Two affected young people had asked @sharon_dijksma, the Mayor of Utrecht, for a mural to help ensure that their story would not be forgotten.

The mural consists of two parts: the section you can see now, and the section that I will complete once the young people have been properly compensated and treated fairly.

I designed this mural together with young people affected by the childcare benefits scandal (toeslagenaffaire), and it symbolizes their recovery and hope.

The image features flowers and a butterfly. Each element has something unusual about it (for example, the butterfly is missing part of a wing, one of the flowers suddenly has thorns, and so on). This symbolizes the story of the young people.

We also had designs that were darker in nature, but I have to take into account the strong impact a mural has on public space. At first glance, people may simply see beautiful flowers, but those who truly look will see the story behind them.

How long it will take before I can complete the mural depends entirely on how all the parties involved in the young people's situation handle their cases.

You can find the mural at Taagdreef/Ebrodreef in Utrecht Overvecht, near the former home of one of the young people.

Thank you, @gemeenteutrecht, for your cooperation, and thank you, @woonin, for providing such a fitting wall for this project!