Dekeyser&Friends: Inspiring the youth

By Samarpita Mukherjee-Sharma

Bobby Dekeyser (c) Rainer Hosch

What’s good about being an optimist?

The secure feeling that everything will work out in the end. Not to be dependent on outside opinions. Making the best out of most moments.

What’s bad about it?

Nothing.

These are the words of Bobby Dekeyser, President of the board, Dekeyser&Friends. Bobby is a former Belgian soccer player and also the founder of successful furniture company, DEDON.

Dekeyser&Friends Foundation runs educational programs for young adults aged 18 to 28 from around the world (referred to as, Fellows) with the goal to pass on knowledge and benefit from the experience of their mentors (Friends). At the same time every program invites our Fellows to think about their dreams in life and how they can impact the world they live in. Out of commitment to these goals the Dekeyser&Friends Foundation supports selected Fellows in making their dreams a reality.

In Lewis Caroll’s words, I got curiouser and curiouser, and wanted to know more. In my quest I got in touch with Maike Gosch, Content and Communication Manager and Katherin Kirschenmann, Strategy and Development Manager.

My very first question to Katherin was about the course “teach with green chimneys”, which apparently is animal assisted therapy for children using a variety of pets and farm animals. Wow! Isn’t it?

Green Chimneys

Samuel Ross (c) Dekeyser&Friends Foundation

Katherin told me more about this course. “The Teaching Project at the Green Chimneys campus in Brewster, NY, will provide a unique opportunity for Fellows (young people between 21 and 28 from around the world) who want to help children with special needs. For three months, Fellows learn hands-on from their project Friend Sam Ross how to teach children with special needs with the help of animals. Sam Ross is the founder of Green Chimneys and regarded as one of the pioneers in the field of Animal Assisted Therapy.”

Kathrin further explained that the group of international Fellows will get involved in a multitude of activities ranging from assisting classroom teachers to taking care of the animals to leading clubs for the Green Chimneys students themselves. Thereby they will learn about all different aspects of Animal Assisted Therapy. During the Project the Fellows will document their experiences and findings, thereby helping to pass on knowledge to other interested people worldwide.

Thehe Teaching Project will be, like all Dekeyser&Friends Projects, accompanied by the D&F DreamLab – an interactive leadership program, which entails a schedule of workshops and trainings based on two elements: skills and values. We believe that both these elements are crucial to empower young people to create a positive impact on the world.

DreamLab workshops are offered by external experts and engage the Fellows in discussions and activities, thereby transferring knowledge and stimulating intercultural exchange within the Fellow group.

Overall, the DreamLab is result-oriented in that is enables our Fellows to create their DreamPlan – an individual action plan for a social business or non-profit initiative they want to implement after returning home.

Have I got your interest? Want to join in?

“Our Projects are always open to every young person between 18 (21 for US projects) and 28 years. We do not select based on the background or previous experiences of an applicant but on motivation and interest to learn. Applicants for the Teaching Project therefore do not need to have any specific educational background, however, they should love children and animals, like the outdoors and should be enthusiastic about content and goals of the project. They also should be prepared to work with a team of young international people,” informed Katherin.

Participants selected for one of the projects automatically receive a prestigious Fellowship, which includes all tuition and project related costs, travel cost as well as full board and accommodation for the project duration. Of course, you need to carry money for your personal expenses!

“The application deadline for the Teaching Project is already on March 31^st (midnight CET), so everybody who is interested to apply should visit our website soon, create an account and start the application,” she added.

So how did a former soccer player think of this? How did Dekeyser and Friends come about? Similar thoughts? Motives?

The basic idea and vision of Dekeyser&Friends is to provide a platform, which brings together experienced personalities with motivated young people from around the world for an exchange of knowledge, ideas and passion. This idea is based on our observations that exchange between the generations happens only in formal educational settings, however, there is a great need on both sides – experienced personalities and young people struggling to find their way in life – for other forms of exchange and learning.

Dekeyser&Friends therefore runs unique educational programs, which aim to inspire young people through active learning experiences, as well as to support them in tackling their future.

In the projects Fellows learn hands-on skills, work towards a common goal, and benefit from the Friend’s experience and passion. Our goal is to inspire each Fellow to think about how to follow their own dreams in life and make a positive difference in the world.

The described vision was developed by Bobby Dekeyser, who benefitted from a similar experience during a young age as well, and CEO Florian Hoffmann.

Bobby firmly believe, “We believe that the world will change for the better if we can give young people the opportunity to make their dreams come true. That’s what we are working towards.”

DreamLab Session (c) Dekeyser&Friends Foundation

What else can one learn? Oh…a hell lot more!!

Cook something up with Tim Mälzer in Hamburg! Join the Culinary Project!

Come to Hamburg and live from August to November 2011 together with a group of international Fellows to learn all about food and healthy ingredients.

In this exciting project you will not only learn about cooking methods but also about ingredients and food production. During the second stage of the project you will therefore spend time with food producers like farmers, fishers and butcher in the region. These hands-on experiences will enable you to gain firsthand knowledge about producing organic food.

As part of this comprehensive learning experience you will, in addition to the hands-on project work with your Friend, benefit from the unique educational program offered by D&F. The first component of this program is the D&F World, a series of media workshops and tasks that will help you express yourself confidently using modern media and sharing your inspiration during the project with other people. The second component is the DreamLab, a sequence of workshops and skill sessions that will help you develop your DreamPlan – an individual plan of an idea or project you want to implement after returning home.

Or would you want to be a ‘Friend’?

Katherin quipped, “We are always happy and excited to hear from experienced individuals who would like to become a Friend. All they need to do in a first step is to send us a short project proposal, in which the idea and content of a project is described. Together we will work from there and decide whether the proposed project is feasible, the timeline etc.”

Generally, Dekeyser&Friends organizes the project, hosts the application process and, together with the Friend, selects the Fellows. Dekeyser&Friends also manages the running project, thereby enabling the Friend to spend as much time as possible with the Fellows.

The Friend should of course be willing to pass on his or her knowledge and passion to the Fellows and involve them in the project activities.