Actualités & récits

Several Mobile School partners across the globe are using their mobile schools to reach out to children and youngsters on the move. The partner organisation working with this target group closest to Belgium is Jugendamt Stadt Düsseldorf. We interviewed Martin Schlupkothen, the coordinator of the local mobile school project.

The past few weeks, Sri Lanka was all over the international news. The horrible terror attacks that struck the island nation on Easter Sunday left the entire world shocked and speechless. Despite schools being shut in the aftermath of the attack, Mobile School decided in close collaboration with our potential partner Child Action Lanka (CAL) to stick to our plan and to conduct a one-week exploration with the organization in Kelaniya, a suburb of the capital Colombo.

Every year we place four to five new mobile schools with local partners. Those mobile schools are produced by teachers and students of the Provincial Secondary School in Bilzen (PSSB). Sustainable materials are used to ensure the longest possible life and to survive the challenging situations on the street. Limeparts - Drooghmans has been sponsoring Mobile School for several years now by supplying the aluminum that is used to build the mobile schools. They also handle the processing of certain parts such as the chalk boards.

In this new Mobile School article series, we would like to briefly present our amazing local partner organisations that take out the mobile school multiple times per week to boost the self-esteem of street-connected youngsters. To start off this new series, we would like to introduce you to our partner... Yenege Tesfa.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the mobile school project in Thessaloniki. Happy birthday, ARSIS and PRAKSIS! For 8 years, our two local partners shared one mobile school to work with different target groups. In 2017, they applied for a second mobile school to increase their impact on the street by reaching out to more street-connected children and youngsters. In July of that same year the implementation training took place and in March 2019, a follow-up training was organised, to coach and reenergise the two local street work teams. What did ARSIS and PRAKSIS achieve after 10 years of working with a mobile school? Time for an interview with the local experts to find out.

The shoulders can’t always be tense, it’s necessary to let off steam now and again, take your foot off the pedal and that is why we have a great plan!

DHL Global Forwarding has been a partner and sponsor of Mobile School NPO for more than 15 years. Over the years they have shipped 95% of all mobile schools to the nearest international airport. A very good reason to let Linda Moens (Sales & Marketing Director in Belgium & Luxembourg), Erna Vanremoortel (Customer Relations Team Leader) and Sofie Nieuwling (Marketing & Communication Specialist) give some more information about this special collaboration.

Du 25 février au 8 mars, une équipe de formateurs d'écoles mobiles aurait normalement dû se rendre en Haïti pour la mise en place d'une toute nouvelle école mobile. La 53e école mobile est arrivée dans la capitale Port-au-Prince il y a quelques semaines, et les membres de l'équipe de l'Association Sportive de Truitier (AST) - soutenue par l'organisation belge Benefiet Haïti - étaient impatients de démarrer enfin les travaux avec leur école mobile dans les rues de Carrefour, l'un des plus grands quartiers de la capitale haïtienne.

In 2008, he became a passionate Mobile School volunteer. Five years later, he took his first steps towards becoming an equally passionate Mobile School Master Trainer and has since co-facilitated and given numerous trainings with different partner organisations. Recently, he even implemented the 50th mobile school in Gliwice! Meet Master Trainer Koen Verrecht!

Nicaragua is in crisis. For three months, there have been massive protests of Nicaraguan citizens against the government, which have been violently repressed by that same government.

Mobile School trainers Toña Pineda & Jessika Martinez are starting up a new mobile school project in Cochabamba, Bolivia as we speak. That brings the tally to 4 active mobile schools in Bolivia. Is there a big need for mobile schools in Bolivia?

Nearly 30 people are forced to flee every minute as a result of conflict or persecution. The amount of forcibly displaced people worldwide is rising (68,5 million according to UNHCR, 2018). The distribution is still disproportionate. Turkey hosted 3,5 million refugees in 2017, Pakistan 1,4 million and Lebanon 1 million. More than 85% of the displaced people are hosted in developing countries. There is an increasing pressure on the facilities in neighbouring countries of conflict areas. Consequently, many people continue their journey and head to Europe, crossing the sea on a dangerous journey. Since the beginning of 2014, more than 1,8 million people arrived on the European continent by sea (UNHCR, 2018).