For the third year running, there was a Keti Koti commemorative ceremony in Wageningen. I had missed the first two occasions because of my research fieldwork in Suriname in 2022 and research fieldwork in Amsterdam in 2023. Fortunately, I was able to stay local this year. Thus on Sunday 30 June 2024, I joined a simple but poignant commemorative event in the Torckpark of Wageningen by the Magnolia tree. Here, the Mayor, city council members and a cross-section of the people of Wageningen joined together to reflect on what Keti Koti (breaking of chains; freedom) means both for our shared past and our shared future together.

As an citizens-led initiative, it is heartening to see the increasing engagement of Keti Koti in Wageningen. There is year on year increase in the number of people joining the commemorative event. Hopefuly, there continues to be ever widening recognition and engagement of what it means to commemorate Keti Koti in our city and perhaps in the near future we might get a memorial for this in the city.

I am glad that I could play my tiny part in laying the commemorative wreath on this occassion of Keti Koti in Wageningen. Hopefully, there will come a time when Keti Koti is made a Dutch national holiday as it is done for 5 May Liberation Day celebrations. In this way, more and more people will become aware of Keti Koti and can choose to fully participate in the commemorative events.