Graduates get coached before studying abroad

Graduating Saba teens spent last week in workshops that helped prepare them to study abroad. Instructors talked to the students about social skills and budgeting during VOBESS, which means Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba Students’ Preparation. They also discussed sexuality and drug use. The courses were designed to address the culture shock likely to be experienced by students embarking on independent life abroad while following higher education degrees in The Netherlands, the United States or within the Caribbean region. On each island, the coordinating officer secured course facilitators from among the representatives of local institutions in order to ensure that the presentations are relevant to island specific challenges.
National Service Caribbean Netherlands (RCN) organized this week-long VOBESS course through its Study Financing Division. The course, coordinated by RCN’s Iedra Mauricio-Goeloe and Jefferson Coffie, was held at the office of the Saba Roads and Construction Building on the Clement Sorton Street in The Bottom. Local facilitators included representatives of the KPCN-Saba Police, the local Chamber of Commerce, the Body, Mind and Spirit Foundation and others. The goal was to prepare the youth to best handle independent life within a different culture and to create awareness about potential risks and challenges while living and studying abroad.
Source: “The Daily Herald” 3013-07-05