Our school is a centre for partial education. This means that our students come to school two days a week, the other three days they have a full time engagement in a work related project (suitable to their needs). The youngsters have one school day of general subjects and one of vocational training. Our centre is characterized by the connection of these three components. The striving for achieving goals and competences is very important, with an equivalent emphasis on the achievement of work attitudes. Eventually, the centre provides guidance towards a suitable work placement. We would like to emphasize that this project is organized according to the needs of our youngsters, to enable them an even better integration on the workplace. With this project we want to achieve different goals. First and mainly, with this work experience we want to enable our youngsters to gain the necessary competences to achieve their certificate in Belgium. Six students will be employed in SABA as logistics helpers and home helpers. They already work in this sector in Belgium, but we would like to give them an extra experience of healthcare abroad. In Belgium, the nursing aspect often isn’t part of their responsibilities on the workplace. Their tasks are mainly to give logistic support and they have very little personal contact with their patients. By working in the logistic department in SABA we can also teach them these competences, since nursing and logistics go hand in hand. This is a strong feature of SABA we certainly want our students to experience. For the teachers too it is a capital gain to see how these people deal with their elderly. The combination of the nursing aspect, the logistic support and a different environment will broaden the knowledge and competence of our students. The project also adds value to the regular organization of the training in the centre. It is not always simple to organize work experience for a full class group in a nursing or retirement home. In Flanders, a group must always be accompanied by their teacher; our students cannot work without surveillance within the classroom component. During the Aruba project the students will have an individual - though closely monitored and escorted - work experience, which also provides a major asset for our own operation. Students can no more hide within the group, their own responsabilities are pointed out to them. In the context of the situation in Gent it is not simple to find suitable placements, given the competition with Syntra, full time education and graduate schools. In our current society our students do not always get the learning opportunities they need to succeed. Abroad they can start a work experience without the social prejudice they do encounter in their own environment. Another goal of this project is developing work attitudes. It provides an opportunity for a work experience abroad, that will encrease the guidance towards employment in the sector. This project goes across boarders. Social skills, gaining self-knowledge, strengthening resilience, being independent and increasing self-reliance are only a few of the goals that will be adressed. Our students often find themselves in problematic home situations, that ensure they live and grow up in a negative environment. Our centre tries to break through this downward spiral and to be a haven for many of our students. We extend this goal in our project. We want to take the youngsters into a positive setting. Within the CLW there is plenty of support. Vocational teachers and councelors both are 100 % committed to empower the chances our youngsters get to ameliorate their competences and social skills on and around the workplace. Because we also want to improve the professional skills of our vocational teachers, they will be fully employed in the process of the work experience on the spot. Next to guidance by the vocational teachers, we also appeal to the councelors. They know the students very well and are the guardians of the entire traject, as well at school as at the work placement. Indeed, it is of great importance that the acquired competences in Aruba can count for obtaining a certificate at school. We have chosen Aruba for different reasons. The openness and friendliness of the Aruban people and the absence of a language barrier make that our youngsters are very quickly included in their community. This beautiful island will provide an unforgettable experience for both our students and their mentors. We may not forget our youngsters seldom pass the Belgian border. In every way this project is and will be a unique opportunity.