The Provincial Secondary School Bilzen (PSSB) in Munsterbilzen has come up with a creative solution for the corona restrictions at the start of the school year. Due to the nice weather, some teachers are giving their lessons outside at a mobile school this week. “With all the corona rules regarding face masks and ventilation, it is a relief to be able to teach outside, and the mobile school is the perfect instrument to maintain the concentration of our students,” says Luc Valkeneers, technical advisor-coordinator of the PSSB.

The entrepreneurs behind the hybrid social enterprise StreetwiZe • Mobile School recently started on a new adventure: StreetSmart. Last year, Google announced the Google.org Impact Challenge on Safety, a €10 million fund to support organizations that are creating practical, real-world solutions when it comes to hate, extremism, and child safety, both online and offline. Google.org decided to partner up and provide StreetSmart with €490.000 and coaching by Google’s IT experts. StreetSmart offers an integrated digital platform designed for outreach and youth workers worldwide to support them in their work with vulnerable children and youngsters. StreetSmart complements the vision of Mobile School and aims to tackle the problem of damaged self-esteem.

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%.

“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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

StreetwiZe • Mobile School will celebrate the International Day for Street Children on April 12th for the seventh consecutive year. After successful chalk petitions, #nostreetkiddings and street sleeps, we are organising a #STREETWORK for the second time to draw the attention to street children worldwide. Our catchphrase is: “Do what you normally do, but come and do it on the streets.”

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.

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.

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.

This year StreetwiZe • Mobile School celebrates the International Day for Street Children on the 12th of April for the eighth consecutive year. After successful chalk petitions, #nostreetkidding, Street Sleep and #Streetwork, this year we will once more put street children all over the world to where they belong: in the spotlights!

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).

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.

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.