“Whaatttt, really, he wants to come to our orphanage? That is fantastic!” Quickly I put my book down, and turn away from the swimming pool in front of me, so it won’t distract me from this important call.
I have my rare day off, which I spend at the poolside of a hotel near my house. The phone call comes from Victor, who tells me that the famous soccer player Ruud Gullit wants to visit us the next day. I can hardly believe it!
My thoughts go back to the eighties, I remember Ruud on television running across the soccer field with his long hair in dreadlocks, everyone knew his name. We were both in our late twenties, while he played for AC Milan, and was honoured as World Soccer Player of the Year in 1987, and 1989, I was trying to combine my work as caregiver of a little baby girl in Leiden, with my studies Educational Psychology at the University Leiden. I had no idea yet I was going to live in Jakarta one day, and meet Ruud there in my orphanage.
During the nineties, Ruud made a career as coach of the Chelsea team, and later with Newcastle United. He got married twice and had four children, in 2000 he married for the third time with Estelle Cruijff, and they had two more kids. The nineties for me would be the last decade I would live in the Netherlands, building a career as scientific social researcher, and diagnostic child psychologist. My work was located in Leiden, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and was the happiest time I had in my home country.
Now, fifteen years later, our paths cross in Lestari Sayang Anak. My heart pounds with excitement when his car drives through the gate. Five minutes later though, I feel very comfortable because he is so down- to- earth, friendly and joking with the kids. First we open the toys we get, lego, an inflatable pool, colouring books, and of course a football. We play together in a relaxed atmosphere, I show Ruud around the house, and then he makes me a big compliment for my orphanage. My heart jumps up again, wow that is so cool! Ruud, Risky, and I are interviewed by a journalist of RCTI. Ruud shows our logo on the shirt he is wearing, and encourages the audience to become a sponsor, or make a donation. Too soon time is up, some last pictures, hugs, his promise to help us find more sponsors, and the car drives off.
Excitement leaves my body, and the whole visit whirls through my mind, feeling somewhat deflated. I want to sit next to that swimming pool again, and dream away, let myself float on the wonderful memories of Ruud’s visit to our orphanage! Thanks Ruud!