At the entrance to the Volendam Museum, in San José del Rosario, San Pedro department, a baby stroller from Russia holds one of the most moving stories of Mennonite settlement in Paraguay. The object belonged to Alma Thiessen, a six-month-old girl who died of meningitis aboard the Dutch ship Volendam in 1947 and had to be committed to the sea during the Atlantic crossing.
The tragedy, however, gave way to an act of solidarity that ensured the survival of another child. Alma's mother, still grieving and with an empty stroller, noticed that another passenger, Anganetha Bergen, was too ill to breastfeed her own daughter, Mari Anne, just one month old. With her breasts full of milk, the woman who had just lost her child offered nourishment to the unknown newborn. Mari Anne survived and, at 79 years old, still resides in the Volendam colony.
The story is told with emotion by teacher Helene Quiring, founder and guide of the museum, who welcomes visitors at the site. "This is the story we always want to tell as people walk in," she said, showing a photo of Mari Anne and the stroller that the two families ended up sharing.
The Volendam Museum operates in what was once a secondary school, with its original 1967 wooden floor. The collection brings together objects brought by the settlers — from both Germany and Russia — as well as photographs of the first residents, the first scale used at the cooperative, a safe made at the local sawmill, a cheese press, a wooden washing machine, a harmonica, a cinema projector used for cultural evenings, and even the student boarding house campaign.
The refugees who founded the Volendam colony arrived in Paraguay 79 years ago, fleeing World War II and communism. They were organized by the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), based in the United States, which purchased 25,000 hectares of land from the Argentine association "Teves" for the settlement. Paraguay was the only country that accepted the group, regardless of age or health condition.
Visits to the museum can be scheduled with Helene Quiring by phone at (0984) 241 110 or with María Wiebe at (0974) 104 841.