Hey guys!
So I've been pretty absent again. Mind the again. But I'm back for now. It's just that I really love having a space to write down all my thoughts and adventures but the space I created is not how I want or like it anymore. For now it'll have to do but I'm thinking of redesigning my blog, the idea of my blog and what I want to do with it. So keep an eye out for that in the future.
*snaps fingers* Back to the present.
As the title subtly gives away I have been in South-Africa for a month now. Renée why are you in South-Africa?! Well let me explain, for the entirety of my last school year I have been busy getting into and preparing myself for an internship abroad. This has always been a dream of mine and the opportunity to go on one was actually one of the reasons for me to choose the university I'm currently in. So when the chances finally presented themselves I jumped upon them. It took a lot of sweat and tears to get in but look where I am!
Right now I am living and doing my internship in Pretoria, and I am in love with this city. It's definitely on the list of favourite cities I've visited so far! The internship I'm on is with TLF (Tshwane Leadership Foundation), TLF has different projects and the ones I'm working on are Inkululeko and Potter's House. Inkululeko being a preschool where I support the teachers and give my own lessons. Potter's House being a shelter for vulnerable women who left their home situations for different reasons. Both really interesting and challenging as a nurse as the things I can do there as a nurse are much less obvious than my fellow students having their internship with disabled people or in hospitals. But I love the challenges I'm faced with and the creative thinking that I have to do to succeed here. It's absolutely brilliant!
Than there is the city itself. Even though I have been here for a month already I've not seen too much of Pretoria yet, and still I'm already in love with the city. There's so much to do and explore in Pretoria but also Johannesburg and the surroundings. What I have been doing is a safari, visiting South-Africa's biggest theme park, and hanging out at a local foodmarket 20 minutes from my accommodation. The easy going South-African atmosphere has got me hooked, and an unsafe feeling isn't something I've come to experience here yet, thankfully. The accommodation I'm staying at is called F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Yes it is written like the TV show, but the name honours itself. It's an accommodation aimed at foreign students and it has a lot of options to hang out by yourself or together. As we also have a social manager here who organises hikes or dinners you get to know your housemates quite easily and during this month I have grown rather fond of them. I love this accommodation and the people I'm staying here with. I have definitely made friends here already.
One month down, 2.5 more to go and I can not wait to see what they will bring! If you have the option to go abroad on an internship or travel abroad for a long time I can't do anything else than recommend it to you! It has been a great experience so far and it will only get better! Besides just going abroad I would also like to recommend South-Africa and especially Pretoria to you. Some might say Cape Town is the place to be here but I disagree, Pretoria has so much to offer and there are so many incredible things to do and see nearby. Swaziland and Kruger are only a three hour drive, the nature here is amazing, a lot of national park and safari options are nearby, plus it's South-Africa's political centre and it holds a lot of history. What more to say than visit Pretoria if you get the chance!
For my time here I decided to vlog so I will put the links to my vlogs down here for you to watch: (mind you, the spoken ones are in Dutch but please feel welcome to add subtitles to them to make them more accessible for non-Dutch speakers as well)
Catch up with you soon!
Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96
Hey guys!
For about a week now I have been back from my holiday, but the black hole it has left in my life is absolutely crazy. Not a minute goes by without me thinking back to the two incredible weeks I had. It was utterly amazing, the families and my fellow volunteers. One of the most beautiful places on earth, that's what it is.
If you have been following me for some time now you might have an idea what place this is about. This year was my third year on that same campsite. For someone who always used to say they would never visit the same place once I got pretty stuck there. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's the most amazing campsite in Europe, Domaine de Puylagorge. Domaine de Puylagorge is a campsite in the middle of France, specifically aimed at families with kids with disabilities and their siblings to offer them the holiday they need and deserve. A holiday where the kids can roam and play free, without the help of their parents or the constant supervision of them. A campsite where the parents can actually relax knowing their children are in the hand of the most amazing volunteers.
I came across Domaine de Puylagorge three years ago when I was thinking of working on a campsite abroad. The target group of Puylagorge, or Puy as we call it, sounded very appealing and so I decided to check it out. After spending two incredible weeks there I decided to come back the year after, and last year the same thing happened so I returned there this year as well. How do you explain this to the people around you? Well, you can't. Believe me, I have tried, but there is no way to explain the peace the parents find there for two weeks, the fun the kids have there and how disabilities are almost the standard, where no one looks up from a wheelchair or where no one gets weird glances for in explainable behaviour. Weird is the normal on Puy.
My job on the campsite is to make sure the kids have a good time, together with my fellow volunteers we form the animation team. But besides doing the animation we can also be asked to babysit, or to support parents with the physical care for their children. This allows the parents to really have a day off with the two of them or with the not disabled kids. To me it's the best job, well I wouldn't call it a job it really is just a vacation, in the world. This year I got to mentor the same kid I mentored last year, as the kid needed one on one guidance. This kid has CP (cerebral palsy) and is the most amazing kid I know, always happy, always cheerful, and always cheering for others. During our song moment he's always telling the group to applaud for themselves and how amazing their singing is. The smile on his face becomes a smile on my face as well.
This year was really great as I got to guide that little fellow for the full two weeks of mine and his stay. It was an honour. As a one on one mentor you really bond with the kid, but also with it's (protective) siblings and parents which is something else completely but something so incredible I wouldn't miss it for the world. During the week he started calling me "his Renée" which is also how he came up to me in the morning. Don't get me started on our toilet adventures, petting animals, bouncy castle shenanigans or painting (both paper and each other). It was a blast.
Another special thing there is that at the end of the week we have this kind of showcase, every animation group does an act and then there are the solo acts kids (and their friends/ parents) do. At the end we say goodbye to the volunteers and families that go home. Every week tears are being shed, hugs are thrown around, final pictures are being taken and phone numbers or email addresses are being exchanged. It's an emotional happening but that's what makes Domaine de Puylagorge such an amazing place. There is a reason our motto is: "friends bring happiness". Puylagorge brings both those things, happiness and new friends. Every single year, and every year there are more familiar faces as volunteers and families keep returning. Also every year you meet new incredible and inspiring people.
Yeah, to me it's the best place on earth. And if you are from Belgium or Holland I would really recommend you check it out or pay it forward!
Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96
As the title subtly gives away I have been in South-Africa for a month now. Renée why are you in South-Africa?! Well let me explain, for the entirety of my last school year I have been busy getting into and preparing myself for an internship abroad. This has always been a dream of mine and the opportunity to go on one was actually one of the reasons for me to choose the university I'm currently in. So when the chances finally presented themselves I jumped upon them. It took a lot of sweat and tears to get in but look where I am! 
Right now I am living and doing my internship in Pretoria, and I am in love with this city. It's definitely on the list of favourite cities I've visited so far! The internship I'm on is with TLF (Tshwane Leadership Foundation), TLF has different projects and the ones I'm working on are Inkululeko and Potter's House. Inkululeko being a preschool where I support the teachers and give my own lessons. Potter's House being a shelter for vulnerable women who left their home situations for different reasons. Both really interesting and challenging as a nurse as the things I can do there as a nurse are much less obvious than my fellow students having their internship with disabled people or in hospitals. But I love the challenges I'm faced with and the creative thinking that I have to do to succeed here. It's absolutely brilliant! 
For my time here I decided to vlog so I will put the links to my vlogs down here for you to watch: (mind you, the spoken ones are in Dutch but please feel welcome to add subtitles to them to make them more accessible for non-Dutch speakers as well)
