Summer holiday? Not for CURANT!
Homemade cosyness at first community event
In July, all of the duo’s, the project team and official partners were invited for the first community event. Everyone cooked their favourite food. We started the evening with a potluck dinner were everyone could taste each others homemade recipes. Afterwards our youngsters participated in a singing session. This session was organised by Fameus, our host for this event. They took the initiative for these sessions so that refugees can practise Dutch in a funny and entertaining way. They even made a CURANT-song for the occasion. There was also a dance performance by Afghan, Syrian, Iraqi and African refugees.
Anneloes Van Osselaer (project team): “We want to organise a community event at least twice a year so that all of our duo’s can get to know each other better. This is an opportunity for people to get to know each other in an informal, relaxed setting. It’s very interesting and heartwarming to see how everyone is very motivated and enthousiastic.”
Atlas and Jes vzw offer CURANT youngsters a view at their future
The CURANT-partners also had their hands full this summer.
During the summer months Atlas organised a course on ‘social orientation’.
In this course youngsters get more information about (student)jobs, studies en leisure activities. Atlas tries to give them a better perspective about their future possibilities by offering company visits, workshops,…
One of the groups visited the Antwerp harbour. A harbor worker explained what kind of jobs the harbour offers and even learned them a few words in the Antwerp dialect. A few of our CURANT youngsters were there.
Another of our official partners, JES vzw organised a summer course for our CURANT refugees. During two weeks the youngsters learned more about jobs, studies, future possibilities and their own talents.
The assignments were not always easy. Sometimes our youngsters had to push their limits.
For example, they had to enter a small bussiness (like a bakery) and interview the merchant about his job. It took a lot of courage!
They also had to make a ‘sticky statement’. They had to summarize in one sentence what kind of studies or job they wanted in the future. Here is one of those ‘sticky statements’:
“I’m Mili, 18 years old. I’ve been in Belgium for 10 months. I like working with my hands, in particular with wood. Later, I want to be a carpenter, because I already have experience in that profession. Right now, I want to study to get my degree as a carpenter.”