Netherlands: Structured Program Time

The trip I am a part of for the Netherlands consists loosely of two parts. The first is what the group has been calling program or structured time, the second is unstructured, or casually, free time. What the structured time means is we are based in the city of Maastricht, a smallish sized city at the southern "nub" of the Netherlands, only 20 kilometers from Belgium and Germany. In Maastricht, we are working with a school, called ISK, and at ISK we are working with students, the majority of whom are refugees from Syria and Eritrea. These students are at differing levels of English, and most don't know Dutch when they arrive (as an aside, it is quite humbling to learn Dutch from a 12 year old Syrian girl who can speak some English). We are creating some loose programs for assessing their English competence, because the school also teaches English along with Dutch. (Another aside, everybody speaks English). These activities, the organized time with ISK, the day trips to visit other schools around the Netherlands and Germany, are all part of the structured program part of this trip.

Admittedly, I was nervous about our close work with ISK. Although the partnership is considered "structured program" it is still extremely unstructured, ambiguous, and somewhat random. Some of us have developed an assessment, others of us have developed conversational English activities. And most days we are there, I just kind of kick it with the students. I talk with them during their breaks, join their classes (where I learn Dutch, but not very well), and learn about where these students have traveled from and what kind of music they like (there are many Beliebers here). While I can't say exactly how this is making me feel, I do know there are deep emotions stirring inside of me about the immigration and refugee phenomenon happening in the Netherlands and across Europe. This phenomenon is very present here for everyone, and everyone (Dutch or other national citizens) have strong opinions about it. Bumping up against this very real situation on a daily basis in the least has made me remember there are other, sometimes more pressing challenges facing our world than my own American politics, and also made me realize the thoughts and emotions I am experiencing will continue to percolate for many months.

My group with some of the ISK faculty