Saar Koningsberger: ‘Motherhood makes me more combative’

When Saar Koningsberger is invited by Johnny de Mol in 2013 to the closing party of the Week of The Forgotten Child, it is immediately clear: this is what she wants to commit to. “When you see those children playing happily, you don’t immediately notice that they are traumatized,” Saar tells Kek Mama. “But when I wanted to give a girl a high five, she immediately ducked – she thought I was going to hit her. Something broke inside me, because how absurd is it that this girl was afraid that I would hurt her?”

poignant

In 2018, Saar’s life changes drastically: she becomes the mother of daughter Scottie (3) and the ambassadorship takes on an even more emotional charge. “The children’s stories are so poignant. When you become a mother and you think: ‘What if this happened to my child?’, it hits you ten times as loud. I have become much more emotional since the arrival of our daughter.”

Vulnerability

Despite this vulnerability, Saar also sees parenthood as an enormous addition to her role as ambassador. “Only now do I know from my mother’s heart how it would feel if something like this happened to your child. This has made me more combative and I realize all the more how valuable it is that Scottie grows up in a warm and loving family.” Saar thinks it is important to pass this on to her daughter. “When I’ve been out as an ambassador for a day, I always make it a moment with Scottie. ‘You have your own bed, but today I was with children who can’t sleep in their own bed and have experienced something sad. Because of this they need extra love and attention’. Of course, a 3-year-old cannot fully place this yet, but you notice that it is coming. “That’s sad for those children,” she says.

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Education

“The ambassadorship certainly contributes to Scottie’s upbringing,” admits Saar. “Because the Week of the Forgotten Child has a different theme every year and because of this I am constantly confronted with new, harrowing situations, I notice that I am evaluating. Not only as an ambassador, but also as a mother.”

This year, the Forgotten Child Foundation is asking for attention to the theme of closed youth care during their campaign week, because research shows that 76 percent of children in a closed ward end up psychologically damaged. Saar: “Innocent children with trauma are locked up and don’t get the right help. They are treated like prisoners: have to wear ripped clothes, be restrained and put in an isolation cell. This is possible and this is not allowed!”

Do you also think that closed youth care should stop? Then sign the petition.

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