Martine Ottolander
Meet Martine Ottolander-Terhorst
🕵♂In everyday life I am...
Happily married to Jan, and stepmother of Jasper.
I work at MBO Rijnland in Alphen aan den Rijn as a secretary in the internship office for Economics and Services. I ensure that everyone with an internship contract can get started and gain work experience that aligns with their program.
🌏I work at Out of Area because...
I identify with Out of Area's mission. The feeling you get when you look back on a successful project or a week at Futurea. I've also taken the country to my heart. And I'm proud to be secretary of this wonderful and friendly group of people. You can tell that we all share the same goal and approach life in much the same way.
💭My fondest memory is...
During the last school project in 2019, I had a student who was struggling, and he confided in me about it. That alone gave me a very good feeling, knowing someone would already be telling me during the trip that things weren't going so well. I advised him not to resort to the things he was supposed to do at home, given his anxiety.
But he channeled this into positive energy to make it unforgettable for the children. He was busy all week with chores, sports, and games with the children.
By the end of the week, the children had made drawings for all the students. One child had made a drawing for this student, but he couldn't find my student in the commotion. He was so upset about it that, with the help of the teacher who spoke English, I realized it was a drawing for "my" student.
Together we went looking for my student, and I'll never forget that moment. My student knelt down before the child and was deeply moved by the drawing he received. Afterward, I gave my student a big hug and told him he should never forget this. And that he should use this especially when things aren't going so well.
📸The photo below tells you...
This was during a project trip to Živínice. We knew beforehand that there would be Roma children at this school. Roma people truly live at the bottom of society.
And that was also evident at school. These children had broken school furniture, and during our activities, they were literally pushed aside. This little boy would visit me every day in the so-called workshop and would basically just sit and watch what I was doing. But because of the language barrier, we couldn't really talk to each other.
After leaving school, he came to me with his mother, and they had a cell phone with them. This little boy (Mustapha) wanted to have his picture taken with me.
The other kids pushed him away, but I made sure he got the picture he wanted. Then he grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go until we had to get on the bus to go home.
