5. Jalel Vangoethem
Jalel is a young father, musician, and youth worker active in the socio-cultural sector. He works with a children's fanfare that originated from the Zinneke Parade in 2000.
"I strive to give children who have little contact with culture, and who don't have the means to travel, a taste of the world through music. I want to work for the next generation of kids to have equal opportunities."
I strongly believe in politics. Brussels residents are confronted every day with decisions that affect their daily lives: shortage of places in daycare centres or schools, insufficient after-school hobbies in Dutch, ... This must improve!
We need to invest much more in the potential of our Brussels youth. They are the Brussels citizens of tomorrow.
A quality extracurricular offer is important, we cannot just pump money into after-school childcare and activities to create more places. At the same time, we must commit to improving the quality of the offer in Dutch so that our young people can fully develop their talents.
I grew up in Laeken and have been active in extracurricular activities all through my youth. So, it was a logical step to get a job in the youth sector. At the moment, I work with a Brussels’ children’s fanfare. We bring young people in touch with music without requiring them to learn how to read sheet music first. I just became a father, and I can imagine more than ever what problems other parents may have.
My dream for Brussels
A Brussels where people of every age feel at home,
A Brussels about which people around the world think: “wow, they’re doing a good job over there,”
A Brussels where not a single young person feels there are things they cannot do because their last name doesn’t sound Belgian enough, or because they don’t look like their neighbours.