Damla and Vuslat organize Ladies Coffee Night with Ingrid Lieten

By means of networking and taking a break after a working day, Damla organized a Ladies Coffee Night with Ingrid Lieten (Vice-President of the Flemish Government, Minister of Media, Poverty, Innovation and Public Investments and Chairwoman of sp.a Limburg) on the 3rd of December.
The Ladies Coffee Night is a meeting moment between women of various backgrounds. The purpose of these meetings is to improve the social contact and to tighten friendship relations whilst enjoying a cup of coffee. With this event Damla offers women the opportunity to discuss issues of present day society.
The shared experiences of our guest speaker Ingrid Lieten gave the participants an insight into present day problems and how these can be avoided in the future.

Minister Lieten was welcomed by the president of Damla, Fethiye Akyazi, the coordinator of the association Fadimana Gokuzum, Yakup Tuncay (Fedactio Limburg) and Fatih Kilic (Vuslat Genk). After a brief presentation on the activities of Fedactio, Vuslat and Damla the main program started.

Minister Lieten talked about her own experiences first. We were given tips on how to combine a family with a job. Besides being an active woman in society, Lieten is also a terrific wife and a concerned mother of two children.

The minister continued her conversation on the importance of diversity. Next, she emphasized the presence of gender equality in Governing Boards. Lieten stated that “women should have more self-confidence and should not put their career on the side. Women should also support each other instead of being critical towards one and other”.

The future starts in the cradle

Following, Lieten underlined the methods of dealing with child poverty, youth and education. Just as developmental psychologists the minister believes that education starts from age 0. A healthy education is essential for a bright future. This is only possible when children are given all the opportunities they need. The politician underlined that education opportunities for children with arrears should be improved.

Youth and Education

The minister mentioned the necessity for a fairer education system. Every child deserves the education to strengthen him. Children should be given the opportunity to improve their talents.

The Coffee Night ended with Fadimana Gokuzum guiding the participants through the building. The participants and the minister were able to observe the Ebru course that was taking place at the moment.