Volunteering – working for a better world
In many of our programmes, social engagement is part of the curriculum.
Student volunteering allows local organisations to get support for their projects, while you have the opportunity to apply what you’ve learned in real-life situations.
Scroll down to learn more about some of the options to volunteer while a student in Maastricht.
Many of our students are active in volunteer organisations; some have even started their own volunteer initiatives.
A case in point is Match, a project that aims to strengthen social engagement among students in Maastricht.
Scroll down for a video about Match or read more on the Match project on our website.
Taskforce QRS – Qualitative Resuscitation by Students
The first minutes after sudden cardiac arrest are crucial. The sooner you start with heart massage the better. And the more people who learn this skill, the greater the chance of survival.
With this in mind, the student-run QRS Taskforce was set up in Maastricht in 2006.
“If you really want a good chance of survival, then citizens must start giving heart massage and defibrillation within two minutes,” explains the current president of the taskforce, medical student Ali Ghossein.
That is often well before the ambulance arrives, so it is important that there are bystanders who can perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
“Giving chest compressions, respiration and defibrillation isn’t complicated,” says Ton Gorgels, professor of Transmural Cardiology, one of the founders of the taskforce.
“The biggest challenge is social. You need to make sure that people outside the hospital can resuscitate, that you can quickly mobilise those people and that there are AEDs (Automatic External Defibrillators) nearby.”
Amnesty International Maastricht Students
Méabh and Magali lead a group of motivated Maastricht students with a passion for human rights. Méabh, a UCM student, is the PR person while Magali, an ELS student, is in charge of fundraising and promotion.
“AIMS was founded in 1998 because a number of students were disappointed that only a few of them had joined the Torch Walk marking the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This prompted them to raise awareness of human rights among the Maastricht student population and so they launched AIMS.”
What does AIMS do?