“I still get goosebumps when I hear the children sing our songs in French”
“As a volunteer at Junior French you don’t have to choose between being a teacher or an activity leader. Here you can be both. It’s something I really like.” Laura Debie (age 28) started eight years ago at Roeland as a teacher, she became head of project for a few years and now she is working as head of didactics.
Laura: “When I was studying Dutch and French language and literature my niece was a volunteer at Roeland, and she told me I should give it a try. After one weekend of training, I joined three camps that summer.”
What do you gain from being a volunteer?
“It helps me to make progress on a creative level. I used to think of myself as not being that inventive, but you can learn a lot from other people when you work together. I teach French and sometimes I integrate the Roeland method (which is learning in a playful and creative manner) into my lessons at school. The students love that approach.”
What do you like as a volunteer?
“It’s great to see the children flourish while having fun. Some of them are a bit afraid of speaking a foreign language at first, but at the end they have overcome that barrier with flying colors.”
What do you dislike as a volunteer?
“Sometimes I suffer from fatigue. Every single day we do the best we can, from daybreak until late at night, because we want everything to be just perfect. That isn’t always easy when you really need your sleep.”
What is your best camp memory? “The songs we sing together with the children. I keep getting goosebumps when I hear how the participants can sing them perfectly after a few days. And I also really like ‘le moment dodo’. That’s a play we put on before bedtime. I love to do that, it’s something the children really enjoy as well.”
What advice do you have for potential volunteers?
“To join a group of Walloon teachers as a Flemish person was a big step for me. Will they understand what I’m saying, will I be able to keep up with them were some of the thoughts that haunted me during my first camp. And most of the teachers have rather outgoing personalities while I am more of a quiet person. I was a bit afraid of that at first, but they all turned out to be super nice people. So just give it a try and if it isn’t for you there’s nothing to regret.”
What is your greatest Roeland wish?
“I hope that Roeland will be around for a long time to come. I would love to see my own children go to a Roeland camp.”
“The children on our camps say our personal approach stands out from other experiences they had because so much is invested in them. At Roeland it’s a no-holds-barred adventure to give everyone a fantastic week. And in the meantime, they learn how to speak French. That is simply... well, beyond words.”
