Studying and Living in Port Alfred
Jessica’s first adventure abroad took place in Port Alfred, a small town on the South African coast in the Eastern Cape province. There, she took the Hunger Solutions module, in which she explored hunger, poverty, and how to support disadvantaged neighborhoods (townships).
This wasn’t limited to the classroom. Jessica visited townships and helped with a project for a local daycare center. Together with other students, she raised money, which went toward replacing a staircase and windows, as well as painting walls. Although she had traveled extensively before, the situation made a deep impression on her. “I’d seen poverty before, but not on such a large scale. I found the enormous disparities between rich and poor particularly jarring.”
Outside of her studies, life revolved largely around campus. Students could eat, play sports, and swim there, and the beach was just a few minutes’ walk away. “Everything was very laid-back. If someone said, ‘Let’s do it now,’ that could mean in ten minutes, but just as easily much later.”
From South Africa to Bangkok
From Port Alfred—a small town with just 10,000 residents—Jessica moved to Bangkok, a metropolis of millions: the contrast couldn’t have been greater. There, she pursued a minor in Global Social Development and delved into, among other things, how NGOs and nonprofit organizations operate in Thailand.
There, too, she sought out hands-on experience. For example, she visited an organization for children who could no longer live at home due to difficult family situations. “That was really eye-opening. At the same time, it teaches you an incredible amount about how a society functions.” During her stay, Jessica also had the opportunity to explore more of Asia: she traveled through Thailand and also visited Laos and Vietnam.
Financially, spending such a long period outside of Europe wasn’t a given. According to Jessica, the NL Scholarship played an important role.
“I’m very happy that I received that scholarship with the help of WilWeg. To be completely honest, without that scholarship, I would never have been able to afford this.”
Back to South Africa
While she was in Thailand, Jessica realized that South Africa kept drawing her back. “I’ve completely fallen in love with that country,” she says enthusiastically. For her graduation internship, Jessica deliberately returned to South Africa, this time to Cape Town. During that internship, she realized that her interest in human rights isn’t just something related to her studies, but also a direction she wants to pursue in the future.
For her graduation internship, she once again spent a lot of time in various townships. That period also confirmed something that had already begun to grow during her earlier experiences abroad: her interest in human rights. “I’ve been studying since 2016 and started out in vocational education. Thanks to my experiences abroad, I’m getting a clearer picture of what I ultimately want to do. Especially during my internship in Cape Town, I realized that I want to stay in the field of human rights.”
Learning to Live in a Different Environment
It was precisely because Jessica lived in different countries for extended periods that she discovered just how different daily life can be in other places. In South Africa, for example, she thoroughly enjoyed nature and discovered how much she loves hiking. She even climbed the iconic Table Mountain in Cape Town. She also really appreciated the social life, the relaxed atmosphere, and the many opportunities to get out and explore.
At the same time, she learned to adapt to a different way of life. In South Africa, for example, she was more mindful of where and when she went out. “In the Netherlands, I’m sometimes at the gym at six in the morning or go after work at nine at night. I lived differently there, because you don’t just go out in the dark.”
Thailand, on the other hand, was completely different. Her university was located outside the center of Bangkok, so even just visiting the city was sometimes an adventure. “It took me almost an hour by public transportation and about half an hour on the back of a motorcycle.” Each country had its own customs, pace, and challenges.
That’s exactly what made the experience abroad so valuable for Jessica. By adapting time and again, she not only got to know other cultures better but also became more aware of what she herself finds important and enjoyable in daily life.
Sharing Her Experience as a WilWeg Ambassador
Jessica now also draws on her own experiences as an ambassador for WilWeg. She sees this as a logical step, because the support she received from WilWeg was important to her: thanks to the scholarship she received, her experience abroad was financially possible. The “Beursopener”, a scholarship search engine available on WilWeg.nl, helped her get started. “I want other people to have that same opportunity. What better way to share that than by speaking from personal experience?”
As an ambassador, she especially wants to help students with questions about funding and the anxiety that comes with moving abroad. Through WilWeg, she’s already shared her experiences in a blog post and took over the Instagram account twice to show what her daily life was like during her internship. Her main message to hesitant students is simple: “It’s nerve-wracking at first, but that’s only natural. You just have to take that first step. In the end, everything will work out.”
