1/2 Students Jordy and Yoeri leave for Gambia (photo: Jan Peels)
A convoy of 25 cars left Den Bosch with 35 ROC students for The Gambia on Sunday. A journey of 7500 kilometers. In Gambia and Senegal, the students will help build a school where automotive engineering is taught at HBO level. The cars are left behind as teaching material.
“On Saturday evening we still had a short circuit in the car,” says Jordy from Boxtel, shortly before he starts the long journey of 22 days. “We had repaired the air conditioning and installed it again, but then everything started to smoke a lot. There was a bit of panic. We rerouted some cables and now it works again.” Jordy is confident that they will make it to Gambia. “The Subaru is known for being a rugged car.”
“It’s a life-changing experience for students.”
It is the fifteenth time that Go For Africa organizes such a project for students. “It’s a life-changing experience for the students. They experience a lot during the journey,” says founder Jan Huizinga. He himself is also participating for the fifteenth time. In addition to helping to build a school, they also leave the 25 cars behind. They are used for practical lessons at that school, but there are also cars that are also used as taxis and ambulances. The students arranged the cars themselves with sponsors, or by working for them.
Shortly before departure, it is decided by one of the cars who can get behind the wheel first. Yoeri van Schaik from Kaatsheuvel wins the toss and is very happy. “We are not only bringing the car, but also two boxes of tools. We have been preparing for two years and are thrilled that we can finally go. This is a once in a lifetime-thing,” Yoeri said.
The students will also provide lessons for the students there, as long as they are there. When the school is finished, Go For Africa ensures that teachers from the Netherlands temporarily give lessons there. The entire project takes ten weeks for the students and it counts as an internship. The drive to Gambia takes three weeks. “They go there as a boy and come back as a man through all the experiences,” says organizer Olaf Wessel.
“He’s 20 years old, so I have to let him go.”
The procession will be waved goodbye on Sunday by many family and friends and by Momar Gueye, the ambassador of Senegal. “The project means a lot to Senegal because it improves the relationship between our countries and especially the contact between the young people from Senegal and the Netherlands,” says Momar.
Along the side is Karin van der Hoef, the mother of Jordy from Boxtel. She visibly struggles with her son’s departure and gives him another big hug. “He’s 20 years old, so I have to let him go, but it’s not easy,” she says, waving to the car in which her son is sitting. “I am especially very proud that he is doing this.”
