conflict and injustice worldwide.
“Soms weet je pas wat je zoekt als je het vindt. Bij Turning Tables ervaar ik warmte, verbinding, liefde: een gevoel van thuiskomen. En onder andere dankzij alle lieve, mooie mensen die ik door TT heb leren kennen voel ik mij ook steeds meer thuis in mijzelf.”
Pelin
