Stories & news

Behind the Facing Trauma Toolkit is a series of articles that explores the ideas and methods behind our posters. Each piece highlights one of the tools, showing how research on trauma and resilience is translated into playful, practical resources for youth workers, educators, and social professionals. By uncovering the story behind the posters, we aim to make trauma-sensitive practice both accessible and inspiring.

After the successful launches of our mobile schools in Zambia and Uganda, we’re excited to announce the third mobile school of 2025—this time in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico. In partnership with our local friends at Melel Xojobal, our latest mobile school is now rolling through the streets of San Cristóbal, supporting ongoing educational outreach for indigenous children and young people.

After the successful launch of our mobile school in Kabwe, Zambia, we’re thrilled to announce the second mobile school launch of the year—this time in Jinja, Uganda. In partnership with our great friends of S.A.L.V.E. International, our latest mobile school is now rolling around the streets of Jinja, supporting the already-existing outreach interventions for street-connected children and young people by our new local partner.

We live in an age of polycrisis — a time when social, environmental, and political pressures overlap and reinforce one another. It’s no longer enough to tackle problems in isolation. Everything is connected. Everything is interdependent.

Exciting news from Zambia! After a long wait, the country’s first mobile school project is now up and running in the city Kabwe, thanks to a collaboration between StreetSmart, our local Zambian partner Unisport Academy, and the Belgian organisation Steunwielekes4Zambia. From now on, the mobile school will complement the outreach done by Unisport Academy by making learning accessible and fun, right where children live and gather.

In a decisive move to deepen its impact, our Sri Lankan partner Child Action Lanka relocated their mobile school from the tea estates of Nuwara Eliya to the eastern region of Sri Lanka near the city of Batticaloa in August 2024. While the mobile school operated successfully in cities like Kandy and Nuwara Eliya since the start of the project in February 2020, Child Action Lanka recognised a great need for outreach on the east coast, where many vulnerable communities remain underserved.

Next week Monday May 12, StreetSmart will officially start its second mobile school of the year via a new and promising partnership with S.A.L.V.E. International, an inspiring organisation based in Jinja, Uganda.

During our recent West African StreetSmart expedition our StreetSmart Wheels coordinator Sander Degeling made a brief stopover in the Togolese capital, Lomé. The purpose of the visit was to explore a potential new partnership with the Maison d’Accueil des Enfants en Difficulté (MAED) and to briefly connect with our active StreetSmart Wheels partners AGOPODE and Hälsa International.

From February 24 till February 27, 2025, our StreetSmart team conducted a promising exploratory expedition to the Ghanaian capital Accra to explore a potential collaboration with the Street Child Empowerment Foundation (SCEF). The goal? To enhance the impact of SCEF’s outreach efforts to empower street-connected children through the introduction of our mobile school methodology for street-connected children.

In the heart of Mendoza, a long-held dream of many street educators came true: the launch of a Mobile School that delivers education, joy, and hope to places that once seemed out of reach.

Trauma presents complex challenges for youth work today. While anyone can encounter traumatic experiences, the impact on children and adolescents is often profound and long-lasting. As their brains and emotions are still developing, trauma can hinder their ability to build relationships, regulate emotions, and succeed in school.

We’re thrilled and proud to announce that the mobile school has officially arrived in Brazil for the very first time! This milestone was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Forvia Foundation. The new mobile school is being operated locally by our new partner O Pequeno Nazareno (OPN), a well-known organisation based in Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará state in northeastern Brazil. OPN is widely recognized for its dedicated work with children and teenagers living in street situations and experiencing social vulnerability.