Pascal Bobbe
'Being able to walk somewhere without thinking about it.' That is what struck Pascal Bobbe most when he returned home to The Hague after serving in Bosnia and Afghanistan, among other places. 'You are constantly vigilant on a mission, because you know that people do not have your best interests at heart.'
We speak to Pascal at the monument of Pascal Lodewijk Thomson (11 June 1869 – 15 June 1914) on Thomsonplein. Thomson was a Dutch military commander and politician. He is best known as the first Dutch soldier to die on a peace mission.
Mission in Afghanistan
Pascal's last mission was sixteen years ago. For example, he saw in Afghanistan how the freedom we are used to in the Netherlands can be very different. Where someone else tells you what you can or cannot do. Especially if you are born a woman there, you have few to no rights. Pascal says: 'It is a disaster what is happening there. You cannot imagine how women live there. For example: always accompanied if you want to go somewhere and no right to education.'
'I wish it were natural everywhere in the world to be able to speak out.'
Agree to disagree
Veteran in the classroom
