Zuiddag was first organised four years ago by Bart Vetsuypens and his wife, who had been aid workers in Brazil. Based on Norway’s “Operation Daywork”, which has been going since 1964, Zuiddag not only puts Flemish students to work for their “southern” (African and South American) peers, it also sends a handful of students directly to the affected areas to witness first-hand where their work and money is going.

“It’s not only fund raising but education as well,” explains Vetsuypens. “We want to connect the youth from the different continents because they hold the key to change in our societies.”

Five thousand students aged 15 to 18 took part in Zuiddag this year, a ten-fold increase over four years ago when the campaign was localised in Vetsuypens’ home in Halle. Thanks to Flemish Region subsidies, the project now covers all of Flanders.

The charity of choice this year was Vredeseilanden (Peace Islands) for their project “Young farmers deserve more!” The project builds youth farms in the schools of Lira, Uganda. In these model farms, local students learn all about sustainable agriculture and take this knowledge back to their rural families to improve the harvest.

Because creating awareness on both sides of the continental divide is as important as raising money, eight Flemish students visited the project and their peers in Uganda. Together they prepared an awareness campaign and magazine for participating schools in Flanders. They even started a blog to stimulate contact between students in north and south.

Then, in the week leading up to Zuiddag, a group of students from Uganda came to some Flemish schools to tell more about the project and explain what the money made on Zuiddag will be used to achieve.

Considering the project’s Nordic origins, it’s no surprise that the Norwegian Embassy in Brussels was pleased to hire a student for a day. Almost everybody working in the embassy has experienced Operation Daywork back in Norway. “It’s the first time we’ve joined this project, but we’re very enthusiastic,” says embassy spokesperson Rita Sandberg. “Every company could use the helping hand of a student every now and then. The project also creates awareness in young people and emphasises the importance of youth empowerment.”

For their part, students can target a company and ask them to join the project or choose an employer from the Zuiddag database. That’s what 17-year-old Heleen Wyffels did. From Paridaens School in Leuven, she chose the Norwegian Embassy “because it looked like a very interesting option,” she says. “I helped with passport demands and the cultural agenda and also composed an overview of topics in the Flemish newspapers. I could work on my English, and, at the same time, I helped my supervisor with her Dutch.”

All participating students know very well what the project is all about, as do the employers and schools. Reactions become more numerous and positive every year, encouraging organisers to do even better the next time around. Because, even though the next Zuiddag doesn’t happen until 2010, the first steps have already been taken. All feedback formulae are carefully read because any remark can help to grow and improve the next edition.

“The project is all about offering chances to young people,” says Vetsuypens. “That’s why it’s important we keep finding companies that want to work on their social responsibility – to give our project a chance. That way, students in the north can give students in the south a chance as well.”

www.zuiddag.be