Verhalen & nieuws

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).

Tomorrow June 16th is the Day of the African Child. This day has been celebrated every year since 1991 when it was first initiated by the Organisation of African Unity. The objective of the day is to raise awareness on the continuing need for improvement of the education provided to African children. The theme of this year's celebration is ‘Leave No Child Behind for Africa’s Development’. The 2018 theme highlights the need to ensure that ‘NO CHILD IS LEFT BEHIND’ by specifically targeting those who are not benefitting from Africa’s growth and development, like street-connected children and youth. In order to highlight this day, we recently did an interview with Sesse Koffi Awunyo, founder of the organization AGOPODE (Agora pour les Populations Défavorisées). Currently, we’re looking into the opportunity to launch a mobile school in Togo. During the exploratory visit, Sesse took the time to sit down and to answer some questions about street-connected children, street work and a potential mobile school in Togo. YOUTUBE TIP: Click on CC (bottom right) in the video to have subtitles in English.

If you would’ve asked me what I know about Leuven three months ago, as a proud inhabitant of the Kempen, I would’ve answered: the university, the beautiful centre and, of course, Louis Tobback, whose appearance and political style always make me think of a Danish dog. StreetwiZe • Mobile School? Wait… Streetwhat?

March 2018, Cochabamba. While our three Bolivian partner organisations are creating their own games together, I’m getting to know my co-trainer better. For me, it’s very inspiring to spend time and give trainings with this multitalented, creative, spontaneous, hilarious, passionate, honest and strong woman. Since she is one of our Mobile School trainers, you all have the pleasure of getting to know her a bit better as well. Meet Toña Pineda!

Every day of the year, the street workers of our partner organisations take out the mobile school to unlock the potential of street-connected youngsters. In the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa, the street workers of Glad’s House hit the streets on a daily basis to build a relationship of trust with the high number of youngsters living and working on the streets. During our last trip to Kenya, we took the time to sit down with one of them. Janet Otieno is a street worker and the coordinator of Glad’s House mobile school project. She is very passionate about her job as a street worker in Kenya.

Our new partner GTW in Gliwice, Poland went out on the streets for the first time this week with the mobile school. In the 1980s, Gliwice was a rich city that reaped the benefits of the active mining industry. Since then it has gone downhill due to the decline of mining in Europe. Unemployment hit Gliwice extremely hard and the population decreased by almost 20%.

Dit jaar viert StreetWize • Mobile School de Internationale Dag voor Straatkinderen op 12 april voor het achtste achtereenvolgende jaar. Na succesvolle krijtpetities, #nostreetkidding, Street Sleep en #Streetwork, zetten we dit jaar opnieuw straatkinderen over de hele wereld naar waar ze thuishoren: in de schijnwerpers!

I’m convinced my music preferences could tell you the same story as this Meet the Trainer article itself. Therefore, to enjoy this article to the fullest, I’d like to suggest listening to this song, it’ll help getting to know me better.

Thursday 26 October 2017 will stand out in the history of Mobile School. After a long period of preparations and some theoretical and practical workshops, the very first mobile school session in India finally arrived. Thanks to partner organisation EkTara, from now on the mobile school will be taken to the streets multiple times per week in the East Indian city of Kolkata.

In 2008, Arnoud Raskin met Junieth Machado. It was the beginning of a close cooperation and friendship. The StreetwiZe Street Skills Model is partly based on Junieth’s inspiring story and she is still involved in Mobile School as a co-facilitator. Interested to learn more? In this interview, you can get to know her a bit better.