Struelens grew up in the Belgian Congo, where his father was a civil servant. In 1950, he was employed by the Economic Affairs Department of the Belgian Congo as inspector, and eventually as provincial director ad interim. He was sent to Brussels, Belgium, in 1957 to help prepare the World Expo Expo 58. In 1958, he became the head of the tourist office of Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, an office that he subsequently moved from Brussels to Bukavu in the Belgian Congo.