'With this project you can really make a difference in the lives of children!'

Lecturer Berdien Moraal and colleague Nikki Jepkema have been working on the 'Tijd voor Toekomst' (Time for the Future) project for a few years now. In the project, students, teachers and primary schools work together to offer every child a promising future. For students of the School of Sports Studies, it is a unique opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children during their education.

'How unfair is it that a child born in East Groningen does not have the same chance of a happy life full of beautiful perspectives and equal opportunities as a child born elsewhere in the Netherlands? Very unfair, we think. That is why in 'Time for the Future' we look for what we can do to give children in East Groningen more opportunities. We have achieved good results in recent years, but there is still a lot of work to be done.'

Movement is the basis

‘Students from all schools at Hanze University of Applied Sciences are participating in the project, students from the School of Sports Studies programmes are an important pillar. These students can often be found in primary schools because of their internships and participating in this project gives them the opportunity to make more impact on the lives of children. For example, by organising a sponsored run, where as much waste as possible must be removed from the forest during a trail run. Then the children, together with students from Minerva, can perhaps build a work of art from the waste.'

‘Sufficient exercise and sports is very important, especially within this project. Not only because it is good for the condition and promotes a healthy lifestyle, but also because it gives children self-confidence and teaches them to better deal with their emotions. As a Sports Studies student, you therefore provide them with an extremely important basis from which they can really grow.'

A hefty challenge

Time for the Future is a so-called innovation workplace, a place where education, research and the professional field come together. You work together with students from other study programmes to create something beautiful. You learn to look at a challenge from different angles, and at the same time you get the chance to show other students what you have to offer. In any case, you learn a lot from it, and can really make a difference in the lives of children. And that before you are well and truly at work, how beautiful is that?!'