RCUI celebrated it’s fifth anniversary in style, hosting a swinging gala party. 90 guests enjoyed a breathtaking performance by Dutch National Ballet dancers Alexander Zhembrovskyy and Larisa Lezhnina and a duet performed by Anne Ku en Robert Bekkers piano and guitar.

The funds which were raised with the Charity gala, €6000, will be contributed to a girl’s school in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan. Guests of honour were Timo Smeehuijzen’s parents who took the initiative to build the school after their son, a Dutch soldier, lost his life during a patrol in the region. Television journalist Gijs Wanders spoke about his impressive journey to Afghanistan and shared fragments of his documentary featuring Afghanistan’s adolescents who are finally gaining access to sports, education and cultural activities after years of suppression by the Taliban.

Timo’s parents, not allowed to travel to Afghanistan for security reasons, decided to record a video message for the Afghan parents who had lost their children in the same bomb attack. In this way they established a relationship with the local Tarin Kowt community which led to the construction of the school, now named the Timo School.

Once the construction of the primary school is completed, a secondary school will be built and a fund will be established to finance scholarships to allow talented students to study at Kabul University. The project is implemented by international organisation Save the Children.