In 1928, a young man from Suriname named Waldemar Nods (Sergio Hasselbaink) goes to the Netherlands to study. His dark skin stands out and causes discrimination. He moves to lodging in The Hague with Rika, who went to live separated from her deeply religious husband Willem, after she discovered him cheating with the maid Jans. She has taken all four of their children (Willem, John, Bertha and Henk) with her.