Saskia studied Social and Cultural Education at the University of Leuven and wrote a master thesis on empowerment in community development projects. In her eager to translate theory into practice, she worked together with a diversity of groups, including travellers, Rom people, refugees and families that live in poverty. She was involved in action research on gender and poverty.

Since 14 years she works at the RuimteVaart, nowadays in the role of general coördinator. This community organization was founded with the objective of providing necessary adapted services by organizing the community to take action themselves. With this imbedded emphasis on participation came the logical step to make de RuimteVaart a community organization where poor people could actively have a voice in the anti-poverty struggle and question society on its pre-assumptions.

De RuimteVaart wants to bring poor people together with other poor and non-poor in an organization where they can feel at home and where they can play an active role that matters. The organisation gives the poor space in the organisation. Poverty is seen as a lack of space – physically, socially, mentally, … - to take part in society.

De RuimteVaart commits to the emancipation of the poor, to give them their rightful place in society. Traditionally, social workers focus on problems and are there to solve them. At de RuimteVaart we want to have attention to more than problems alone and be sensitive to the complexity of everyday life and open the full potentials of it. Therefore their strategy is to work in an integral way and to cover every aspect of life.