Louvain-la-Neuve is a small Belgian town, born in the 1960s, when the French part of the Catholic University of Leuven moved there.
A young, dynamic, green, multicultural, highly educated town, Louvain-la-Neuve was an ideal choice for the site of VIEWS first session.
As our logo suggests, here was the real beginning of our project. The two people sitting, reading a book, is inspired by a sculpture you can find on a fountain, across from Louvain-la-Neuve' train station.
If it is a symbol, this choice is also a very pragmatic one. The city has been planned with the pedestrians in mind : cars are mostly forbidden in the city centre. So all the shops, restaurants, cinemas, houses, classrooms buildings, train station, etc. are at short walking distances from one another and can be reached safely. Some buses and trains however make it easy to go to and from Louvain-la-Neuve to the nearby cities and to Brussels (only 30 km away). Green spaces were preserved, even in the city centre, and a sports complex offers diverse opportunities: a swimming pool, a climbing wall, large rooms for collective sports activities, etc. The authorities allowed us to take advantage of all these possibilities.
But most of all, the university authorities have a welcoming and open attitude towards all and every student. The "Point de Repère" (landmark) is dedicated to helping all "special" students to solve their difficulties. These being because the student is from abroad, because (s)he has disabilities, or is in psychological distress, because (s)he needs advice on his academic cursus or working method, the Point de Repère gathers all the information and guide the student. Thanks to a manager of this bureau, we benefited from advantages which allowed our first session to be a success.
Our first session was to be a test in actual conditions of the feasibility of our long term project. We prepared it very carefully, and it taught us a lot. This information is taken into account for the design of our future sessions.
We had six students coming from four different countries. Handouts were printed in French or in English, in Braille or in large print. The level of the activities was very personalized according to the degree of autonomy, the associated disabilities, the level of education, the particular requests, the prior knowledge (in languages, in computer science, etc.).
The encounter, the autonomy, the multicultural aspect, and self-thinking were emphasized. Between the language and computer science training, the sports and cultural activities, the information sessions about the "Mindful Learning", the 3-dimentional tactile graphs, and the sexuality of disabled people, the personalized explanations about how to get around inside and outside, how to cook, how to handle a budget, the time was full full full. Add to it some informal discussion about each student life project, friendly discussions with other sighted European youngsters, free time for shopping, these four weeks went by so quickly. We even managed to escape for one week-end in Paris, and one sailing and tandem riding week-end at the countryside.
Our dormitory was ideal. The "Kot Carrefour" is a non-profit organization which offers about 30 furnished bedrooms to half Belgian, half foreign students. Its goal is to favour contacts and friendships between people from various background. This building has a very large kitchen and dining room area with several cooking spots and fridges. The tables can be arrange to suit the needs. The living room is also large ; it has a piano, sofas, a television, and still enough space to practice various artistic or sports activities. The organizers were allowed to use a small office located right at the entrance of the dorm.
To help with the daily activities, 4 young volunteers from the International Work camps lived with the students for the 3 first weeks. However, altogether, about fifty people helped on a voluntary basis to make a success of this camp.
This page belongs to all who participated in the this camp. If you are one of them and wish to add a comment or picture, don't hesitate to contact us.
If you wish to participate in one of our upcoming sessions, as a young trainee or as a partner, please follow the link : "Interested in participating in one of VIEWS next activities?