Day 9 - Maastricht, Netherlands

We have stayed at more strange places on this trip than I could have imagined.  First the Botel, and now our hostel in Maastricht, which we are lovingly referring to as the "Ho-tospital" because it is an old hospital that has been repurposed into a youth hostel and student housing.  I love the idea of reusing infrastructure, and there is a lot that can be done creatively, but this is pushing it for even me.  The problem that we are all having with the Ho-tospital is that it still looks completely like a hospital: signage and furnishings included. Did I forget to mention the fact that the first floor is actually still a hospital?  So bizarre.  The fact that this creepy place is now our home for two weeks, coupled with the fact that our arrival was in the middle of the night yesterday - we all were a bit shaken.  In the light of day, it is not nearly as bad and we are all anxious to get settled somewhere semi-permanent.

This morning we visited a school called St Maarten's Preparatory College.  This is a high school level school specifically designed for refugees and asylum seekers that have come to the Netherlands because of war and violence in their home countries.  The majority of the population does not speak the same language, so a majority of the lessons are done in a combination of English and basic Dutch.  Many of the students are from Somalia and Afghanistan, but there are also kids from Eastern Europe and other countries in the Middle East, whose families have tried to come to the Netherlands for better job opportunities.  In order to become a Dutch national, one of the most important steps is to learn the Dutch language and culture.  As we spoke with teachers and the director of St. Maarten's, we learned that understanding Dutch or English was literally a life or death situation for many of the students.  

This was by far one of the most interesting and heart-wrenching things I have been a part of.  The director explained to us that the Dutch government spends very little time and money towards efforts of this kind.  Overall, 90% of children and young adults that attempt to seek asylum in the Netherlands will be sent back to their home country.  We had a short meeting with the director and then split into small groups and visited classrooms.  I had the opportunity to two to a group of four girls; two from Poland, one from Belarus, and one from Ukraine.  Through a complicated dance of 4 different languages, we managed to have a conversation about school and what they like to do.  They also helped teach me a few   words in Dutch.  Although they were shy at first, all four of the girls were incredibly friendly and were excited to practice their English with me.  

My heart goes out to all of the students I met today because of the challenges they are up against.  Although they are in much different situations, they reminded me so much of my students at Advent House.  I have never seen perseverance or dedication like in those classrooms - even when the odds are stacked so high not int their favor.  Even knowing that these students come from terrible backgrounds, there was still a sincere and excited atmosphere in all of the classrooms.  The students were friendly and treated each other incredibly well.  Ironically, I thought here was a lot more happiness at St. Maarten's than we saw in any of the other schools.