Students going to Israel (2011)

Hello, my name is Lien Depelchin, I’m twenty-one years old. I’m interested in religion, history, art and music. I’m studying to become a teacher of religion and history.

I was member of the Chiro, a youth organization for six years and leader for two years. This year I quit. I help coordinate an adventure playground in my neighborhood. We need to stimulate new animators and open the playground for children with limitations.

I’m a member of a choir for young people ‘Con Spirito’. This summer I leaded a camp for the little children of the choir. I also sing in a local band ‘FlatweaZLe’.

For six years I’ve been an animator on the adventure playground ‘Barsjok’ of which two years as leading animator. During the weekends I work in the castle of our village as a volunteer. I also help organize several activities for young and old there.

I like new challenges once in a while to discover other parts of life. I live in Ghent during the week, I need to take care of my brother and myself then, so I’m very independent. During weekends I live with my parents in Beauvoorde, a little village near the French border. My family contains four children (including myself) and my parents. My father is also a teacher, he teaches children aged 12 years. My oldest brother and my sister are teachers too, they teach religion and arts. My mother is responsible for the castle in my village. My youngest brother is studying Latin and Dutch in Ghent.

In the past, I travelled a lot with my parents and likewise I learned to discover other cultures. That is my greatest motivation to go to Israel, learning a lot about their culture, habits, language, etc.

I’d like to become a teacher who can teach out of experience. Showing pictures and telling stories about experiences in Israel would make me, as a teacher, able to spread knowledge based on what I saw. The information is in that case more controllable and makes the content more interesting.

Today Israel is still the place-to-be if you consider its amount of various religions. I think, if you lived among those people for a certain period of time, you can build a clearer image of how people in Israel live together. In case of teaching, it is a big challenge to go there. The means are probably different than those we use here. The difference in subject-matter will be considerable as well. We, in Belgium, learn about the history of our own area (Europe) and put strong emphasis on our religion (the Roman Catholicism). I suppose that they, in the same way, will emphasize the history of Israel and the three monotheistic religions.

                     

Hello! My name is Mieke Claeys, I’m 21 years old and I’m currently studying in Ghent to become a history and arts teacher. That’s why I’ve chosen Israel for my internship. I’m very interested in other cultures and Israel has a rich history I’m hoping to discover more about. I love meeting new people and seeing new places. I’m convinced that my visit to Israel will be enriching and very educational.

I love art, history, singing, dancing, poetry, movies, acting and much more. In my free time I work as a volunteer on a playground for children with or without restrictions. It’s our goal to animate the children during the summer and to give them a wonderful time. At home I’m the youngest of five children. I have three sisters and one brother. They thought me a lot and partially made me the person I am today.

I’m really looking forward to my stay in Israel and I’m curious off the effects it will have on my way off thinking
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Hello, my name is Naïki Segaert, and I am 21 years old. I live in Staden and I’m studying in Gent to become a teacher of religion (Christianity) and Dutch. I have several hobbies: I like cooking, reading and going out with friends. But I’m also member of a youth organization. Here in Belgian it calls ‘de Chiro’. I am member since I was 12 years old. Now it’s my third year as leader. This year I am the leader of ‘de aspies’. These are youth between 16 and 18 years old. I have a lot of fun with them. We have our activities every Sunday afternoon.

Now I want to tell you about my family. I have one sister, she is 19 years old and she wants to become a nurse. My mother is also a nurse. My father works at the mechanism of cars.

For seven weeks I have taught at the ‘PTI’ in Eeklo. These were students between 12 and 16 years old. For the moment I teach at a school for disabled. They have a mental disability.

I am very thankful that they give me the opportunity to go to Israel. I want to meet new people and I want to learn new things. I am very interested in the way of life in this country and I want to learn the habits. I am looking forward for this experience!
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My name is Laura Devynck and I’m a student at the Artevelde Hogeschool In Ghent, Belgium.
I study at this school to become a teacher. My subjects are Dutch and religion.
If I have to describe myself in three words, I would choose ‘adventurous’; ‘open minded’ and ‘curious’.

My home is located in Bruges. A small town/city near to the coast. It’s a beautiful city with a lot of culture and history.
I have a lot of things I like to do, but the most important thing in my life

is the youth movement. I’m a monitor for children between the age of 13 and 16. They are a handful, but I really like organizing activities for them. The name of my youth movement is KSA Ter-Straeten. It’s located where I was born and it’s already the 17^th year I’ve been in the youth movement and my sixth year as a monitor.

I love to work with children and young adults because they keep me young and you can make them happy with the littlest thing. I think that that is an important quality that we tend to lose when we grow up.

I want to go to Israel because I think it’s a beautiful country. It has a lot of interesting history and it can teach me a lot about different religions. I’m interested in the different cultures that are situated in Israel. When I think about all the sites we can visit, I get very excited. Israel is a country I’ve wanted to visit for a long time now. I’m very glad I got the opportunity to do it!I also want to learn about the way the teachers prepare their lessons. I think we can lear

n a lot form each other. I’m looking forward to the lessons we’re going to get, I think it will be very interesting to compare the schools.

Four weeks in another country doesn’t seem that much, but I’m sure the learning-process is going to be enriching.

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My name is Ashton Hennekam, I am female and 21 years old. I live in my hometown Sint-Niklaas, a town not far from the famous city Antwerp. I'm at my last year of Bachelor Secondary school English – Biology. Recently, I discovered a new study which I would like to do and going to when I am graduated. It’s a Bachelor after Bachelor, International cooperation North-South where I would go to Brazil to help out with projects concerning education.

I have three sisters who are all older than me. Ashley (28 years old) is the oldest one. She studied architecture and agogics and is living in Vietnam at the moment. Natalie (27 years old) studied translator English-Spanish and journalism and is now living in Australia for at least one year. My third sister, Stephie (26 years old) has her B achelor Secondary education Physical Education – English and nutritionist. She lives with my mother as well and has a job as a dietician. My biggest interest is travelling which I really like a lot and try to do as much as I can. I believe we live to discover the earth and that’s why I want to explore different countries, cultures,  religions, etc. . Past summer, I went to Vietnam to visit my sister. This trip really shifted my entire perspective because I had never been indulged in another culture before. This is the reason why I’m really looking forward to come to Israel as well. It’s a total different environment and mentality than Belgium which I want to learn more about. I believe my trip and future experiences will pay a contribution to my self-fulfillment.