Day 2 a Summary

Yesterday was the guardian service's turn to get a visit from us. We had the pleasure to get to know more about the organization thanks to Mrs. Anne Sander (right) and Mrs. Maiken Bejerholm (left). Mrs. Sander is the head of the organization and Mrs. Bejerholm works as the coördinator of the legal guardians and volunteers who commit themselves on an almost daily basis to the unaccompanied minor asylum seeker. In total there are two hundred volunteers and five employed guardians. Usually, it's a one on one relationship with the unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Most tutors are highly educated and they have a legal knowledge in this field. That way the vulnerable minors are also closely assisted in their asylum procedure, because for them the law is as good as unknown. They also see to it that the relationship with the guardian and every decision taken in this context is always done in the interest of - and to the extent possible in conjunction with - the unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. That's why you can see the strong big boy called Mohamed on the cardboard... their slogan is 'It's all about Mohamed' ... I wonder if this young Afghan is also still sweeping the streets for now :)

Eventually we had the pleasure to meet Chamilla (photo, I forgot her family name) for a second time since our kick off day in Brussels. A Woman who doesn't only speak about empowerment, but also radiates it in her positive energy from her lively charism.

Her entrance refreshed all our spirits, so pretty soon we were all listening attentively to her in her explanation about minor aged victims of trafficking being seized by the police in illegal practices like e.g. prostitution and eventually placed in centres for minor aged asylum seekers, instead of being arrested and put into prison. She explained to us that the fact that these minors are victims instead of criminals is really strongly emphasized. Something very recognizable as we too see a lot of young girls and boys being tempted into easy money and drastically losing their own values because of having to sell their own body in order to keep up with the social standard they think is necessary in order to fit in. Luckely there are also some succes stories in which the minors finds a proper social network and eventually can find some ways of living in our society.

Then, as always we were treated for a wonderful lunch. While we were discussing and comparing the different structural methods we use in order to empower our teenaged asylum seekers and the value of voluntary workers, Mr. Christian Aziz arrived at the parking lot. A joyful and jolly young man of whom I'd expect him to be a much older and formal gentleman as the principal of the School for Unaccompanied Minor Asylum Seekers. Also his car reminded me of my first Toyota I bought fifteen years ago with a few bucks I saved as a soldier in the army. But as we got to know eachother, I knew this man could even achieve much more with his broad field of knowledge. Just like I 'm starting to think of myself so to speak :)

On an inspiring trip, together with a brief lesson about the middle aged local Danish history, the three "lazy munks" drove to the school. It actually looked more as an old and dirty building from the outside. Yet, as my life experience taught me: "It's not the outside that counts.", I promised myself not to say anything untill we saw the inside of the building.

And of course, my expectations were more then granted. Once Andreas and I got a look at the classrooms, they seemed very well renovated. As we moved on through each classroom, I noticed that in Denmark the teachers work specifically towards integration - based learning. No other language then Danish is allowed inside the school and all lessons have an aim on stimulating the minors into becoming more autonom (cooking, social interaction, use of computer for personal concern).

The smartboards and flatscreen TV's in a lot of classroom made it obvious that there's a lot of structural investments that went into creating this stimulating environment for the minors.

After a nice coffee break and an almost post-military debriefing about common experiences in another life before being an educator, it was time to say goodbye and return back to the Red Light district in which our hotel is situated. Thanks to the flexible coördination skills of Andreas and me, we saw about fifty kilometers more of Denmark then we were supposed to. But at least now I have a great plan on how my fiancee and I will build our future house: one floor, containing about four to five rooms and a huge basement... that's about the average size for a Danish house I noticed in the villages around Copenhagen. Oh yeah, and countless miles of fields for our future kids to use as a playground full of tender wildlife. As much as I miss her love, I'm sort of starting to like the country side out here. Some nice, blond and wet 33'ers will smooth that feeling right out, I guess. They call 'm "Lille øl" out here. The "Meget øl"'s are for friday night. :)

skål!!

Wesley