Paul Ponten (68) is a digimate at De regenboog Groep and helps people take their first steps in the digital world. "Just quickly google something. We've had about thirty years to get used to that. For the people I guide, everything is new."
"He had never looked anything up on the Internet before, he told me the first time I came to him. A man of 64 years. But he had heard of Whatsapp. Whether I wanted to teach him. Of course I wanted to and immediately thought: I'm going to explain the functionality of 'contacts' to him right away. Until I realized that he only has a very small social network. What does he have in terms of contacts on his phone? The people he knows can be counted on one hand. "Don't assume for yourself," Ponten tips. "What is obvious to us doesn't have to be for the other person. Better to ask: How do you communicate with the world?"
"While you are still in the 'old' world, bodies think you are already walking around in the 'new' world."
For those who need digital help and sign up with De Regenboog Groep, we have to go back in time: the beginning of the Internet, the advent of the telephone. Appen, chat, e-mail. "We have forgotten how radically the Internet has changed our lives," Ponten looks back. "Just quickly googling something, we have been able to get used to that for roughly thirty years. But for the people I supervise, everything is new. They are suddenly pulled into the, to us, normal world. That is not a matter of learning how a computer works, you will have to learn to look at the world in a completely different way. Learn to communicate, think and act in a different way."
"But nobody escapes it. Without the Internet, you're nowhere. While you are still in the 'old' world, authorities think you are already walking around in the 'new' world. Logging in with DigiD is something you have to master. I always say: DigiD is a front door to which only you have a key and which you have to go through when you need to visit institutions. I then immediately teach how to save your DigiD on your phone. With a trick to save the password in a secure way."
For the record, Paul Ponten is not a computer geek. Eager to learn, however, he is. The former director of a training institute has been retired for some time now, but does not sit still for a moment. He is outward-looking, reads a lot ("I'm a glutton") and enjoys helping people. For example, he helps refugees with the Dutch language and teaches them about Amsterdam, the city his modernly furnished penthouse overlooks. "I am that man with 'seven ticks' behind his name," he confesses almost guiltily, "what Joris Luyendijk writes about. I have it good. I realize that all the more through this volunteer work."
Ponten has another thing to confess. It has to do with how he became a digimate. "A year ago I read an article in the Parool. De Regenboog Groep was looking for smartphones for the homeless. My gut feeling said: is that the first thing homeless people should get? A narrow-minded reaction in retrospect, because if you read the whole article, you get the point: it is precisely those who have the least access to the Internet who are most expected to be online. Look at the man I mentor. While he is not homeless, he is scarred by life. The Internet was unknown to him. Nor did he know anything about smartphones. He didn't even know how to turn on a phone. But he does have to deal with the UWV for his disability benefits. Then you have to be able to log in with your DigiD."
"People are capable of change, even if they are 64. That motivates me tremendously."
After reading the article, Ponten signed up as a digimate at De Regenboog Groep. He has already coached three people. With all three of them, by the way, he did not sense any shame, which you sometimes see with older people who cannot keep up and have to "bother" their children or grandchildren when it comes to digital matters. "The people I assist have a very small network," Ponten explains. "Because they live in isolation, they don't have to compete with people who are at home in the digital world. They only meet me. And what I do is make them a little more self-reliant."
In his approach, Ponten likes to keep it lighthearted and small. "Then it stays manageable. So I'm not going to tell people all the things that are possible with such a phone or computer, because then people lose the plot, which is what everyone would have. I make sure people get a grip on what is relevant to them at that moment. I do that with lightness and humor, and don't psychologize or go into depth. We tend to problematize everything rather quickly these days. My tip for other volunteers is: try to put yourself in the other person's shoes. And let people decide for themselves what they want to learn. How many times in their lives have they been able to make their own choices that have been successful? I engage with them in a process where they decide what happens. Sometimes they still push their phone into my hands and ask me to do something on their phone, download an app for example. But I don't. It's your device, I say, not mine."
By asking lots of questions and listening carefully, Ponten tries to assess where the need lies. "In the beginning I asked: what do you want to learn digitally? Not helpful, because how can you know if you don't know what's available? My buddy said: what should I do with the Internet? He didn't know it. And if you don't know it, how can you formulate your need? Then I asked: what are your hobbies? I don't have any, he said. But at his house I saw a lot of records of bands from the seventies. I showed him a yet unknown song by his favorite band on YouTube. It opened up his world. I think that's the beauty of this work. Everyone is capable of change, even if you are 64. That motivates me enormously to continue with the Digimaatje project."
Text: Nicolline van der Spek I Photography: Merlin Michon
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