BAHATI, 21 YEARS

Dear Family, My name is Bahati. I am a 19 year-old girl, from Denmark. Although I currently live in Denmark, where I have just completed 3 years of high school at Nørresundby Gymnasium near Aalborg, I actually come from The Democratic Republic of the Congo. As I mentioned before I studied in Aalborg, where I also lived during the 3 years of highschool, but I grew upon a little town with a population of 3,349 called Farsø, in Region Nordjylland (North Jutland for the English speakers:)) in Denmark. I come from a family of 11: My parents, Furaha and Lumaki, my mother works for the municipality and my Dad is currently not working. I have 1 sister and 7 brothers. My sister is the eldest Nabindu, is almost 30 years old and is a listened secretary, but is currently working on getting her degree as a social worker. My youngest brother Alain, just finished elementary school, and my younger brothers Bukuru and Butoyi, (who are fraternal twins) attends business school and the second high school. My older brothers: Victor, Matthew, Mark and Luc have all finished their studies. In about one or two, I plan to get a higher education, but I am yet to make up my mind concerning my future area of specialization. So, at the moment, I would like to take some time out of academics to have a different life experience, and to have time to calmly reflect on my future academic/professional orientation. I am currently on sabbatical and work in a nursing home, but also have a few temporary jobs here and there. Since graduating high school and passing my exams, getting my cap etc. it has really dawned on me how important it is to make the most of your time as a young person, or just in general, and to not rush life. I have lots of life in me, I have lots of things I want to experience and places I want to see. That is why I chose to apply for a job as an au pair. To this end, I think spending a year abroad would be particularly interesting, especially since I have always toyed with the idea of a life abroad. My first language is Kiswahili, and I am also fluent in English. I started learning English long before I started school by myself, and it is also a big part of the Danish school system, because we already start to learn English from first grade all the way up to university in many cases. I chose to choose English up to A level in high school, along with French A and Social Studies B, I also had different elective subjects all 3 years. In addition, I had taken French as an elective in elementary school, but at a much lower level. I speak an intermediate level of French. I begun learning it in high school and I have also been learning a little French by my self trough YouTube, movies, music and such. I am much better at reading and understanding, than speaking French. I am nevertheless aware that learning a language within a classroom context is by itself, incomplete. So, in order to really be at ease in French, I feel that a cultural immersion would do me a lot of good. Through my language teachers, (most of whom have lived in France during their study) I have learnt a lot about France, the French and life in France. Hence my desire to have first hand experience of French life. I am particularly interested in experiencing family life in France, since it offers a cultural context that is undoubtedly different from mine. For this reason, I would very much like to find a nice family to work for in France. When it comes to child care experience, I have looked after children in both formal and informal contexts. In my last year of elementary school and a short period in high school, as part of a program, which should help young people find out what they would like to work in, or at least give them an idea of ​​what it is like to work in a specific field. I spent about a week and a half as an intern working in a daycare, the period was split up, so I worked to diffrent places. Among others, I helped in an after-school tuition program for young foreigners, who had difficulties with the danish language. I have helped my parents look after my brothers since birth. Although my looking after them is now restricted due to them being able to care for themselves, as a teenager, I was nevertheless much more involved in caring for them on a daily basis, I also cooked for them, because my parents worked a lot. In addition, I also helped take care of some of my cousins and family friends, so taking care of children is not at all new to me. I can comfortably say that I sincerely enjoy spending time with children. When it comes to leisure, I take pleasure in the simple things in life. I enjoy being with my friends, going for walks, visiting places I have not been to, watching movies and generally just everyday things that you sometimes can find pleasure in. In addition I also enjoy doing nails - I’m no professional, but I think I do a pretty good job. I only do nails on my mom, friends and such, and I’m also learning to do hair, and other creative and crafty things. I forgot to mention that I love to read, although I haven’t been able to do so very much, I am slowly getting into the habit again. As far as preferences are concerned, I would prefer a live-out arrangement, but I would not at all be opposed to a live-in arrangement. I would like to work with a family for at least 6 months. When it comes to specifically where in France, I would like to find a family as close to Paris as possible, either in the city or a little outside the city. I would also prefer looking after children aged between 1 to 15 years old, because 15 is probably the age where children start to be more independent when It comes to caring for themselves. Lastly, although I am quite flexible, I would prefer to have working hours that would allow me to attend day time French language classes as well as just time to explore the city and my new surroundings. I would be happy to have the opportunity to come in contact with you: to answer whatever questions you may have about me or my childcare experiences; to learn more about your family; your interests and to know more about what you expect from the au pair arrangement.Thank you very much for your interest! I look forward to hearing from you. Yours Sincerely, Bahati