"It is important to build bridges between youngsters and the professional world"

TADA wants to increase its indirect impact and inspire as many people as possible to take more individual responsibility for inclusion. TADA has already inspired more than 17 other organizations, including 12 active in education. KiddyBuild, an initiative of the BESIX Foundation, is one of these 'TADA' organizations. Read the testimony of Donatienne de Spirlet, head of KiddyBuild, below.

"In 2013, TADA asked BESIX to collaborate for four Saturdays on the theme of construction. At first, many colleagues were skeptical. They did not believe that ten-year-old TADA children would understand much about it, let alone ask interesting questions. It turned out to be a fantastic experience. The students soon had an idea of the most important aspects of the construction sector." 

"It is actually a smart idea to address children of this age: they are open to everything and nothing seems impossible to them. They didn’t suffer too much from frustrations or failures, as can be the case with adolescents starting secondary school."

"This first collaboration with TADA convinced us that it is important to build bridges between young people and the professional world. We wanted to do more. A few months later, we launched our own project, based on TADA: BESIX KiddyBuild. Through KiddyBuild we organize TADA-like activities: every year enthusiastic BESIX employees show hundreds of socially vulnerable children how a construction site functions. So TADA helped us in founding KiddyBuild. In five years we received more than 1500 pupils at our yards in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Herent…"

"For the tenth anniversary of the BESIX Foundation, we launched the 'Sowing for the Future' prize to encourage other individuals and organizations to develop similar initiatives. TADA does what it can, the BESIX Foundation does, too. But there are many others who can invest to increase the future prospects of young people and to encourage encounters between children and professionals from all sectors." 

"In Belgium, the construction sector and technical studies in general have a negative image. They suffer from it and we want to change that. By participating in TADA and the organization of KiddyBuild, we hope to motivate future engineers and technicians and give this industry a positive swing. The more motivated students in this domain, the greater the chance to recruit enthusiastic employees. It would be nice if somebody said during a job interview that he was participating in TADA or KiddyBuild when he or she was young."

"You also get a lot in return from workshops at TADA or a day at KiddyBuild. Every day we have to solve a thousand and one problems and because of that we sometimes forget what makes our job fantastic. Facing young people who have stars in their eyes when they listen to you, reminds us of the importance of what we do. I personally find that very motivating."

Do you also want to involve your company in the movement towards more inclusion? Contact us via info@toekomstatelierdelavenir.com.