“I saw young people going to all ends to reach their goal”
CURANT was an emotional rollercoaster
Young refugees Hussain and Abdiio hosted the event like professionals. These brave youngsters presented for the first time in front of such a big audience. Hussain touched the spectators with his kind words, as he compared CURANT with a substitute mother and father.
Other participants also brougt an emotional testimony, live or in a video.
Buddy Veerle: " I admire my roommate, for the way he rebuilds his life in a new society. For the incredible effort he showed to learn Dutch. For his positivity, his resilience and the kind person that he is, despite all the hard things he experienced".
The Centre for Migration and Intercultural Studies (CeMIS) of the University of Antwerp presented the results. Their research team followed the participants of CURANT between 2017 and 2019. Projectmanager Jolien De Crom looked back at the last three years.
Jolien: "CURANT was an emotional rollercoaster. Many brainstorm meetings, intensive cooperation and a flexible team have put CURANT on the map in Antwerp. I’m so proud of what CURANT meant for many young refugees".
Afterwards there was a panel discussion about the profound cooperation between the partners (JES, Atlas, Vormingplus Antwerpen, CeMIS and Solentra) and the city of Antwerp. The panel members discussed the successes and challenges of the cohousing project. The strength of the networkmodel appeared very important for all partners.
The day ended with a informal talk.
A view on the future
Good news! The city of Antwerp wants to continue CURANT at some locations. The other locations will be used for cohousing project with other vunerable groups, like young mothers.
Curious about the results?
More information:
• Brochure
• Full report from CeMIS
Integration of migrants and refugees
