Their relatives and friends crowded around them once more to embrace them into their arms. Parents who turn their face while dealing with abdominal tension and feel their tears welling, cannot hold it anymore. Every year this is happening. Two to four hundred families in Curacao, but also on all other islands go through this particular ritual. In recent years I myself had to experience this ritual twice. My own children. It was their turn. Hence, it was my turn as well. A double feeling came over me. I was happy for my sons who were spreading their wings to embrace their new adventure. I was sad because I lost an inevitable part of myself.
It is the fate of many Caribbean parents: children leave the house, go 9,000 kilometers away and will never bring their laundry ever again. We rely on our destiny, because we know it is our children’s future. And that future should always be brighter than the future we ourselves had ever envisioned.
Still, as a Caribbean parent you hope their future will be on the island one day. The island where once you searched for the future yourself. Recently, I was back in Amsterdam to visit my children. The oldest of the two is in fact almost ready. The inevitable question came at the end of my visit, just before my departure: you will come back, won’t you? The answer is, of course, already known. The answer was also the reason I avoided the question earlier on: No Dad, I’m going to earn euros first.
Investments stand or fall with a good return on investment. For years we as parents have invested in our individual children and they in themselves. Their return of investment is rooted in their own interest. On an individual level we cannot expect them to come back in the interest of their country. But Curaçao need her children and as a country Curaçao invested in them as well. But the only thing we seem to be interested in, is when a student is repaying his loan or scholarship. Why is the government not taking part in facilitating their return? Why are we not providing jobs and housing for them?
When asked, students who have finished their studies would like to come back to contribute to the development of their island. But the question is whether Curacao want the same. Does Curaçao really want their own children back? If they are lucky to get a job, the low salary will discourage them. Their fellow countrymen will not accept these former students who were taught to stand up against injustice of bad management. They were taught to embrace what you know, not who you know. They were told to be assertive and question authority. They were taught to ask what they don’t know or don’t understand. Corporate culture in which seniority is the rule, is not what they were taught.
If you ask entrepreneurs and investors, whether they would like to come to Curacao, you will hear them complaining about the lack of amenities, facilities and infrastructure which the government of Curacao should have taken care of.
The task of government is to clarify and promote our children who are still in the Netherlands to come back. They should facilitate their return by providing material investments, such as the reimbursement of moving to Curaçao and eliminate their student debt.
But also by example, offer an internship program to the government. Thus giving not only a good example to other employers, but also to ensure indirectly that these students build a professional network and have Curacao and the government on their eyes.
Return on investment starts with the student loan. Which should be seen as a study investment. At Hato airport, the day they started their new life, I thought about the Brain Drain. Now that my son finished his study’s, I think the focus should be on the return of investment for Curaçao, a focus on Brain Gain. It’s time to facilitate this. Only the sun will not bring our children back.