Inbound GSE Team from District 1560, The Netherlands

Jonaske de Ruiter

Team Leader / Female / From Rotary Club of Ermelo

 

VOCATIONAL

• Visiting institutions for people with a handicap (psychological, mental disabilities), education programmes (for culture), care and well-being. What is the vision towards people with a handicap and how are their rights guaranteed?
• I would like to see how orphaned children are being taken care of, apart from the many projects in that area.
• I would like to meet with (young) artists and to visit an academy for the arts.

CULTURAL

• Museums
• Hiking through the country to encounter, as much as possible, the small and common life.
• Meet and experience traditions and habits
• Looking for the magic of the Philipines
• Visiting various islands
• Faith and religion, the foundations of the current culture and the expectations for the future.

LEISURE

• Sea, beach and (learning to) dive.
• Music and dancing, live performances to grasp the atmosphere and culture of the Philippines in a relaxed setting.
• Strolling across the marketplace
• Fitness, swimming or jogging, to keep fit and gather my thoughts
• Drawing and painting my daily experiences
• And…every once in a while a relaxing massage on a pearly white beach…!

Hanneke Heesmans

Team member / Female / Date of Birth: Sept. 18, 1978 / She is from Wageningen University, Geo-Ecology.

 

 

Chris van der Plas

Team member / Male / Date of Birth: August 7, 1977 / He is a social worker/social therapist on child violence protection

 

VOCATIONAL

• With the group I would like to visit organisations that are in the team members’ respective fields of work. Apart from exchanges directed towards my own expertise, I would like to learn about my fellow team members’ occupation, both during the preparation and during the trip itself.
• Personal: child protection services, psychiatry and the prison system, orphanage. I would like to participate for one or more days in projects that deal with child care and child safety. How is child protection organized in the Philippines? I would like to visit a psychiatric hospital and/or a prison and try to find out how psychiatry and the prison system relate to each other.

CULTURAL

• Personally, I would like to participate in every-day activities, for example with my host families. This is the most effective way for me to experience (cultural) differences and similarities.
• Also, I would like to get a feel for different socio-economic groups living in the Philippines.

LEISURE

• Imagine: after a long journey a massage, that would make you forget everything and that would reinforce you… That would work for me!
• Also nature parks, beaches, hanging around and think about the experiences, while listening to music, calling and sending e-mails to the people at home. Of course, anything having to do with music.
• With the group: enjoy good food, fun nights out (with music, and perhaps, dance), cinema, sharing experiences, etc.

Maartje van Ommeren

Team member / Female / Date of Birth, August 25, 1983 / She is an Intensive Clinical/Critical nurse

 

VOCATIONAL

• I would like to visit several hospitals and clinics and see how the Philippines organize health care, both in the cities and in small villages. Are the differences between the cities and the countryside, and what are those differences?
• I would prefer surgical wards. I would to meet with representatives from various disciplines: nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, and others. Also I would like to see operating rooms and it would be great if I could be present at a (small) surgical operation.
• Furthermore, I would like to learn about other aspects within health care in the Philippines: hygiene, nourishment/diets, basic health care, technical nursing skills, cooperation, work pressure, finances.
• I hope that I’ll be able to not just visit the facilities, but also to work along for a day.

CULTURAL

• Museums/arts
• Nature/rice fields
• Churches/historic sites and buildings
• Music/karaoke/cover bands
• Sports: basketball, cockfighting
• Difference between the rich and the poor.

LEISURE

• First of all: lots of fun with the group. Going out to dinner, relaxing at the beach, going out.
• I love water sports, so it would be great to go snorkelling, sailing, kayaking and/or rafting.
• Finally: shopping for souvenirs and a new outfit!

Ferdi Geleijnse

Team member / Male / Date of Birth: May 22, 1977 / He is a lead inspector, Primary Education

 

VOCATIONAL

• I would like to visit one or more schools for primary education and, if possible, for special needs education (disabled children). During the visits to the schools I would appreciate the opportunity to observe lessons and to talk with teachers, pupils and school management. Through these visits I would like to learn about the educational system of the Philippines and to find out how it is organized, what are things that work well and how improvement of education can be achieved.
• From the chairman of the GSE-committee I learned that our hosts have questions pertaining to ‘comprehensive learning’. I have no idea at which level the question’s being asked, but I am more than willing to share my thoughts and to learn about developments in the Philippines.
• I am not sure whether there is a school inspection system in place in the Philippines, but if there is, I would love to have the opportunity to talk with inspectors and/or superintendants. To participate in a school inspection would be great!
• If possible, I would like to talk with educational policy makers in the (local or regional) government to learn how those processes work, what the current and major issues are and which solutions are being offered.

CULTURAL

• I would like our hosts to show us around a little: they know what is good and what’s not.
• I think it is important for us to get a glimpse of social stratification in the Philipines in terms of ethnicity, history, religion, socio-economic status, etcetera. What groups can be discerned, how do Philippino’s define themselves, how do groups behave towards one another?
• Religion and, especially, religious diversity is my old profession. I would be very happy to visit houses of worship and, perhaps, speak with representatives of different faiths.

LEISURE

• Enjoying Philippine cuisine and drinks.
• Just strolling around to feel and experience everyday life.
• In my mind I picture myself sitting on the a, reading a book, and just…relax!
• Finally: if it is, in any way, possible to see Superbowl XLIV on TV (Feb. 7th), it would be greatly appreciated!