Leonardo Students

Marco Teulings
I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, 21 November 1976, have two brothers and one sister and am the eldest. My parents are both Dutch and moved to South Africa in the early seventies. At an early age I moved with my family to a nearby town called Nelspruit, which is 350km east of Johannesburg. There we were brought up in an English speaking environment and left our Dutch cultures behind. I went to a convent and later to Lowveld High School.

South Africa at the time was a very prosperous country and my parents had established a very successful business, which was very well known in Neslpruit with a population of about 50000 people. After ANC won the elections in April 1994 we were unsure of our future and decided to immigrate to Holland, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, the education in South Africa started to decline, since the syllabus had to expand to except different levels of culture and knowledge. Schooling in the Netherlands would give us more certainty and would allow us broader access to the mainstream of the world economy. Secondly crime had significantly increased the last few years and noticing the differences between the political parties and people, the signs pointed out that the crime would only increase.

Thursday, 15 December 1994 would definitely be the saddest day of my life. At a time when you’re so confused about your future, leaving your friends and comfortable environment behind surely didn’t make things easier. This is a night that I will remember as being with my best three friends in the cafe, hardly saying a word, dreading the departure at 7:00 in the morning. In the Netherlands we received a lot of help from our uncles and aunts. My parents started a new photographic shop and we didn’t have problems enrolling into new schools. Dutch was definitely a problem for me in the beginning and took at least a year to be able to speak it fluently. My sister learnt Dutch very quickly and has adapted very quickly loosing most of her South African culture. Although our family is pretty close, moving to the Netherlands has caused a split in feelings for the two different cultures. Some members of our family have accepted the Dutch culture and feel very comfortable with it, while others prefer to meet and experience other cultures.

Last year I returned to South Africa and it was a weird experience. In so many ways I felt at home but there is definitely a feeling that you don’t fit in completely like in the old days. Meeting new people and different cultures changes the way you accept and think about people. And although I felt very at home, every now and then I experienced that difference. After meeting many different people you become less judgmental and accept people along with their cultures a lot easier. However this could also mean sacrificing your own value system. Travelling also made me realise that there isn’t a culture that fits you perfectly. No matter what culture you enter you will always have to adapt in some way. As for me although I have experienced many cultures here in Europe, South Africa will probably always be closed to my heart. – (Marco Teulings)

Simone Novello
Leonardo da Vinci Student from the University of Trento.

Matthijs Nelissen Hello I'm Matt (as they call me in the UK) and I study Humans & Computer technology in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. For our studies we have to do an internship at a company for six months. I didn't really feel like working at a company nearby for six months therefore I choose to go somewhere abroad, because I think this adds a lot to the work experience. I found out Tim had the same aspirations and rather than both trying to find a place abroad we decided to team up. We finally ended up in Manchester where we worked at st. Thomas

Matt and Tim in Manchester

Aquinas high school. COTW was one of our employers. We worked on redesigning the website and also developed the GNES idea. I wasn't a global nomad, before I went to work in Manchester I didn't spend more than a month in a foreign country. But I liked working in a different country and I definitely will try to find another place somewhere for my final internship next year. Matt

Tim Deijnen
I'm Tim (as they call me all over the world) and I'm an IT student from Den Bosch, The Netherlands. I first came in contact with the Children of the Wind project after responding on a placement offer in Holland. COTW offered me (and Matt) a place to work in Manchester. Since I was looking for a placement in a foreign country, this was a great opportunity.
During my placement I came in touch with some wonderfull individuals. One of them is Cass Williamson, the project leader of COTW. She introduced me to a whole new meaning... 'Global Nomads'... Global Nomads became a very important part of my internship. I learned a lot about Global Nomads. And (along with my friend Matt) I made a website about and for these Global Nomads, which you are visiting at the moment...

The 6 months I lived in Manchester were the first 6 months in which I lived and worked in a foreign country, and they will definitely not be the last...

Tim

Ayla Çevik Hello, my name is Ayla and I study Bussiness & Informatics technology in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. I was born in the Netherlands but I am actually Turkish. I grew up with both cultures. When I saw the placement profile I was very much excited and I replied on it after I got the permission to go from my parents. It is not likely for a Turkish girl to live on her own in a foreign country but experiencing different countries is one of the many things I want to achieve in my life. I love to travel and this placement was a good opportunity to see for myself how it is to live and work in a foreign country.

Ayla

Eventually I ended up living in Manchester, England, working for COTW. The project was me working in the ICT department of a primary school. I actually worked for COTW, which seconded me to the school (OTCS), where I worked fulltime. My main task was to develop and maintain a website for the school. I also had many other tasks such as: Create clubs for children Helping teachers and pupils Solving technical problems in the ICT room Supervising Lunch Time ICT Club I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on this placement. Not only do I feel that it has raised the level of my confidence and self esteem but I also believe that the teachers and most important, the pupils benefited from and appreciated the work done. The results of the project were positive and I am pleased to have left some work, which I believe is a lasting legacy for the school. All the work done on the project has been documented in a written handbook to be used in the school after my departure. This placement was not easy but it was challenging, especially living and working in a foreign country. It has taught me a great deal and I feel very proud to have completed the challenge. Ayla