Raise awareness among youngsters

Zwerfkat in Le(u)ven also raises awareness as a non-profit organisation in the social sector

Two weeks ago we accepted a request for an internship of a clever young lady from Wijgmaal. She is in the fourth year of the Steinerschool De Zonnewijzer and her internship in the healthcare sector was cancelled quite late. Her request reached the board and we thought about the internship’s feasibility, content and purpose. It was a “care for”-internship. An extremely fascinating starting point for her and us.

In what way do we contribute to “care” within our society?

Well, a lot. Together with the city of Leuven and the police force ZIL ensures the society’s welfare by tackling nuisance caused by stray cats. In that way we also take care of the welfare of Leuven’s inhabitants. For example, we look for a new home when a cat’s owner passed away or when an owner can’t take care of his beloved pet anymore because he has to go to a nursing home. All these aspects were addressed during the internship.

Raising awareness of our joint responsibility in youngsters

Apart from our daily activities to take care of the stray cats in Leuven we are eager to provide internships, if practically feasible, for young people looking for an internship. We are convinced our youngsters should be made more aware about the stray cat issues in our cities. They are the adults of the future and deserve that attention. It is a must to open their eyes and sensitize them to our responsibility as a society.

Internship requests at ZIL

Unfortunately some internship requests are technically not feasible as we work with foster families and not with a real shelter. Because of Corona we have to respect the foster family bubbles. Only outside activities like feeding rounds with a recognized feeding parent and online interviews are possible and incredibly educational for young people. We noticed this earlier this week during a first ZIL internship that proceeded perfectly coronaproof.

Relieving our healthcare workers’ educational task. A bonus!

The team of Zwerfkat in Le(u)ven is eager to ease the educational task of our healthcare workers by guiding interns. Because of corona their time is already extremely precious. We want to support them. Because of a deep respect for everything they have been doing for us for years. With the vaccinations the pressure that is placed on them will not disappear soon. That’s for sure.