Update: Global Exploration, Jaap Huizing and Ellen Kelleners

In our January Tripost we posted an article about the sponsorship of Jaap Huizing and Ellen Kelleners who traveled for a world citizen internship with Global Exploration Foundation. They have since visited our office together to share their experiences with us. They traveled for 3 weeks to Tanzania and Kenya respectively.

Tell us... What did you all do and what were your experiences? “
They got to visit several schools where they participated in daily life. Every morning school began at 8:00 a.m. with the national anthem. The lessons were taught in English, but the people spoke among themselves in Swahili. For Jaap and Ellen it was quite an adjustment in the beginning. They slept in tents and there was no toilet and shower as they are used to in the Netherlands. Toilet was sometimes just a hole in the ground and showering was done with a bucket of water. Furthermore, the use of a telephone was not allowed. Because of this, the children were really dependent on each other and had a lot of contact with each other. Each student was also linked to a local buddy with whom they hung out during the lessons.

Travel between the countries required separate visas and border control was strict. People spoke of the “good” police and the “bad” police. Some police were dressed in white and others in a different color. The 'good' police turned out to be the corrupt police as they could be bribed with money.

School days were long and sometimes they went on until 10:30 pm. The local students were very disciplined and children who did not follow the rules were dealt with severely; children were punished for example by being on their knees if they misbehaved or they were sometimes even beaten. This was obviously a tough thing for the students from the Netherlands to experience.

Religion played an important role, most of the population being Christian or Muslim, although Christianity was more visible. Praying was therefore one of the things they did daily at school, which they very much appreciated when the Dutch guests joined in. It was also striking that they identified more with their tribe than with their country.

Despite the harsh conditions, such as the lack of facilities, the local people were content with their lives. The children there all wanted to become doctors or lawyers and earn a lot of money so they could come to the West. Even though history lessons are still about slavery in which the West still had a very negative role.

The students formed a close bond with each other, sharing a unique experience. Even now, there is still contact between the students from the Netherlands and Africa. Although they learned a lot about happiness and simplicity, they do not feel the need to go back again, because the experience will never be the same. They do highly recommend the trip to other students, because you gain a lot of life experience and you learn to be happy with little and appreciate all that you have at home.

A book will be made of the trips of all students who participated in the Global Exploration project this year, describing the stories of Jaap and Ellen, among others, and showing an overview of all sponsors. This book will also be presented to Tripolis Business Support. We are very curious.

For more info https://www.global-exploration.nl/home