At MobileSchool.org, we strongly believe in the importance of children's rights and empowering young people. In honour of International Children's Rights Day on 20 November, we have developed a special lesson pack for third grade primary school teachers.

Six months after the devastating earthquakes that hit south-east Türkiye and northern Syria, millions of children are still in need of psychosocial and educational support. To meet the huge needs in the field, StreetSmart recently joined forces with the Turkish association Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Development (ISSDA) to bring non-formal educational activities and play to a container city in one of the hardest-hit areas in the region.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, over 4.793.832 Ukrainian citizens have transited Romania. Most of the Ukrainian refugees are women, while 34% of the Ukrainian refugees are children. To meet the needs of these children, our StreetSmart partner Save the Children introduced a mobile school in the Romanian capital Bucharest in June 2022 to respond to the needs. In this interview with local coordinator Georgiana Dobre, we explore the challenges and successes of providing education and fostering connection for Ukrainian children and families since the beginning of the conflict.

Habbekrats tested StreetSmart Impact for a year and then resolutely chose to implement the tool across its operations. Dries Boeye, Content Coordinator at Habbekrats, tells us more about the organisation and their experiences with our tool.

[[en]]The StreetSmart Wheels network in Latin America continues to grow! At the end of June, a promising potential partnership was explored in Brazil, the largest country in the region. Our friends at O Pequeno Nazareno are impatient to start using our StreetSmart tools, and we are thrilled to collaborate in providing more opportunities for the many street-connected children and adolescents in Fortaleza. [[fr]]The StreetSmart Wheels network in Latin America continues to grow! At the end of June, a promising potential partnership was explored in Brazil, the largest country in the region. Our friends at O Pequeño Nazareno are impatient to start using our StreetSmart tools, and we are thrilled to collaborate in providing more opportunities for the many street-connected children and adolescents in Fortaleza. [[es]]La red de StreetSmart Wheels de Latinoamérica continúa expandiéndose, y una nueva asociación con el país más grande de la región está en camino. Nuestros amigos de O Pequeno Nazareno han mostrado un gran interés en nuestras herramientas y estamos encantados de colaborar para brindar más oportunidades de desarrollo de talentos a la niñez y adolescencia de Fortaleza. [[nl]]The StreetSmart Wheels network in Latin America continues to grow! At the end of June, a promising potential partnership was explored in Brazil, the largest country in the region. Our friends at O Pequeno Nazareno are impatient to start using our StreetSmart tools, and we are thrilled to collaborate in providing more opportunities for the many street-connected children and adolescents in Fortaleza. [[pt]]The StreetSmart Wheels network in Latin America continues to grow! At the end of June, a promising potential partnership was explored in Brazil, the largest country in the region. Our friends at O Pequeno Nazareno are impatient to start using our StreetSmart tools, and we are thrilled to collaborate in providing more opportunities for the many street-connected children and adolescents in Fortaleza.

In August, StreetSmart will start up a new, special StreetSmart Wheels partnership in southern Türkiye, in collaboration with the social enterprise Mikado Consulting. The collaboration is a response to the massive needs for children and young people after the earthquake that hit the region in February. As a response, Ashoka fellows Serra Titiz of Mikado Consulting and Arnoud Raskin of MobileSchool.org and StreetSmart are joining forces to bring non-formal education, trauma- and stress-relief to one of the most-affected areas in the region.

In the second week of May, our team successfully launched mobile school number 66. Our newest magic box will be rolling around the streets of the Bhambayi community in Inanda, near the city of Durban, and is the first-ever mobile school in South Africa!

Since 2018, StreetSmart partnered with Child Rescue Kenya in Kitale to run an outreach project with the mobile school. However, due to the pandemic and internal organizational changes, both parties decided the mobile school could have more impact elsewhere. Thanks to the well-structured team of the International Fellowship Kenya (INTERFELK) and their colleagues of the Kisumu Street Children Rehabilitation Consortium (KSCRC), a new Wheels partnership was rapidly established to give this Kenyan mobile school a fresh start

Children’s rights are under pressure. The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the intensifying effects of climate change and the disastrous consequences of conflicts have caused a decline in respect for children’s rights in the last decade. To break the downward spiral, MobileSchool.org is taking action. On April 12, International Day for Street Children, the organisation launches the interactive toolkit All Children, All Right(s) and a new social media campaign to present itself as a change agent in the children’s rights debate.

Since 2012, organisations worldwide put the spotlight on the millions of street-connected children around the world and acknowledge their strength and resilience on April 12th, the International Day for Street Children.

After being in contact with the organisation SathSath for over 10 years, the time was finally there to launch their mobile school in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu. After a successful exploration in August, our StreetSmart trainers Adi and Anupriya conducted the implementation trainings for the local team at the end of February. Moreover, the launch of the mobile school comes at a very special time for the organisation as it coincides with the celebration of the 25th anniversary of SathSath! In the article below are five photos from the official launch which took place on March 1 near the famous Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu.

In 2005, the first mobile school on the African continent was implemented in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Since then, the East African nation always remained one of the countries with the most active StreetSmart Wheels partners. To reconnect with our Kenyan partner network, a two-week visit was organised at the end of February to conduct extra trainings with the local street work teams and to explore new potential partnerships.

Without a doubt Colombia is known worldwide for the series of drug lords and drugs, and the studies of the Integrated Illicit Crop Monitoring System of the United Nations Office, show that the production of narcotics is immense, and has been increasing. At the local level, the villagers know the local distribution networks as "las ollas", where addictions, violence and poverty reach boiling point. As a result children face different risks from a very young age, that is why Casa Tejiendo Sueños de Esperanza wants to provide new opportunities for these children through the mobile school.

Mexico City is known worldwide for its countless tourist centers, from Aztec temples to historic murals, it is one of the largest urban areas in the world and the second largest in the Americas. There StreetSmart has a partner, Yolia Niñas de la Calle, which brings informal education to girls in street situations, but the need to give attention to street-connected children is bigger, and that’s why Fundación Pro Niños de la Calle also seeks an opportunity to bring StreetSmart Wheels to the streets. Let's meet this foundation!

On 17 December 2022, Mobile School will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Everyone is welcome to the #DUWMEE, a warm winter stroll full of animation with a party on the playground of the VTI in Leuven as a brilliant finale.

Our network of StreetSmart Wheels partners is constantly expanding! At the end of August, two of our trainers travelled to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu to explore a potential partnership with the local organisation Sath Sath. And despite the fact the organisation has already been in contact with StreetSmart for over 10 years, the prospection week showed there is still a high chance a new partnership could be established in the near future.

The intrepid tour of South America starts with Colombia, a journey that our founder Arnoud Raskin began more than 20 years ago to get to know the streets, reality and experiences of street children and youth in Latin America. Now our StreetSmart Wheels Coordinator Junieth Machado has had the opportunity to experience stories full of freedom, joy and friendship. Let's see how it went in Colombia!

After a long wait, due to Covid 19, mobile school number 62 was implemented successfully in Tbilisi with our new partner Caritas. This mobile school brings joy to kids that live in small villages with more than 3 nationalities, where languages are mixed and living conditions are poor. Below are the first pictures of the new school in action.

In 2018, we launched our first mobile school in the Malawian capital Lilongwe. However, due to a combination of unfortunate circumstances, the school quickly became inactive. Mid-June, a solution was finally found, and our master trainers Bram Van de Putte and Fredrick Mbise travelled to Lilongwe to transfer the Malawian mobile school to our brand new partner Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO).

On April 12, we launched our new article series ‘Street educator in the Spotlight’. This month, we are heading to Mexico, where two extraordinary street educators - Jessika Martínez and Elizabeth Carrasco – spend every day hours and hours of work on the streets of Queretaro. Even after 10 years of street work, they say that there is always something new in the streets. Let's meet these two superstars whom the locals call "the ones with the green cart".

UNHCR reports that, since the start of the war in Ukraine, more than 6 million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries. More than half of all Ukrainian refugees – close to 3 400 000 people – are now staying in Poland, which is why all Polish StreetSmart Wheels partner organizations will start-up or have started up outreach activities with Ukrainian children and youth.

Every organisation around the world working with children in vulnerable situations can contact us to apply for a StreetSmart Wheels partnership. Despite our presence in 31 countries on four continents, the Middle East region remains to this day a blank spot on our global map. But all of this might change quite soon! From May 9 till May 13, we were welcomed by the team of iLearn in the Jordanian capital Amman to explore a new potential partnership in the country.

According to the latest statistics, over 5 million Ukrainians have crossed borders to flee the devastating war in their country, with millions more internally displaced. Most of the refugees are currently hosted in countries like Poland, Romania, Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia. Moreover, over 90 percent of the refugees are women and children.

From March 28 till April 1, our StreetSmart trainer Bram Van de Putte travelled to West-Africa to explore another potential partnership. In Waterloo – the capital of the Western Area Rural District, located about 30 kilometres east of the capital Freetown – the organisation Good Deeds Day Sierra Leone is currently looking into the opportunity to use to mobile school to reach out to vulnerable young people in the region.

Today, April 12 marks the International Day for Street Children (IDSC). On this day, organisations and individuals around the globe join forces to demand respect for the rights of street-connected children. This year, the international day puts the focus on street educators, the brave individuals who work tirelessly with street-connected children. That’s why on this special day, we’re excited to launch our new series ‘Street educator in the spotlight’. And for this special occasion, we’re not putting the focus on one but on three street educators. Starting with: Faith Muyodi, Kevin Shumila and Marklaud Obuya from the Inuka Network in Eldoret, Kenya.

It’s a wrap! During the past two weeks, mobile school number 60 was implemented successfully with our new partner Dwelling Places in Kampala. The first Ugandan mobile school comes at a time where many children are roaming around the streets of the Ugandan capital, due to the consequences of a two-year long school closure to stop the spread of COVID-19. Below are the first pictures of the new school in action.

After nearly two years of school closures due to the pandemic, students in the East African country of Uganda were finally able to return to their classes on January 10. However, authorities have warned that after one of the world’s longest school closures, about 30% of the 15 million students in the country may never return to their classrooms. Amid this very challenging context, our new partner Dwelling Places is impatient to start working with the very first mobile school in Uganda!

Last September, our trainer Bram Van de Putte conducted a successful prospective visit with the Inuka Network in the Kenyan city of Eldoret. Two and a half months, we are extremely excited to launch the mobile school and the educational materials during a two-week implementation training with the new team of street educators.

Slowly but surely, our StreetSmart Wheels trainers are again able to explore new potential partnerships with local street work organisations. Last week, we visited Kigwe Social Economic Development and Training (KISEDET), an organisation based in the Tanzanian capital Dodoma to investigate if we can set up a long-term partnership with them in the near future.

After an inactivity of almost 18 months, we were finally able to send out one of our trainers again to conduct a week-long prospection visit. In the city of Eldoret in Kenya, trainer Bram Van De Putte explored a potential partnership with the recently established Inuka Network.

It is an uncomfortable truth that reared its head again in an article by the newspaper De Standaard in early September. The growing number of unaccompanied minors surviving on the streets of Brussels. The phenomenon in the capital is certainly not new, but it does seem to have taken on increasing proportions in recent years. Despite the fact that we are not directly involved in this, at the request of our supporters we explain how we can also offer these young people both perspective and opportunities.

It was once again an inconvenient truth, the article published last week by Belgian newspaper De Standaard about the growing number of unaccompanied minors living on the streets of Brussels. The phenomenon is not new, but the numbers seem to be on the rise. Despite the fact that we’re not working directly in the field in Brussels, we want to share our vision on how we can offer perspective and opportunities to this group of youngsters.

It's that time again! 1 September, the official start of the new school year. For many students in our country and far beyond, perhaps the most exciting day of the year. Especially after an eventful year like the past one, when the corona pandemic came to disrupt the normal way of working more than once. But unfortunately, the impact of the pandemic continues to this day to have a gigantic impact on education systems worldwide.

After the previous update at the end of April, we recently released a brand-new version of StreetSmart Impact, our data registration and case management app for youth workers. With major improvements on the reporting and the ‘I Am StreetSmart’ app for youngsters, the app is now even more convenient to track your impact.

High-quality youth work demands high-quality materials! That’s why we decided in 2019 to launch StreetSmart Play, an online content platform where youth workers can consult and share their best educational games with their colleagues worldwide.

We’ve been waiting for it for so long, but now the time has finally come! Thanks to the rapid rollout of COVID vaccines, there is hope for a sunny summer full of social activities. High temperatures, more social contact and the prospect of bigger events give everyone a much-needed mental boost. Our MobileSchool.org team is also enjoying that boost and is carefully coming together again after months of working from home. The perfect moment for us as a team to set new goals and to look forward to the coming months.

More than a year into the pandemic, the street workers of our local partners are still doing their utmost to stay in close contact with their target groups. After a successful virtual exchange last year, the StreetSmart team organised a second global online exchange to allow partners to exchange tips and tricks on how to conduct street interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020 got off to a promising start. StreetSmart planned to start up 5 new ‘Wheels projects’ (mobile schools) in Georgia, Poland, Turkey, Uganda and Sri Lanka. Logistics and training were planned, our partners stood ready to hit the streets and reach out to the street connected children and youth. The first new project began early 2020 in Sri Lanka.

Yes, let’s! Because talking about sexuality with children and young people is crucial. Young people who receive a qualitative sexual education make more conscious decisions, are less at risk of STDs and sexually transgressive behaviour and are happier in their relationships. So, there’s more than enough reasons to talk about sex!

Last year, 1.5 billion young people worldwide stayed at home to stop the spread of COVID-19. Estimations state that 9.7 million of these children will never be able to go back to school after the pandemic. Many of these kids will end up spending a lot of their time on the streets to contribute to the family income and to find ways to survive… The COVID-19 pandemic has once again painfully highlighted how street-connected children are too often excluded. That’s why it’s more important than ever to put the International Day for Street Children in the spotlight, in order to ensure street-connected children get more included both during and after the pandemic.

After more than 15 years of supporting local street work partners with mobile school carts and educational materials, StreetSmart now launches a couple of brand-new digital products. However, the mission statement of our organisation remains unchanged: empowering youth workers worldwide to conduct their daily work in a creative and efficient way. Since December last year, our application StreetSmart Impact is available to give youth workers more detailed insight in the results and impact of their work.

In order to meet the rapidly growing demand for qualitative educational materials, our StreetSmart team has created different activities to discuss the current COVID-19 pandemic. The educational package combines brand new with already existing activities and aims to give youth workers the tools to discuss the consequences of the pandemic with their target group.

We are launching an educational board game that allows Belgian families to reflect and vent with their children about the impact of the corona crisis. The board game called 'Coronials' aims to encourage families in a playful and approachable way to discuss the difficult situations we are experiencing today.

In the ‘Project in the Spotlight’ article series, we take the time to highlight the work of our partner organisations, since they are the local experts taking the mobile school to the streets. This time, we’re heading to Sucre, Bolivia. There, our local partner IPTK has been conducting outreach sessions in 6 different districts for more than 15 years. Below, you can find 7 things you have always wanted to know about our long-term Bolivian street work partner.

1.5 billion children could not attend school due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. 9.7 million of these children are also unlikely to ever return to school. Many of them are the street children our Mobile School partners work with every day.

It’s official: as of this month, we have 5 Polish StreetSmart Wheels partners, bringing the total to 58! The fifth Polish mobile school project was just implemented in Racibórz with brand new partner Pomocna Dłoń.

In the ‘Project in the Spotlight’ article series, we take the time to highlight the work of our partner organisations, since they are the local experts taking the mobile school to the streets. This time, we’re heading to Manila, capital city of the Philippines. There, our local partner Virlanie Foundation is conducting sessions with the oldest mobile school on the Asian continent. Below, you can find 6 things you have always wanted to know about our long-term Filipino street work partner.

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.

In March, the gates of schools worldwide closed. 1.5 billion young people stayed at home to stop the spread of Covid-19. In recent weeks however, teachers and management have been working very hard and have made every effort to reopen the schools in a safe way on September 1st. Finally, children and young people in Belgium can go back to school full-time, to learn and be together with friends.

In the ‘Project in the Spotlight’ article series, we take the time to highlight the work of one of our incredible partner organisations, since they are the local experts taking the mobile school to the streets. In this article, we present our oldest European Mobile School partner: Salvati Copiii Iasi. Below, you can find 7 things you have always wanted to know about our Romanian partner.

We bundled a number of achievements from Mobile School, StreetSmart and StreetwiZe of 2019 in a photo report. We couldn't have done all of this without you. So a big thank you for your support and confidence. In addition, we wish you a very nice summer!

At Mobile School, we call our educational blackboard on wheels the hardware. The educational panels you can attach to it, is referred to as our software. Since last year, most of these non-formal educational games are available for free on our StreetSmart Play platform to broaden the impact of the materials. Together with our group of educational volunteers, Mobile School aims to constantly improve and revise our educational offer. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic showed to be the perfect timing to rework part of our panels dealing with health.

After organising a first successful online Mobile School Exchange with partners from Europe, Asia and Africa, we organised a second international exchange, with our partners from Latin America and Spain.

Each year, June 16 is celebrated as the Day of the African Child (DAC). Since 1991, the DAC has been celebrated to commemorate the students killed during the Soweto Uprising in South Africa, and to recognize the courage of these students who marched for their right to an education. In order to celebrate this special day – in very special circumstances - Mobile School organised an online exchange for African organisations working with street-connected youth across the continent.

In the ‘Project in the Spotlight’ article series, we take the time to highlight the work of one of our incredible partner organisations, since they are the local experts taking the mobile school to the streets. This time, we’re heading to East-Africa for a trip to the Kenyan capital Nairobi. There, the well-experienced team of Kenya Good Neighbors is using the mobile school to reach out to street-connected youth in one of Nairobi’s larger slum areas. Below, you can find 7 things you have always wanted to know about this Kenyan partner.

Worldwide, street educators are on the frontline of the battle against COVID-19. Our Mobile School partners are tirelessly giving everything they have to ensure street-connected youngsters have access to basic needs and essential services. In order to support them, Mobile School organised an online global exchange to bring partners from different countries together to share challenges and best practices with colleagues on other continents.

From the Philippines to Peru, from Poland to Kenya … As the global coronavirus pandemic spreads rapidly across the world, countries are desperately trying to flatten the curve to prevent national health systems from collapsing. While the global economy is disrupted and protective measures like social distancing and staying at home are the new standard, the crisis hits extremely hard on the most vulnerable: children and young people living in street situations.

On 12 April this year we will not only celebrate Easter, but also the International Day for Street Children. This is the 10th year that we have celebrated street children worldwide on this date. This time it is a very special edition.

In this new Mobile School article series, we introduce our amazing local partner organisations, who organise mobile school sessions multiple times per week to boost the self-esteem of street-connected youngsters. Today, we’re presenting one of our Nicaraguan partner organisations: Asociación Niñas y Niños del Fortín. Here are 8 things you really need to know about this partner:

In 2006, Mobile School set up its first Asian partnership in the Philippines with local organisation Virlanie Foundation. Almost 14 years later, this mobile school is still hitting the streets of Manila four times a week with the Mobile Unit team, with one major objective: boosting the self-esteem and discovering the talents of underpriviliged children in the capital of the Philippines.

In early February, a team of Mobile School trainers travelled to Sri Lanka to start up the first new mobile school of 2020. From now on, our partner Child Action Lanka will use the mobile school to reach out to vulnerable youngsters in communities in and around Kandy and Kelaniya. And guess what … the first street sessions immediately showed the potential of our box on wheels in the island nation.

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.

In the ‘Partner in the Spotlight’ article series, we take the time to highlight the work of our partner organisations, since they are the local experts taking the mobile school to the streets. This time, we’re heading to India. The only mobile school in the country is in the very capable hands of the organisation Ek Tara. Below, you can find 8 things you have always wanted to know about our Indian street work partner.

A new year brings new mobile schools and new partner organisations! We are extremely excited to announce that a brand new mobile school will be launched in Sri Lanka two weeks from now. The ideal moment to learn a bit more about our new partner Child Action Lanka and the context of street-connected children in Sri Lanka.

In the summer of 2018, Mobile School launched the very first mobile school on the streets of the Malawian capital Lilongwe. Due to some organisational challenges, there is still a lot of growth potential for the social impact of this mobile school. Therefore, Mobile School organized a 10-day visit to Malawi to enlarge the network and to look for new partnership opportunities.

Thank you, People of Tomorrow! We feel privileged being a partner of the Tomorrowland Foundation. With your support, they help us to start up new mobile schools and reach more street children.

While the launch of every new mobile school is always a big celebration, some implementations are true milestones in the history of our organisation. In early November 2019, a team of Mobile School trainers started not only the very first mobile school in a French speaking country, but also the very first Mobile School in West-Africa in the Togolese capital Lomé.

In this new Mobile School article series, we would like to introduce our amazing local partner organisations that take out the mobile school multiple times per week to boost the self-esteem of street-connected youngsters. Today, we’re presenting our partner Ladies Union of Drama. Here are 9 things you really need to know about this Greek street work partner.

With recently implemented mobile schools in Togo, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi, the African Mobile School network is growing rapidly, and this regional expansion might just continue in the near future. In early October, Master Trainer Sander Degeling visited two very interesting organisations that are motivated to bring the Mobile School methodology to the streets of the Pearl of Africa for the first time. Welcome to Uganda!

The mobile school is often described as a magic box and the street educators as magicians, who make the magic happen on a daily basis. During a one-week prospective visit in the city of Mardin in south-eastern Turkey, Mobile School was able to meet a lot of potential new magicians. The organisation Her Yerde Sanat Derneği (Art Everywhere Association) offers social circus and musical programmes to vulnerable children in a region where it’s difficult to be a child.

He started up his first street work programme in 2010. Three years later, he became the driving force behind the mobile school project in Bytom and in 2015, he joined Mobile School’s pool of trainers. Since then, he has co-facilitated and given numerous trainings in Poland and even one in Lithuania. Meet Master Trainer Robert Cieślar!

“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).

Heartbroken we have to bring you this unreal news. Yesterday July 19th our friend, colleague and volunteer coordinator Saskia Dieleman suddenly passed away.

Big news! We’re absolutely thrilled to announce the Tomorrowland Foundation has decided to collaborate with Mobile School in 2019. The foundation linked to one of world’s largest and most notable music festival supports projects boosting the self-esteem of children through creative expression.

2018 was a busy year! In this annual report, we are happy to highlight some of our realisations. Our business venture StreetwiZe sold services to 122 clients and made them all StreetwiZe companies. Our social venture Mobile School realised 24 field visits in 12 countries with over 100 training days and 38 days of street coaching impacting 190 street educators. Our volunteers were active, as usual, organising two big campaigns this year: the International Day for Street Children and #DuwMee. Finally, 2018 was also the year of the start-up of our Tech4Good venture, StreetSmart. Want to know more? Check out a selection of our projects in 2018 and see what we’ve been up to last year!

Several Mobile School partners across the globe are using their mobile schools to reach out to children and youngsters on the move. The partner organisation working with this target group closest to Belgium is Jugendamt Stadt Düsseldorf. We interviewed Martin Schlupkothen, the coordinator of the local mobile school project.

The past few weeks, Sri Lanka was all over the international news. The horrible terror attacks that struck the island nation on Easter Sunday left the entire world shocked and speechless. Despite schools being shut in the aftermath of the attack, Mobile School decided in close collaboration with our potential partner Child Action Lanka (CAL) to stick to our plan and to conduct a one-week exploration with the organization in Kelaniya, a suburb of the capital Colombo.

Every year we place four to five new mobile schools with local partners. Those mobile schools are produced by teachers and students of the Provincial Secondary School in Bilzen (PSSB). Sustainable materials are used to ensure the longest possible life and to survive the challenging situations on the street. Limeparts - Drooghmans has been sponsoring Mobile School for several years now by supplying the aluminum that is used to build the mobile schools. They also handle the processing of certain parts such as the chalk boards.

In this new Mobile School article series, we would like to briefly present our amazing local partner organisations that take out the mobile school multiple times per week to boost the self-esteem of street-connected youngsters. To start off this new series, we would like to introduce you to our partner... Yenege Tesfa.

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.

The shoulders can’t always be tense, it’s necessary to let off steam now and again, take your foot off the pedal and that is why we have a great plan!

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.

From 25 February till 8 March, a team of Mobile School trainers would normally have been in Haiti for the implementation of a brand new mobile school. The 53rd mobile school arrived in the capital Port-au-Prince a few weeks ago, and the team members of Association Sportive de Truitier (AST)- supported by the Belgian organisation Benefiet Haïti- were eager to finally start up the work with their mobile school on the streets of Carrefour, one of the larger districts in the Haitian capital.

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%.

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!

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.

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.

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.

13 years ago, Bram Van de Putte knocked on the door of the Mobile School office for the very first time, looking for more outreach experience. He’s been actively involved in the organisation ever since, first as a volunteer and later as a Master Trainer. He already gave trainings in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Bangladesh and Poland and he just got back from Greece. Time for an interview!

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.

Sunday 26th of February, 7AM, Addis Ababa’s Bole Airport. The start of a three week Mobile School visit to Ethiopia, including a follow-up and an exchange with our three active Mobile School partners. For the occasion, Debebe Sugebo – social worker for Retrak, one of our Ethiopian partner organisations - will join us to co-facilitate the trainings in order to share his extensive experience of working with street-connected children in the southern part of the country.