Meet the caretakers

Need something fixed? Who you going to call? The caretaker of course, but who are these guys with the tools that show up when international students call?

“International students need to develop a sense of saving energy and water: like any other country, they’re limited resources in the Netherlands.” (Photo: Ramesh Raghuveer)

For many international students, the caretakers who care for our housing units and fix problems are rather mystical figures whose working and private lives remain largely unknown to us. International students living in Duwo houses - be it Roland Holstlaan, Marcushof, Leeghwaterstraat or the Space Boxes - have only one ‘go-to-guy’, who we refer to as ‘Martin the caretaker’. To find out what it’s like to be a caretaker charged with maintaining so many different Duwo student houses populated by so many different types of students, we met up with caretakers Martin Bakker and Ernst de Moel, in order to learn more about their everyday lives and also hear how they perceive the international and Dutch students they care for. One thing became immediately clear early in the meeting: if you talk to a caretaker, you’re sure to hear plenty of funny stories about eccentric students, like the girl who decided to raise guinea pigs in her room or a mysterious fish tank that travels between the rooms of different Chinese students year after year.

We internationals often speak of ‘Martin the caretaker’, but is there really only one person responsible for all the buildings?
Bakker (laughing): “No, there are actually seven caretakers in all and a couple of social managers who sometimes also work as caretakers. There are 15 buildings to maintain, so it’s impossible for me to handle it all single-handedly”.

How did you become a caretaker?
Bakker: “I was trained as a carpenter and used to work in building maintenance, so it was a pretty smooth transition from there. Currently, I’m studying to be a building technologist in order to move to the next level.”

Every international student housing complex has a great mix of cultures and lifestyles, students from different countries all around the world. Does a caretaker adapt himself to handle students from different nationalities?
De Moel: “Having worked with both the Dutch students and internationals, I can easily say the Dutch are more difficult to handle. When you ask international students to do certain things, like removing bikes or furniture from corridors, they immediately oblige. But with Dutch students it’s always a lengthy argument and sometimes ends in some hilarious scene. One time, after one such argument with a Dutch student, I ended up having a couch filled with beer and food delivered to my doorstep. While it was funny, I‘d never expect something like that from an international.”

What other differences do you find between working in Dutch and international student housings?
De Moel: “The relationships I share with the Dutch students go a long way. I get to know them well, we have some nice chats in the corridors and I also get invited to parties in the building. Send-off parties are also a big thing: when I had my first child, there was a huge party in the building and every student in the building gifted me something. But with internationals it’s entirely different. We’re seen as service providers and that’s all. I don’t know anybody’s name or where they live. But this is also because of the fact that they stay in these housings for a short while only, like a year or two maximum, and then a whole new batch comes in. It’s difficult to get acquainted with each and every one of them. I feel like a teacher handling students, and the next year I have a whole new set.”

So what exactly is a caretaker’s working day like?
Bakker: “Monotonous. My everyday job is to fix complaints from tenants, get feedback and check if things are okay in the building. The start of the academic year is one of the busiest times and I receive around 15 complaints a day on average. I usually do all the fixing and repairs alone, but when it becomes a little complicated we use services agencies, like Vastgoed.”

Being a caretaker must mean encountering lots of interesting and amusing incidents.
De Moel: “Absolutely. For instance, stealing bikes is like a national sport in Holland and my wife was a victim just like any other Dutchman. A few weeks after the bike was stolen, I saw an international student on the road riding my wife’s bike. When I stopped him and inquired, I came to know he lived in the same building I worked at and he had bought the bicycle from someone for a real cheap price. I got him to return the bike, but it’s funny how a caretaker can lose his bike to a tenant of a building he takes care of.”
Bakker: “Once there was a complaint of water leakage from the ceiling of one of the rooms. When we investigated, we realized that someone - three floors above the room the complaint came from - had left his taps open and gone on vacation. We had to break into the house and solve the mess. The more interesting part is that this guy had covered the entire room with a big carpet, which got soaked along with his electronics, mattresses and other stuff. We threw out the rug, as it was ruined. When the tenant came back, the only thing he was worried about was the carpet we’d removed from the room. He raised the issue so far that Duwo ended up having to pay him for the mess he’d created.”

How do caretakers perceive international students from the Dutch perspective?
Bakker: “One point would be that international students need to develop a sense of saving energy and water. Like any other country, they’re limited resources in the Netherlands. Even if students feel they pay high rents that account for almost unlimited use of services, leaving taps open when washing dishes or heaters and lights on when not in a room for a long time is no way to get back at Duwo. So please think from a global perspective and save as much as possible.”