Miss Saar, can I have a signature?: Mechelse teacher guides young people in ‘Down The Road’

Mechelen, “Miss Saar, can I have a signature?” Saar Pilgrims (30) is the tv star carried on hands by her students of the Mechelen BuSO Sint-Janshof. Together with Dieter Coppens accompanied the teacher to the six travelling companions, with down in Down-the-Road’ (one). “A pink cloud”, she describes the adventure in South Africa.

Monday night made tv-watching Flanders knowledge with Yens, Maud, Geoffrey, Julie, martin and Charlotte, the six participants in the second season of the succesprogramma ‘Down the Road’. A little more background: she Saar Pilgrims. They took in september for a month of leave of absence without salary – after a selection process – the journey. “It was fantastic”, she laughs.

However, the road trip was not evident. A staircase without a handrail in the house was enough to make the whole group block. “I knew in advance what activities we were going to do, but then there will be a day 1, and we have not even an activity planned or there was that first border, where the group was. Funny that we not have thought about,” Saar.

also Played with the escorts the young people before the start but once had seen. “As the journey progressed and we better acquainted, we could much easier to have a conversation and if that was already there - the essence of the problem. There is nothing that we could not solve.” Although there were many exciting moments. Also for Saar. “A zipline it was also for me to swallow. I have a terrible fear of heights.”

They did the zipline with martin, which already after a day, madly in love. "After five days is that about’, he declared in the first episode. “It has taken longer, that I can tell you,” laughs Saar. But nothing that a good talk couldn't solve. “People with down's are very pure, especially in their emotions. On the other hand, they can really pin down in their emotion. Then the art is to get them out of there.”

For Saar it was also art to be in its “strict but fair” leerkrachtenrol void that she now had six years of record at the St-Janshof. They learn social skills. “In school we have clear agreements, structure, predictability. We had the group looser. I had sometimes on the tongue bite. ‘Now may I just say nothing because then should I present myself me hard as a teacher." Could I also draw from my experience with the Chiro. I was 17 years a member of the Chiro Rijmenam.”

Her participation will her minds for a long time. “The band that you have on such short notice creates, is intense. I regularly receive messages. ‘Saar, I miss you’ or ‘When do we speak again?’. The trip was not only beautiful, Down-the-Road’ has led to friendships for life,” she concludes.