About us | projectbeetogether

Our team

Tine van den Borne

22 jaar
Business Engineer
'Jolly initiator, full of excitement for the unknown'

We are five students of the KU Leuven, studying at four different faculties. Our team takes part in AFD and is coached by Jonas van Laere and Milan Van der Meer, who conducted the precursor of our current project.

Yolan Weiler

20 jaar
Engineering science
'Enthusiastic entrepreneur with a passion for development'

Jonas Laenens

22 jaar
Medicine
'Soon to be doctor, full of good intentions to help people '

Margo Billen

22 jaar
Engineering science
'Creative thinker, full of passion for progress'

Jasper Verlinden

21 jaar
Bio engineer
'Positive nature lover who likes wood and adventure'

AFD

On one hand AFD organizes yearly projects concerning a specific problem in the South in cooperation with local partners, on the other hand they organize events for students, with the aim of bringing subjects concerning social development closer to the general student audience.

For their yearly projects, AFD always recruits a multidisciplinary team of five students per project. These students prepare their venture during the academic year and travel to their country of destination for six to eight weeks to locally implement their strategy. These projects are always conducted in close collaboration with the local partner which can be an NGO, forth pillar who is active in the south or a start-up in a developing country. This year, AFD organizes a total of 8 projects, of which BeeTogether is one, and these are localized in India, Indonesia, Bolivia, Zambia and Tanzania.

For more information on AFD and its mission, take a look on their website.

Academics For Development (AFD) is an organization by and for students. They offer students the opportunity to have social impact in a sustainable and meaningful way, by offering them the occasion to contribute to real problems in the life of developing- and developed countries. This purpose is based on the conviction that students possess valuable skills, time and knowledge that can make a difference in the field of social development.

Our partners

In order to prepare our project as efficiently as possible, we collaborate closely with our local partners. BeeTogether is a part of the bigger picture, created by a collaboration between VLIR-UOS and the Mzumbe University. Together they organize different projects in Tanzania during six years in four domains. One of these domains is rural entrepreneurship and the PhD of Nicholaus Tutuba together with our project takes part in this branch. BeeTogether thus is an extension to the doctoral study of Nicholaus, which investigates the collaboration possibility between beekeeping groups in and around the Morogoro region of Tanzania. Furthermore, the Mzumbe University will also provide us with accommodation at their campus where we will spend approximately 50 percent of our nights.

Nicholaus Tutuba is our primary local contact and mentor. On one hand he provides us with information about the current situation and on the other hand he makes preparations in order for us to spend our time in Tanzania as efficiently as possible. For example, he makes sure that enough wood is dried for the construction of the beehives that we will deliver and he can also prematurely order these hives with the local carpenters. Furthermore, he will take care our daily transport by accompanying us or arranging a driver.

Nicholaus’s PhD researches the establishment of a connection of the different beekeeping groups in the Morogoro region of Tanzania. Until recently he mainly specialized in the economic aspect of this subject but in the meanwhile he is also specializing more into beekeeping itself. His ambition is to continue this organization after his PhD is finished, which guarantees a long term impact for our project.

VLIR-UOS supports collaborations between universities in Flanders (Belgium) and the South and they are, together with the Mzumbe University, responsible for the broad project in which Nicholaus’s PhD takes place. They also dispose of financial resources which are provided to sustain projects on one hand and to support volunteers who commit themselves to international collaboration by providing scholarships. Their motto is: looking for innovative responses to global and local challenges.

Nicholaus Tutuba

Mzumbe University

The Mzumbe University is one of the biggest universities of Tanzania. She is active in multiple disciplines (Social Sciences, Law, Sciences, Technology, Business, Public administration and management) and its biggest campus is located in Morogoro. It is at this campus that the university has kindly invited us to stay for approximately half of our residence. Their motto is: let us study for the development of people, which matches her collaboration with VLIR and openness towards us.

VLIR-UOS