My name is Chantal Carpay and I have been working for the LC and guarantee department of BNP Paribas Brussels for 2 and a half years. I became involved with the association Zephyr at the end of 2008.

Zéphyr aims to address all the issues concerning the integration of people in Belgian society, mainly on a language level, but also in general. The association helps people with a need to learn either one of the country’s languages (French or Dutch) or a foreign language. These people usually need to learn basic communication skills or to elaborate their basic skills to create better living conditions or working opportunities. The general courses available are French, Dutch, writing workshops, basic information technology, and classes to help attain one’s driver license.

At a very young age I had the opportunity to learn different languages, so I know how important it is to have this possibility. It allows someone to communicate easily and it creates interesting working opportunities. Helping to integrate a person in a new and different society is always important to avoid isolation and poor living conditions.

As a volunteer, my help allowed to develop a conversation course in Dutch and to introduce several new ideas for future projects. I see this project growing and extending to address more and more people, and more and more different issues. Some issues like Alzheimer’s, immigration, pollution and ecology are topics for new projects.

Visibility is an issue we try to address via ads and flyers also the organisation of social events and the presence of a Zéphyr stand on different regional events.

Of course funding is always a difficult aspect, as obtaining funds is a long and administrative process, especially in this time of financial crisis. Therefore, the association was very happy to obtain the ‘coup de pouce’ (helping hand) from BNP Paribas Foundation.