I’ve been on exchange in July for an education project in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City. I didn’t really thought  about it. I just applied. My goal was going out of my comfort zone by going to a country, culture  completely unknown to me. I wanted to know more about myself and the world. This project made me learn the importance of education. When you teach to kids, you are not just a teacher, you  become a master, an influencer. You realize that what you do is a gift for them. Not only teaching, even playing will impact them. Unconsciously you open them many doors to a huge future. Also with AIESEC I met people coming from  all over the world, I found myself in strangers when it’s difficult to find ourselves in our own community. I just realized that the world is not that big. We are not that different. In my head now the world is small. It’s the human beings who keep creating those boundaries between all the communities. And  with AIESEC, I found a way to break all of them.

AIESEC gave me the chance to live an experience that I couldn’t find elsewhere. Combining a volunteering project and travelling is the best combination according to me if you want to develop your leadership, create an impact around you and have fun at the same time. During my stay in Peru, I discovered the local community and their habits, I learned so many things, travelled to many different wonderful places in the country and most importantly I helped children with difficulties and I taught them values that are important to us in Belgium, to empower them to become responsible adults. I think that this kind of volunteering internship is really important because it facilitates exchanges between different countries and it offers people a more open-minded view. I would thus recommend everyone to embarge on a volunteering experience because my only regret was that it didn’t last longer.

I travelled more than 10,000 km to the other side of the world, to live there for six weeks. It was the first time that I experienced such a combination of uncertainty, curiosity and excitement. From the beginning of our project, we were tasked with creating awareness about the human rights among the local youth. And aside from developing an online campaign, we also personally got in contact with them. I wrapped up my work in the NGO during the last days and enjoyed being a volunteer: I had meetings in the morning to define new strategic goals for the organization, and we went motorcycling in the afternoon to discover the most remote beaches of the island. Although I was sad I had to leave, I’m incredibly happy to have done this project! Henri and Evelien showcased their experience in a series of Youtube videos. Learn more about their experience by clicking here to watch them!