Meet Cara Leenen,

Project leader

 

🕵‍♂In everyday life I am....

Teacher. During my first few years, I gained a lot of experience in special education, and I currently work at a primary school. It's a wonderful job with incredibly rewarding development opportunities for the students.

 

🌏I work at Out of Area because..

I find it important to do something for someone else, someone who isn't having as easy a time as I am. I also get a lot of energy from meeting so many new people during a project, and I thoroughly enjoy the group dynamic and the beauty of each individual. Every trip offers me an opportunity for personal growth.

It also gives me the opportunity to see education in another country, and where I can, I'm happy to contribute to its development. It keeps my perspective on education fresh!

 

✈A trip is successful for me when..

"We'll all be safely and contentedly back on Dutch soil. When everyone has been able to pursue their goals and is therefore satisfied with their development. No matter how minuscule that single goal may be. Wonderful!"

📸The photo below tells you... 

"I enjoy getting involved in the projects myself and helping to make them run as smoothly as possible. I also get a lot of energy from the projects, and you'll always see me smiling, except when I need to think deeply."

 

💭My fondest memory is...

The feeling I get every time I go with a new group of students to a new project location, a place I've never been before, and neither have the students. The unfamiliarity of the place, the surroundings, the humanity, the culture, and the curiosity and excitement that comes with it. The students' reaction, unaware of what awaits them, that always stays with me.