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).

On the 20th of November of 1989, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children’s rights are key at Mobile School as well. On the streets, we are constantly confronted with situations in which the rights of the child are violated. The right to education, for example, is not accessible for everyone. That’s why we go to places all over the world where children have little or no access to education and open our school on wheels there.

September 1st: an exciting day for many parents and children. Off they go, back to school with their satchels and lunchboxes. For millions of children, however, September 1st is just a reminder of them not having access to a fundamental right: the right to education.

“Street children are one of the world's most invisible populations. They are overlooked by governments, law and policymakers and many others in society. The Legal Atlas puts information about laws affecting street children directly into the hands of street children and their advocates. By gaining access to legal information, street children and homeless youth are put on the map so that every child can be treated fairly and with respect.” (Consortium for Street Children, 2019).

Almost 34,000 people are forced to leave their homes on a daily basis, due to prosecution and conflicts. The total number of displaced people has reached 65.3 million (UNHCR,2016). Currently, more than 60,000 people are stuck in Greece, waiting on a new destination. Although an agreement was signed within the European Union to provide shelter for refugees coming from Greece, in practice nothing is happening. People have to week weeks if not months in dilapidated factories, in tents, old hotels, airports, military buildings,... and it does not look like this will improve any time soon. After months of waiting, people get discouraged and try to illegaly cross the border.

De Provinciale Middelbare School Bilzen (PSSB) in Munsterbilzen heeft aan het begin van het schooljaar een creatieve oplossing bedacht voor de coronabeperkingen. Vanwege het mooie weer geven sommige leraren deze week hun lessen buiten op een mobiele school. „Met alle coronaregels met betrekking tot mondmaskers en ventilatie is het een verademing om buiten les te kunnen geven, en de mobiele school is het perfecte instrument om de concentratie van onze leerlingen op peil te houden”, zegt Luc Valkeneers, technisch adviseur-coördinator van de PSSB.

Earlier this month, two of our Mobile School trainers went to Poland. They visited our three partner organisations there to give several refresher trainings and to organise an exchange.

The number of forcibly displaced people is rising (around 63 million in 2015 according to UNHCR). Climate change and ongoing conflicts force people to leave their homes. Consequently, there is an increasing pressure on facilities in neighbouring countries. Many people continue their journey and head to Europe, crossing the sea on a dangerous trip. Since the beginning of 2014, more than 1.6 million people arrived by sea on the European continent (UNHCR, 2017). Unfortunately, at least 13,700 people never arrived: they were declared dead or went missing. Even after arrival, their situation remains uncertain. Over 10,000 children have disappeared off the radar, because they moved on to unknown destinations or became victims of exploitation and trafficking.Turkey and Lebanon alone host more than 4 million refugees in temporary camps. In contrast, Europe only receives 6% of the total amount of displaced people worldwide.

Since 2009 Rob Sweldens (34) is part of the StreetwiZe • Mobile School team. Since then, Rob implemented 13 mobile schools while being responsible for the coordination and follow-up of the international partnerships. Since 2014 he holds the position of manager for Mobile School. Time to give the word to Rob to talk about his motivation, his street work experience and the future of Mobile School.

The Mobile School facilitators have just set foot in Greece. For one month, we will visit several (possible) partner organisations there to give training to the local teams of street workers and to accompany them on the streets.

Millions of people are on the move worldwide, because of war, terrorist attacks or changing climates. The refugee crisis is all over the news every day and people are looking for answers.

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!

StreetwiZe • Mobile School viert op 12 april voor het zevende achtereenvolgende jaar de Internationale Dag voor Straatkinderen. Na succesvolle krijtpetities, #nostreetkiddings en street sleeps, organiseren we voor de tweede keer een #STREETWORK om de aandacht te vestigen op straatkinderen wereldwijd. Onze slogan is: „Doe wat je normaal doet, maar kom het op straat doen.”

De ondernemers achter de hybride sociale onderneming StreetWize • Mobile School zijn onlangs begonnen aan een nieuw avontuur: StreetSmart. Vorig jaar kondigde Google de Google.org Impact Challenge on Safety aan, een fonds van €10 miljoen ter ondersteuning van organisaties die praktische, praktijkgerichte oplossingen creëren op het gebied van haat, extremisme en kinderveiligheid, zowel online als offline. Google.org besloot om samen te werken en StreetSmart te voorzien van €490.000 en coaching door de IT-experts van Google. StreetSmart biedt een geïntegreerd digitaal platform dat is ontworpen voor hulpverleners en jeugdwerkers over de hele wereld om hen te ondersteunen bij hun werk met kwetsbare kinderen en jongeren. StreetSmart is een aanvulling op de visie van Mobile School en heeft tot doel het probleem van een beschadigd gevoel van eigenwaarde aan te pakken.

Mobile School has been awarded the European Citizen’s Prize 2016 by the European Parliament. The European Parliament honoured 50 people and organisations for their contribution to European cooperation and the promotion of common values. Mobile School, nominated by Ivo Belet (member of the European Parliament), is the only Belgian laureate this year. Thursday (September 8th) Ivo Belet (EVP – CD&V) presents the Prize to the Mobile School team in the buildings of their partner and sponsor DHL Global Forwarding, in attendance of Luc Jacobs (CEO DHL Global Forwarding) and Arnoud Raskin. DHL Global Forwarding hosts the event to celebrate their 40th shipment of mobile schools.

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.

For centuries, Greece counted as the centre of the Old World, bringing culture and language to different parts all around Europe, Africa and Asia. Due to its central position between the East and the West and the North and the South, Greece has had many advantages and opportunities but has also been facing many challenges. During the last 8 years Mobile School has been involved in many of these opportunities and challenges.

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%.

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.