For the third time AEGEE-Tilburg organised the International Champions League. The ICL is a sports event where students and refugees spend a day together by attending a football tournament and several other sports and games like badminton, table tennis, chess and others. 

Why?

Refugees in the Netherlands all have one thing in common, which is the long wait for a permanent residence permit and an actual house and job to start building a new future. Even though refugees get shelter in asylum shelters they experience isolation and social limitations within.

By organising a sports event with students and refugees, AEGEE-Tilburg offers both the opportunity to informally meet new cultures and a day of relaxation and sports so they can have the time of their lives and forget the struggles they are facing.

Migration & Europe

A strong Europe is built upon the foundations of respect, tolerance and solidarity. By creating dialogue between people and communities with a sports event, AEGEE-Tilburg believes they can break stereotypes and prejudices. Among migration intentions there is the need to increase awareness about the situation of refugees in Europe and the challenges they are facing. The example from Tilburg shows that it is possible to build a better narrative towards them by bringing these people together and offering them the possibility to interact and exchange experiences personally.

Outcome of the event

In the afternoon of Saturday, the 20th of May, the ICL started. Beforehand, several student and refugee teams subscribed to attend the event and play against each other in the football tournament. Some teams consisted of solely students or refugees and others were mixed. The teams didn’t have age restrictions so there were from 11 years-old to 30 years-old participants trying to be the champion team of the day.

After playing some matches some teams could play other sports to relax and socialise with each other. Free snacks and drinks were provided during the event.

During the break the winners of the lottery were announced. Participants could buy lottery tickets before the event with which they could win prizes like tickets to the UEFA Women’s European Championship. The revenues of this lottery were used to buy sports equipment and food during the day for the refugees so as to keep this event free for them.

After several rounds it was time for the final in which the two resting teams played against each other for the fiercely desired trophy. After the final whistle all the teams congratulated the winning team.

In the evening everyone was resting from the tiredness of the day and anticipating their highlight of the day, pizza!

In the end participants were extremely satisfied of the event and organisers were frequently asked when the next event was going to be organised. During the event everyone got the opportunity to speak with each other but also become friends and teammates cheering for and supporting each other. Several students and refugees went on adding each other on Facebook to stay in contact.

The organisers from AEGEE-Tilburg are happy to be able to bring students and refugees together with an event they both enjoy. They would like to encourage other locals to organise similar events.

Migration Interest Group

Several interviews with refugees that were taken at this event are or will be published in the MIGR Facebook groups. If you’d like to see what the refugees thought of this event and hear what struggles they are facing currently, join the Facebook group of Migration Interest Group.

Written by Gökhan Sancak, AEGEE-Tilburg & Migration Interest Group

Joining a Summer University is not all about the places you visit and the activities you do. It is also important to get to know the organisers of your SU. They put a lot of effort into organising an SU and you will spend a lot of time with them during your SU.

In this video, organisers from Tilburg try to introduce themselves. They use examples of making sustainable decisions in your life. Green SUs try to promote sustainability in various ways which can be really easy for you to implement in your life.

Showering

Do you realise the length and impact of your showering sessions? Standard showerheads use 15 to 25 litres of water per minute which results in 120 litres of used water for an eight-minute shower. By teaching people about their everyday habits like showering, they can realise their daily impacts on sustainability. People are mostly willing to be sustainable but do not realise the things they can do to act upon it.

Transport

During a green SU of Tilburg and Leuven, bicycles will be the main means of transportation. In the Netherlands, people use bikes a lot since they get used to riding a bike as children. They also have special bike lanes so people can ride a bike safely, which encourage the use of a bike. In some other parts of Europe, bike lanes are not that common or do not exist. This makes it harder for people choosing to ride a bike. In regions where riding a bike is harder, you can encourage people to use public transportation. Dutch municipalities are increasing their demands on public transportation services to increase their sustainability efforts. Trains of NS in the Netherlands, for example, are running 100% on green energy that derives from sources like windmills. This way you can travel on a very sustainable way. Another option for transportation is hitchhiking. Since you are sharing a ride with other people, you reduce the impact on the environment instead of, for example, taking a car by yourself. Hitchhiking can be a lot of fun and it is a way of meeting lots of new people.

Personal sustainability

Now you are thinking that you do not want to shower for a short time or take a train or bus or even hitchhike. Did you know that meat consumption is one of the biggest influences of climate change? Animal agriculture is responsible for 91% of Amazon destruction. By just eating one hamburger less you can save water equivalent to two months of showering.

At the end of a green SU, you will experience all kinds of sustainability initiatives and learn what you can do for the environment. So take over some of the things you learned at your green SU and start making the decisions in your daily life to be more sustainable.

Written by Gökhan Sancak, AEGEE-Tilburg

From the 20th of July untill the 3^rd of August, 25 participants embarked on an epic bike journey through the beautiful, and sometimes surprising Dutch countryside.  This journey brought these brave participants to the most beautiful spots around The Netherlands and let them experience the Dutch way of living. This Summer University (SU) was organized by two locals, AEGEE-Tilburg and AEGEE-Maastricht and the theme was the environment. The ingredients for these two amazing weeks: 25 bikes, a mixture of  participants from all over Europe, a lot of fun and challenging activities – mix it up until you have a beautiful SU with a lot of surprises. Was the plan too ambitious? Was it maybe too challenging? Read the story and you will find out!!

The journey started on the 20th of July in Tilburg, where the accommodation provided was a church. During this week, the biggest fair of the Benelux (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg) started in Tilburg and it would last for the rest of the time we would spend in there. During the nights, we spent a lot of time at the fair! After everybody arrived on Sunday we finally started on Monday by picking up the bikes, which would be used for the rest of the two weeks. The bikes were provided by La Poubelle, a thrift shop and also social workplace that repairs used products and resells them. After a tour of the bike repair shop and the store, it was time to pick up the bikes. After everybody found a suitable bike, it was time for the first ride… The first night out was Pink Monday, a gay-oriented night out, so everybody had to dress up in pink!

On the second day we went to the beach. After taking an early train to The Hague, we had a city tour there, we left for Scheveningen to chill out an relax on the beach. After getting back to the church (accomodation), the European Night was in the program. As usual, this meant trying the drinks and delights from every country represented. Vodka, pálinka and gold strike tasted as never before and they washed away the taste of the stroopwafels, chorizo and baklava! After this tough night, the next day dawned.

That was the first real biking test, as on this day we had  a minimum of 30 kilometers to travel. Despite a slow start and minimal progresses, in the end we managed to reach the destination: National Park Loonse en Drunense Duinen (Dunes). This National Park is also called the “Brabantse Sahara”, named after the big sand plains. The ride back went more smoothly, but the next day was even more daunting – 50 kilometers of biking to take us to ‘s Hertogenbosch. After an exhausting bike ride, it was time to relax during the boat tour, which brought us to the old parts of the city. Next it was time for the Crazy 88. In groups, participants needed to follow a list of 88 tasks that would make them eat whipped cream of somebody’s butt, work at a McDonald’s, sleep in a shop and start a water balloon fight with children. Everybody got really into it and put in all the effort and creativeness to win the game. Although the day was already exhausting, we turned it up a notch during the evening with a pub crawl.

As morning dawned, everybody was exhausted so we decided to go to the lake ‘t Zand, to relax and regain our energy for the days to come. On Saturday, almost at the end of the first week, the participants had the day to walk around Tilburg, to the fair, and do some shopping if needed. In the evening there was a workshop about drugs, mainly because it’s a Dutch tradition and because on Sunday Amsterdam was on the program. After a very relaxing evening in the park, the early wake up on Sunday was a piece of cake and everybody had to pack their stuff as we traveled for our second week to Maastricht.  First we arrived in Amsterdam, where we started with a city tour showing all the beautiful spots of the city (de Dam, Rijksmuseum, historic canals, etc). After the city tour, we all had some free time to relax or for shopping. Then it was time for the boat tour, showing all the beautiful spots of the city from the canals. After dinner and when darkness fell, it was time for the Red Light District tour, one of the biggest attractions of Amsterdam. Some hours later, and after spending some more money, it was time to leave Amsterdam and head back to Maastricht.

The first day in Maastricht, after waking up in the remote location of a scouting building just outside the city, it was time to pick up our bikes and start riding in the hilly countryside of the South of the Netherlands. After biking up a little hill just outside of Maastricht to have a look over the city, the journey continued to Belgium where we visited a castle. On Tuesday it was time for the city tour Honorable member of AEGEE-Maastricht, Ed Houben, showed us around the most beautiful spots of Maastricht. In the afternoon AEGEE-Aachen and its Summer University (Get trashed the green way!) joined us for a great BBQ and Cantus!

On Wednesday we returned AEGEE-Aachen the favor. After visiting the Maastricht Treaty (the Treaty of the European Union) it was time for the longest and most daunting biking journey of the whole SU. A 35 kilometers route across the hilly Dutch countryside would be the biggest test each of these 25 brave participants would have to undertake. Five hours and some damaged bikes and participants later, we arrived at our destination, the BBQ of AEGEE-Aachen. After the BBQ and some partying later, we staid the night in Aachen, by camping at a farmers’ place. The day after started with a city tour through Aachen. After we left Aachen it was time to visit the Three Points. This point lies on top of the highest hill in the Netherlands (Vaalserberg +322 meters). One by one, exhausted, out of breath and overheated everybody reached the top of the hill.  After some rest it was time to visit the point bringing The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium together. Thinking that this was it for the day, you would have been mistaken. There were still the 30 km travel back from the Three Points to Maastricht!

On Friday, because the two days before were so exhausting, a fun day was planned at Fun Valley, a lake close to Maastricht. In the evening after everybody regained their energy a pub crawl was in the program to see and experience the night life of Maastricht. Then the last full day dawned on us, Saturday, also called Underground Day. This day, would be spend underground as we visited the old mines in Valkenburg. After the old mines, there was some relaxing time to see the city, before heading back to the accommodation for the last night of these amazing two weeks.

Looking back on these two weeks, was it maybe too ambitious biking all these distances? Why not! That’s what we call a challenge!!  You do not call your SU “Burgundian Bicycles” for no reason. In a country where there are more bikes then people, AEGEE-Tilburg and AEGEE-Maastricht wanted to offer a real Dutch experience.  Which also means hating your bike sometimes so hard, you just want to throw it in the river and walk the rest of the way. And yet, as the days passed by, people got more and more used to their bikes and the rides became smoother and smoother, even when we went to hilly Maastricht. Maybe that is an important part what made this group so close. Not just the crazy 88 assignments or the notorious European Nigh, but if you cycle five hours to Aachen together and survive it, it will create a strong connection. It really was a sight to see though, 25 people from Greece, Spain, Ukraine, Russia and so on, cycling through Holland. Visiting the famous Tilburg fair, walking around the Red Light District, take a dip in the North Sea, lurking through the Maastricht mines… Three countries, eight cities and many hours on the road. Burgundian Bycicles had it all!

All that’s left to say is “dank je wel” to everybody (participants and organizers) for these amazing two weeks and see you somewhere in Europe!!!

Written by Ivo Beniest & Robin van Duijn, AEGEE-Tilburg

Pictures courtesy of Milica Basić, AEGEE-Beograd;  Xhonjela Milloshi, AEGEE-Genova;  Agata Gandecka, AEGEE-León

In September 2012 AEGEE-Tilburg consisted of just two guys. Two experienced members: Tjeerd Kosse and Yunhai Su decided to make a re-start with AEGEE-Tilburg.  After a search two new board members joined. First Matei Zamfirescu and right after Sintija Saurina. In October the board was formed with Tjeerd as president, Sintjia as secretary, Yunhai as treasurer and Matei as visuals & marketing; four different characters who  formed a great team together. Now AEGEE-Tilburg has over 30 members. This is their story…

The enthusiasm only grew bigger. Soon after the forming of the board the board plan was presented. Our idea was simple: get AEGEE-Tilburg back on track in one year and set the basis for the next board to make AEGEE-Tilburg a stable student organization in Tilburg. Because we made a fresh new start we were able to make big changes and improvements that otherwise would be unthinkable. We were the first board that consisted of completely different nationalities and we changed the working language to English. We are proud of the fact that we are one of the boards in AEGEE who made this change to be inclusive towards international students.

Another big change that we could make is to create a very European culture in AEGEE-Tilburg. Because we just started we were able to imprint in our AEGEE-Tilburg a culture that we, as an antenna, are just one part of a bigger organization called AEGEE, and that our focus lies on Europe. Our local is aware of the fact that AEGEE is ‘one big family’, not just 200 lonely antennae. Therefore we encourage our own board and members to engage actively in European activities. In the remaining months of this academic year we’re planning to visit Budapest,  organize a TSU with AEGEE-Eindhoven and -Maastricht and much more. And we are always looking forward to work together with locals all over Europe.

We were also successful in achieving our goals. After starting with just two enthusiastic guys, we already have had one outgoing exchange with Valletta and two incoming exchanges with both Budapest and Valletta. Tilburg took a group of 30 exchange participants to Valletta, being the largest antenna during the EBM week. A majority of the group consists of new members, who experienced their first European event. The activities that Valletta organized for us were so fun and interesting that we now have several active members; people really fell in love with AEGEE. Now the number of members has tripled. Proud as we are of this achievement, we still strive to quintuple the amount of members by the end summer to have a sturdy basis for next year.

Dear boards of all the AEGEE-locals, AEGEE-committees and –commissions, Working Groups and Project Groups; Keep your eyes on AEGEE-Tilburg! We are a very enthusiastic local looking to collaborate to achieve great things within AEGEE. Come and talk to us during the Agora and if we do not already happen to bump in to each other! Hope to see you soon, somewhere in Europe!

Written for The NetCom Times by Tjeerd Kosse, AEGEE-Tilburg.