Nos ta dushi hende

Nos ta dushi hende

April 16, 2026

This was the slogan of one of the most successful campaigns our island has ever seen. It came from the tourism sector and was intended to encourage our population to show our dushi side—our warmth—to visitors. And I must say: I think it has been successful.

Not only because we have once again received a record number of visitors—although it is debatable whether that is a good thing, as in my view we have exceeded our carrying capacity for quite some time—but especially because surveys consistently show that the friendliness of our people is highly valued. Something that, by the way, was already the case before the campaign.

And yet, I believe we have two faces. I am prompted to reflect on this because I have been following developments regarding how the government approaches child upbringing. Children are making serious allegations, claiming they are being systematically mistreated. If even half of that is true, it is already deeply troubling.

I am reminded of the problems at the Brakkeput youth facility a few years ago. Of the systemic, institutional shortcomings in elderly care, resulting from the fact that despite an aging population, little has been arranged. Of research showing that people are structurally mistreated in the workplace. And let us not forget the high and increasing levels of domestic and relational violence.

Add to that low wages and the failure to index the AOV pension. In that context, saying that “only” 30% live below the poverty line becomes a rather rosy portrayal of reality.

The reader may now think: so there are two faces to our country. And the writer is generalizing heavily. Both thoughts are valid, and I will return to them another time. Here, I mainly want to try to explain how this can be and what lies behind it.

What I think is that whenever relationships are not horizontal—but are instead characterized by power differences and dependency—we tend to abuse that power and make the other feel it.

One possible explanation lies in our slavery past: a system in which the subordinate was not regarded as fully human.

The point is that this must stop. The same warmth we apparently extend to visitors, we can also extend to one another.

Nos ta dushi hende.

Miguel Goede