Ka cika wannan jumla: Struelens ya yi girma a ƙasar Belgian Congo, inda mahaifinsa ma'aikacin gwamnati ne. A shekarar 1950, an dauke shi aiki a Ma'aikatar Harkokin Tattalin Arziki ta Kwango ta Belgian a matsayin mai dubawa, kuma daga karshe a matsayin darektan lardin na wucin gadi. An aike shi zuwa Brussels, Belgium, a shekara ta 1957 don ya taimaka wajen shirya bikin baje kolin duniya
Nunin 58. A shekara ta 1958, ya zama shugaban ofishin yawon bude ido na Kongo ta Beljiyam da Ruanda-Urundi, ofishin da daga baya ya koma daga Brussels zuwa Bukavu a Kongo ta Beljiyam.