09 July 2014 – Philippine Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg and Head of the Philippine Mission to the European Union (EU) Victoria S. Bataclan received 22 Belgian scouts, aged 16 to 23 years  old, for an afternoon of “kainan, kodakan, kuwentuhan at kasayahan” as a preview of their travel to the Philippines last June 30.

The Belgian scouts are currently in the Philippines to assist in the finishing works of the reconstruction of St. Therese Education Foundation of Tacloban, Inc. (STEFTI) school in Tacloban.  The group will be in Tacloban from July 8 to 20 and in Palawan from July 20 to 27.

The young Belgians are members of a Catholic youth organization called the Unité Notre Dame du Rosaire 16e, a unit of the Guides Catholiques de Belgique/Catholic Guides of Belgium (GCB).  GCB is the equivalent of the Scouts in the Philippines. 

Ambassador Bataclan expressed her appreciation for the group’s effort and reiterated her gratitude to the Belgian people for their sympathy and speedy assistance towards the victims of typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. She noted that the group’s mission is another proof of the close solidarity and friendship between the peoples of the Philippines and of Belgium.

The members of the group are as follows: Laetitia Domb (23), Jerry Fruy (23), Thomas Porlier (23), Stephane Pierrard (23), Marie Antoine (22) and Camille Claus (23),  Loic Francotte (17), Victoria Lefevre (18), Paul Asselberghs (18), Alexande Jewell (17), Adrien Ruscher (18), Remi Colombe (18), Delfine Hatufenne (18), Pierre Bellemans (18), Aaron Bangala (18), Alexandre Satelens (18), Julien Swaelens (18), Luxas Box (18), Wiliam Kies (18), Louis Nicodem (18), Ladislas Lefebure (18), Bastien Van Pottelsberg (18).

The group’s coordinating partner in the Philippines is Mrs. Joy Palami who is a teacher at the said school. 

STEFTI, which was hard hit by Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda is a school established in 2001 and supported by Baron Jacques van Ypersele de Strihou and his wife, Brigitte.   Baron van Ypersele was the Chef du Cabinet of the former Belgian monarch, King Albert II. END