''NAKS'' (

Sranan Tongo Sranan Tongo (also Sranantongo "Surinamese tongue," Sranan, Surinaams, Surinamese, Surinamese Creole) is an English-based creole language that is spoken as a ''lingua franca'' by approximately 550,000 people in Suriname. Developed originally amo ...

: , en, Our African Culture of Suriname) is a social and cultural

organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

which promotes

Afro-Surinamese Afro-Surinamese are the inhabitants of Suriname of Sub-Saharan African ancestry. They are descended from enslaved Africans brought to work on sugar plantations. Many of them escaped the plantations and formed independent settlements together, be ...

culture and expression in Suriname and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1948 with

Eugène Drenthe Eugène Constantijn Donders Drenthe (12 December 1925 in Laarwijk, Surinam – 30 March 2009 in Rotterdam, Netherlands) was a prominent Surinamese poet and playwright. Biography Drenthe was born in Laarwijk, Surinam, as an illegitimate child of ...

as its first president, when it emerged as the successor of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club T.O.P. (Tot Ons Plezier) which was founded a year prior. Originally a multi-sports club, NAKS (''then known as Na Arbeid Komt Sport'') eventually evolved into a social and cultural organization promoting language, sports, music, arts and crafts of the African diaspora. Headquartered in

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname' ...

, it also runs the NAKS Volkshogeschool (''formerly known as the Volkshogeschool Kofidjompo'') located in Lelydorp.

History

Sports club

NAKS was founded in

, Suriname as an association football club in 1948. The club had been renamed from T.O.P. (Tot Ons Plezier) to N.A.K.S. (Na Arbeid Komt Sport) only a year after its foundation on 4 May 1947. The team played their home games on the Gouvernementsplein, competing in the SVB Hoofdklasse, the top flight of football in Suriname until the organization ceased to pursue sporting endeavors. Over the years many of the country's top footballers have played for NAKS, including Frits Purperhart, Leo Schipper and Roy Vanenburg. Aside from Football, NAKS also had a

korfball Korfball ( nl, korfbal) is a ball sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. It is played by two teams of eight players with four female players and four male players in each team. The objective is to throw a ball into a netless baske ...

, and a

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

team as well as a theater group and a music and dance school. The club's first president

described the atmosphere at the club as not merely a sports club, but a social club promoting a healthy lifestyle. Drenthe was a man who grew up as a kid on the streets who could relate to the troubled youth, and had made it his mission to provide a platform and a vision for the youth of Suriname, purchasing their first building in 1958.

Performing arts

Inspired by the close proximity in which the

and

Indo-Surinamese Indo-Surinamese, Indian-Surinamese or Hindustani Surinamese are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Suriname with ancestry from India and the wider subcontinent. Their ancestors were Indian indentured workers brought by the Dutch and t ...

lived together, Drenthe made his first attempt as a playwright, writing "Rudie, het voetbaljongetje" ( en, Rudi, the football boy) in 1959. Soon the success of the NAKS theater group was recognized in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In 1964 the Stichting voor Culturele Samenwerking ( en, Foundation for Cultural Cooperation) funded the travel of Dutch puppeteer Henk Zoutendijk to visit the organization and teach the group.

Folk high school

In 1965, Drenthe traveled to the Netherlands to attend the Volkshogeschool Overcinge. The formula of a Folks High School appealed to Drenthe. The combination of education, discussion, sports, music, socializing and practical work oriented towards family, work and nation building struck a nerve in Drenthe. Upon his return to Suriname he began working towards opening the NAKS Volkshogeschool. On 29 April 1973 the Volkshogeschool Kofidjompo was opened in Lelydorp. The governor of Suriname at the time Johan Ferrier was present during the opening ceremony. The school was named Kofidjompo after the former name of the town Lelydorp. The name Kofidjompo comes from a runaway slave named Kofi who attempted to escape to freedom by jumping over the river. Djompo means 'jump' in Sranan, and Lelydorp is the location where the attempt was made. The school was opened with the intention of turning

residents into citizens. The objective was to liberate the minds of the people from colonial indoctrination, and to instill a sense of pride and responsibility towards family, community, work and cultural understanding. In 1973, there were 4 permanent teachers at the school. Norine Baarn, Wilma Plet, Grace Molengraaf and James Ramlall. In May of the following year Oscar Guermonprez visited Suriname, shortly after

Henck Arron Henck Alphonsus Eugène Arron (25 April 1936 – 4 December 2000) was the first Prime Minister of Suriname after it gained independence in 1975. A member of the National Party of Suriname, he served from 24 December 1973 with the transition gover ...

had announced the country's choice to move towards independence by the end of 1975. Guermonprez also visited the school during a discussion about the troubles in Surinamese society, high unemployment in a resource rich country. A big discussion ensued on how the Folks High School should contribute and cater to the

Amerindians The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

, Creoles,

Maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos. ...

, Javanese,

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

people equally, to help in nation building after independence. Guermonprez had noticed the diversity in the staff at the school. On 1 October the Folks High School had become an entity independent of the NAKS organization. James Ramlall became the new director of the school. Drenthe felt as though the country was not ready for independence yet, and his role within NAKS lessened. In 1976 the NAKS Folkshogeschool in Lelydorp wrote to the head office of NAKS in Paramaribo, that the school was doing well, and that they were distancing themselves more and more from a Eurocentric form and were becoming more Surinamese. In 1977 Drenthe left Suriname, emigrating to the Netherlands and settling in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

Contemporary times

Following Drenthe's departure, the organization suffered some set backs, with former staff members of the school leaving and opening a school with the same courses. Around 1994, a few faithful members led by chairman Wilgo Baarn, and in mid 1994 Eric Rudge was named the new chairman who successfully started the centralization of the debt incurred to afford a better view of things. In 1995, Rudge traveled abroad for his studies and Mrs. Elfriede Baarn-Dijksteel became the first female chairman of the organization. Since then NAKS has developed a two-track approach, in which one track is aimed at investigating and documenting the Afro-Surinamese culture with the aim to transfer this in a dignified and respectful manner to the Surinamese society. The other track leads to education in the broadest sense of the word, which the formation of the Surinamese people, specially centralized around the Afro-Surinamese population. In 2010 Mrs. Siegmien Power-Staphorst replaced Mrs. Baarn-Dijksteel as the new chairman of the organization.

Presidents

*1948–1974,

*1974–1980, James Ramlall *1980–1994 Wilgo Baarn *1994–1995, Eric Rudge *1995–2010, Elfriede Baarn-Dijksteel *2010–, Siegmien Power-Staphorst

References

Bibliography

External links

NAKS official site (in Dutch)NAKS
profile on

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

.com {{DEFAULTSORT:NAKS 1948 establishments in Suriname Afro-Surinamese Educational organisations based in Suriname Entities with Sranan names Defunct football clubs in Suriname Football clubs in Paramaribo