The despair of refugee camps

Photo credit: Safia Elwakil

By Safia Elwakil

Since last year the heart-rending deportation of the Iraqis and Mauro’s story “The Angolan boy” has made refugees the center of debate in The Netherlands. Their inhumane treatment emerged in mainstream media and people are starting to question the integrity of the IND (Integration and Naturalization) ministry, responsible for Dutch refugee policies.

Even though public attention dwindled about the subject there are still tragic stories that need to be told. Mai Elhaboubi, an Iraqi woman who came with her family to The Netherlands in 2008, left Iraq in the hope of a better life for her children. She wanted to provide with them the security and safety that they need in order to thrive. Since her arrival in The Netherlands, she and her family have not left the premises of the Katwijk refugee camp. Her family consists of Ali (7), Faja (10), Abd Elazziz (18), Hadil (20), and her husband Hesham. He is chronically sick and is not able to work, and Abd Elazziz suffers from obesity and receives treatment at the Obesitas center, where a dietician guides him.

Hadil has been accepted to pursue a medical degree at De Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, but unfortunately was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago and is receiving chemical treatment to curb the tumor. Due to restrictions refugees have to get a stamp at specific times every time they leave the camp. It already was hard for Hadil to go and attend classes, and her mother has been battling to get permission for her daughter, but due to Hadil’s illness, the girl is always too tired, and stopped going. She now studies at home.

Because of the husband’s condition, Mai is the one responsible for the family and with the little Dutch that she has learned, she tries to arrange everything: she meets with lawyers, applies for a residence permit and tries her best not to get deported. “We are still in the process of trying to get a permit on medical grounds, but it is sure taking too long.”

Photo credit: Safia Elwakil

Overall, life at a refugee camp is heartless: families live there with their children and are secluded, deprived of any social interaction with the surrounding community. The camp has certain regulations to restrain them: they have to obtain a stamp 6 times a week and they receive a minimum of €4,20 financial aid daily. This makes it difficult for them to travel to neighboring cities, consequently it gets harder to meet locals and create social networks. Furthermore, children receive their lessons in the camp in order to prevent another Mauro story from happening. (Mauro is an Angolan boy who was going to be deported, but his Dutch peers and school pressured the Minister of Immigration and Refugees, Gerd Leers. The boy eventually received a study visa and was allowed to stay in The Netherlands until he finishes his studies.) For Mai and her family, there is no possible way out, unless they succeed in obtaining a residence permit, which is an energy- and time-consuming process that often lasts years.

In 2011 Mr. Andrew Fundingsland, a former Webster University lecturer, started a film project with the students for a film course, collecting footage inside the refugee camps and interviewing as many refugees as possible just to get the truth out about the insensitive Dutch authorities who treated the refugees as second-class people. At the time the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant wrote an article about the Iraqi families who were awakened in the middle of the night, secretly put on planes, and sent back to Iraq, and then left there at the airport with just €100 per person. When the matter received the media’s attention, Mr. Andrew provided them with the necessary information and footage.

Refugee camps are completely the opposite of the human rights culture acknowledged by the West. After escaping the horrors of a war zone, the least the West can do is to treat them as human beings, and create opportunities that give them a chance to continue their future plans.

Online friends

By Dani Old

“The only active friendships I currently have are internet friendships”

With the Internet being such an easily accessible tool these days, we all, at one point or another, have met a friend through it. But while there are people who have both online friends and real-life friends, there are also people who have only online friends. Such is the case with college student Brian Helms.

“The appeal of online friendships is their ease of maintenance,” Helms says, “I feel that they can be a source of entertainment and I would liken them to the more traditional ‘real’ friendships,” but he goes on to say that, “They can be far more fickle than a traditional friendship. If I am having an argument or am not feeling up to getting angry, it’s only too easy to just close Skype and avoid the other person. They are easy to form, but easy to break.” Helms has not had a non-internet friendship for four years.

Currently, Helms has five online friends. “The oldest would be Matt and I have been friends with him for about 4 years now. I have not made any recent online friends, with the last one being 2 years ago. I don’t just talk to anyone online.”

When I asked him about how he felt about his chosen path, he said, “I feel that I have gained a good circle of friends and feel no need to expand. Although this is both a combination of me not looking, and opportunities not presenting itself. While WoW (World of Warcraft) got me those friends, after I got them I tended to play only with them, so it limited my means of gaining friends that were not brought into the fold by that group.”

Curiously, I asked him how it feels, the difference between real-life friends and online friends that you have never met. He replies, “I cannot talk to some of them for long stretches at a time, but when we start talking it’s like no time has passed. I talk to them as I would someone in front of me. I rely on them just as I would a normal friend. These friendships I’ve made, I feel will probably last longer than some other kinds.”

While some people may think it odd that there are some out there who create friendships with people they’ve never met, in this day and age of technology, meeting someone from the other side of the world has become even simpler than making cereal.

Profile of a teacher

By Mariam Raafat

Two things you have to remember about language: one is that language is power; if you do not have the ability to communicate then you are like a second-class citizen. Two, the language shapes the way we think. –Paula Looijmans.

Paula is an English teacher in Business communications, here in The Netherlands. She has been living here for the past 35 years because her husband is Dutch. Paula has always wanted to be a teacher, but what kind of teaching, was always whatever came her way. Although she never went to school here, she recalls when her children went through the Dutch school system, and how different it was to when she went to school in the United States.

Although she went to an all-girls Catholic school, after seeing how the school system in The Netherlands is, she says it isn’t as structured as the school system in the United States. In The Netherlands, by the age of thirteen, the child needs to take tests to determine which track he/she will be in and which studies the student’s main focus should be. This is a disadvantage, she says, because at the young age of thirteen, the child’s knowledge is limited, therefore testing at such a young age might not be so suitable.

Both of Paula’s children, Danielle (30) and Derek (26), still prefer to speak in Dutch rather than English. This is mainly due to the fact that they were raised in Holland, and to fit in with the other children they didn’t want to stand out. Paula was studying abroad in Rome, and decided to visit Geneva, Switzerland. Little did she know, she would end up meeting her soon-to-be husband in a popular café. After that day they kept in touch, and eventually married and now, they both live in Risjwijk, The Netherlands.

Never get viruses again with Macin-***FATAL SYSTEM ERROR – REBOOTING***

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By Nick Kallechy

Pandemonium struck Apple headquarters mid-April as a recent U.S. Cyber-Security census found over 600,000 registered Macintosh’s to be infected with a severe Trojan FlashBack Virus. Sources have blamed poor understanding of technology matters among the public for the widespread infection, particularly the myth that “Mac’s can’t get computer viruses.”

“What do you mean? Mac’s don’t get viruses,” was the general consensus of an everyday sample taken around Leiden late last week. “I bought my Mac because they said it was easy to use and it wouldn’t get infected,” said 33-year-old Christine de Gruezen, who had a hard time believing that the report was real at all.

The fact that Mac’s DO indeed get viruses is one that its parent company, Apple, has kept quiet about for some time. While anybody working in or familiar with the IT industry can tell you that there is no such thing as a computer impervious to sabotage, the vast majority of the public does not understand this concept.

Thus the majority of Macintosh users have not installed Anti-Virus software, a utility which, even in its free version, would have stopped the Trojan dead in its tracks. This small program made the difference in infection rates between PCs and Macs as the particular brand of FlashBack Trojan is almost non-existent on Linux and Window’s networks.

“We all knew this day would come,” says Webster Leiden’s System Administrator, Jeroen Hensing. “Mac’s used to rarely get viruses because few people were taking the time to write them, their share of the market was so low.”

As Macintosh quickly becomes an everyday household name, we will begin to see their infection by new viruses. The challenge for Macintosh now becomes to design a security system as robust and competitive as the Windows and Linux systems it once ridiculed.

Blues, music, and Leiden

Photo credit: http://ejazznews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Nick-White-Jazz-53974.jpg

By Alex Cupp

Music is a trans-global form of art that has many different “genres.” But as an American there is really only one genre that matters; and that is the blues. Yes, I am aware that blues music is just a melting pot of different types of music like jazz and folk and bluegrass, but it has become something of its own. Growing up in St. Louis, Missouri that sound is something that I have come to love.

I came to Leiden, The Netherlands for a semester to pursue an Audio engineering degree, “studying” at a very small college called Webster University.  I myself am not what I would consider a musical talent but I am definitely obsessed with noises made in harmony, a good fit for my degree. Back where I come from there is a street named Broadway that runs through downtown St. Louis parallel to the Mississippi River. Not only is Busch Stadium (home of the St. Louis Cardinals) located on the street, but also three small blues bars: Broadway Oyster Bar, Beale Off Broadway, and BB’s Jazz, Blues and Soups.  Many famous acts and influential blues musicians have come through these bars. My friends and family know that if I am not at work or at home it is a safe bet I am at one of these bars, listening to some heavy-rooted blues.

To my surprise, in Leiden there are far more night clubs with DJs pressing the play button on their Macs than bars that have live musicians. I was becoming very judgmental about the Dutch opinion of music, and then I met Dan Hellinger. Dan teaches International Relations at Webster Leiden, he is a musician and, like me, also from St. Louis and visiting Leiden for a semester. The only difference is, he’s visiting as an instructor. Now I know that my hometown may be somewhat musically inclined, but I do not feel it is naive to think there are blues bars across the world.  After all, some of the worlds greatest-ever bands like the Beatles and Rolling Stones, or even U2, are all more or less blues-based bands. But the music scene in Leiden, as Dan would describe it, is “pretty thin.”

Like me, Dan grew up playing guitar. About fifteen years ago he decided to take up playing the mandolin because there were always too many guitars at the open sessions he would play at and he recently began playing fiddle. You could probably tell just by his interest in musical instruments, that stylistically he plays more folksy bluegrass tunes than anything, but he does like to dabble into jazz and blues. I asked him how often he plays and why and he gave me a very simple answer. He said, “Probably every day… Because it is fun!”

It is only natural for musicians to want to play around other musicians so I wondered where Dan went to release his urge to jam.  A small corner bar named De Tregter, is home to a Tuesday evening open jam session.  I did not know what to expect. But, I can tell you I certainly did not expect around ten to twelve gentleman at any given time’ sitting around a large wooden table, playing a variety of instruments, some of which I had no clue what they were, while patrons at the bar huddled extremely close. I walked in and immediately knew, This! is where musicians come to play music.

There were Irish folks, Dutch folks, American folks and many other people from around the world and just like the blues it was a melting pot of different genres all gathered around one table.  One man would begin to play a song. It seemed that if the person next to him joined in, then the whole group would then join in and they would jam until it seemed to all, there was no other direction to take it.  There were such a variety of songs played, ranging from Irish folk to bluegrass and blues, they even jammed on Don McLean’s “American Pie.”

It is still a little disappointing that I can’t walk down the street and sit in the pub on a random night and catch good music. I guess Leiden just in not the place for that. But, it is reassuring to know that there still is REAL music being made everywhere.

Ace of an evening: Pub-Golf Tournament an ultimate success

Photo credit: Amanda Cochran

By Amanda Cochran

With Webster being an international University it is no wonder that a few frosty pitchers of beer will bring students together.

With that in mind, Webster’s SGA organized a Pub Golf Tournament on April 6, 2012 open to all students and willing participants.

How it Works

Each pub or “hole” has a different designated challenge or “par” and like golf, the lower the score the better. Points can be added to the team’s score when you fail to complete the challenge under par or for other reasons like arguing with other teams, spilling, and even puking.

The Competition

The night began at De Kroeg for a 3-par challenge. Those up for the job raised their glass with determination to down the beer in three gulps or less.

Photo credit: Amanda Cochran

Next stop was a wine-chugging challenge down under at The Duke of Oz. A surprise task for extra negative points was presented in the form of Jagermeister shots for the brave and willing.

The third hole was held at the sports bar Vikings with a hearty Guiness and Bailey’s Irish Cream bomb shot challenge, better known as an Irish Car Bomb.

Shortly afterwards, students stumbled over to the famous Webster watering hole, Shooters, for a tasty shot race. The red, yellow and green spirits lined the bar and one by one disappeared inside eager competitors.

The final stop in the tournament was at Next, and ended with flaming Absinthe shots. Shortly afterwards the awards ceremony was held, where medals were awarded to the best dressed, “king and queen” of the evening, and overall winning team.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Photo credit: Amanda Cochran

Best Dressed: Boris van Tol; Team Winners: “The League of Extraordinary Alcoholic Gentleman”: Sebastian Fliege, Reeve Lanham, Gus Dijkstra, Jonathan Rogles, Kolbe Olszwski (King).

The night was an overall success! I personally have never seen so many people out for a Webster event and I highly recommend something like this be planned again. New friends and memories were made thanks to Danielle Kate, Savanna Wilson, Taryn Putinta, and Michelle Weaver who worked hard organizing the event. To those who missed out, we hope to see you out next time!

“A union between body, mind, and spirit”

By Safia Elwakil

We are living in an age where the world is changing so fast. Everybody is constantly busy and there is definitely no time to breathe. These are some of the reasons why yoga has gained in popularity during the last few years.

Yoga is a practice that originated in India four thousand years ago, back then it was a way to reach a deeper state of meditation. Meditation is a state where the mind stops thinking for a period of time and temporarily disconnects itself from the hectic surroundings in order to find balance. As a result the one who meditates often feels relaxed and calmed down. Today yoga still has the same function, but now it is more focused on training body and mind, in combination with a healthy food pattern; yoga certainly improves the quality of life.

Paulina Pirskanen is a student at Webster University Leiden, who has been teaching yoga at the Webster Leiden Living and Learning Center (LLC) since last semester. She is a certified Sivananda yoga instructor, a specialty she has chosen with care, owing to the fact that her interest lies with the body and mind conflict. Sivananda is a classical form of yoga with basic poses, which “focuses on learning how to control the body and mind.” Her fascination with yoga is thanks to her grandfather, who used to initiate philosophical conversations, as well as practice breathing exercises and physical training, although she states that he does not regard it as yoga. Her curiosity started with the peace of meditation, and then later on, she started to commit to the physical aspect of yoga. “What attracted me to yoga is the positive feeling or relief for mental and physical pain.”

Paulina is fascinated by the power of yoga, and says many psychological benefits accompany the practice. The relaxing poses and postures activate blood circulation which leads to a decrease in blood pressure and an increase in cardiovascular efficiency, in addition to the improvement of the digestive system and the respiratory system; as a result the person’s energy levels rise, muscles strengthen and the body reaches a great level of flexibility.

An important rule in psychology is “with a high self-esteem, you stand stronger.” Yoga has a positive impact on the psychology of the human being, through self-acceptance, a stable mood, and a decline in depression and anxiety. Yoga practitioners develop social skills that make it easier for them to adapt to the community around them and help them socialize more effectively. Studies prove that practicing yoga improves memory, attention, and concentration, which are essential elements that enhance learning efficiency.

Students can attend yoga classes on Tuesdays (11-12:30) and Wednesdays (11:30-12:30) at the LLC, in exchange for a small donation or a different skill. Paulina said, “If one practices how to focus, feels comfortable in one’s skin, and reacts well to stressful situations, studying becomes more efficient and pleasant.” So, don’t forget to leave an opening in your schedule; improve your academic performance while simultaneously relaxing and releasing the stress of a long day.