ALPY VZW – Association Without Lucrative Purpose
Alps and Pyrenees, discovering and supporting
Starting up…
…a summer holiday with a shepherd and an article written by Lieven Scheerlinck treating about ghost towns
As from my birth, I’ve been travelling through the Alps and the Pyrenees. During one of my holidays, I met a shepherd who survived in winter by doing a job as operator of a ski lift. For many years, we kept in contact and finally my initiation in the primitive shepherd life became the start of a long story. Each holiday I looked for stories of people who lived in the mountains. Stories which treated the subjects of all kinds of seasonal work, about animals, about people and nature, about political movements, militancy and anger, stories about ancestors, children and grandchildren, stories which touched me each time.
When I saw, during my studies, an article of Lieven Scheerlinck, which treated about ghost villages in the Pyrenees, I wanted to learn more about it. After some research, it appeared to be the ideal research subject for my thesis. I could combine my sense of justice and passion for nature and culture in this research. I was touched by an implicit solidarity, a shared history and a fight for the future, in surroundings of an omnipresent natural beauty. But also the confrontation with generation conflicts, important losses, sadness and injustice were characteristic for this research.
After I finished my studies, I started to work full time, but in the meantime I started a study at doctor’s degree in cooperation with the University of Grenoble and the University of Ghent. Although the cooperation went on well and I got many support of my professors, I kept a feeling of dissatisfaction. I wanted to come closer to the human being and contribute more directly to the development and protection of mountain communities.
As a result, in 2010 I left my job and studies and I searched for partners to back the Alps and the Pyrenees. At the beginning of 2011, Alpy vzw was born and I look forward each day to new meetings which can be useful for the Alps and the Pyrenees!
General staff
Baert Gilbert
Baert Séverine
Baert Roseline
As a partner, you can always ask for voting rights in the general meeting. Please, address your letter to the Board of Directors.
Board of Directors
Séverine Baert
Séverine Baert was born in 1979, studied at Hogeschool Gent and Universiteit Ghent. She obtained a degree of social work and a master’s degree in Comparative Cultural Studies. She lived in Barcelona half a year, but her home is in Ghent. After a year of working in the bio-ecological sector in Antwerp, she started to work at the federal government in Brussels, first as a social worker, afterwards as a policy worker at the department of rural development. As from 2010, she’s the happy mother of Madeleine and director of the association without lucrative purpose Alps and Pyrenees, discover and support (Alpy vzw).
Roseline Baert
Roseline Baert was born in 1982 in Ghent. She’s fond of animals, mountains and good meals. Her dream of a society with a sense of justification led her to the study of criminological sciences, which she fulfilled successfully. She studied two more years at the University of Ghent and obtained a master’s degree in comparing cultural sciences. After her studies she started immediately in an organization which aimed animal rights. Today she works for the federal government and she is the co-director of the association without lucrative purpose Alps and Pyrenees, discover and support (Alpy vzw).
Volunteers
Christeline De Wolf
Christeline was born 1979 in Charleroi (Belgium). Being a sociologist, she lectures geography and social sciences. Respecting nature and sharing cultural elements are values which are very important to her. She verifies the French translations of ALPY vzw.
María José Fuster
María José Fuster was born in Campo, in the Aragon Pyrenees. Being a historian and an expert in genealogy, she worked in Brussels for the association Amigos de Aragon. She makes French-Spanish translations for ALPY vzw on a voluntary basis.
Leen De Rechter
Leen De Rechter travelled many times to the Italian Mountains. As translator-interpreter, she makes Dutch-Italian translations for ALPY vzw.
Sven Schütt
Sven is a German, who was born in the Netherlands and who lives in Belgium since 1989. He travelled around the lakes in the Alps. He makes the Dutch-German-translations for ALPY vzw.
Paul Corthouts
Pol met movie director Armando Acosta (1985) after 10 years of work experience as an occupational therapist and hobby photographer. After three years, he became camera-man for the movie ‘Romeo and Juliette’. Afterwards he made reports, some of which in India, Kenya (which was ‘Hope’, a series broadcasted by Canvas, commercials (Smirnof) and trailers. He was a camera technician for television in 1994 and in 1999 he started as filmmaker at the Flemish government. Here, he makes annually 23 video productions. Alpy vzw applies regularly to his knowledge of photography and film.
Contact
ALPY vzw
Steppestede 4
9051 Sint-Denijs-Westrem
Belgium
https://alpyvzw.wordpress.com
Tel: +32 9 328 80 71
E-mail: alpyvzw@telenet.be
Company number: 0834 576 518
IBAN: BE42 001 6385585 54 – BIC: GEBABEBB
ALPY vzw 