The team of teachers consists of professionals whose expertise is recognized in the areas of conception, coordination and evaluation of streetwork projects :
- Edwin de Boevé (director of Dynamo International, Brussels)
- Christian Lassaux (director CIAJ AMO, Seraing)
- Alain Thonon (teacher– former head of projects, Saint-Nicolas)
- Philippon Toussaint (director Dynamo AMO, Bruxelles)
- Pedro Vega (Youth Aid Councilor , Liège)
- Michèle Vilain (coordinator of the association ICAR, Liège)
- Eric Zanardi (teacher – former director of an « AMO », Liège)

Where :
Ecole de promotion sociale FPS, rue Darchis 20 - 4000 LIEGE (Downtown)

When :
On Thursday from 9am to 5pm, from September 9th to June 30th, 2011 and two residential weekends
Information session on September 2, 2010 from 10am to 1pm

Information : 04/222.19.95 l www.ecolesfps.be

We believe many participating educators take time to think and build theories based on practice. Proposals and ideas are usually based on relationships with people, on experimentation and absence of prejudices. There is thus no particular dogma to defend, just to improve the practices. We can list some topics that were mentioned during those days: the challenge which the crisis supposes, the need to implement and expand the forms of non-formal education, to realize a social education based on the rights of the person and not on her/his problems or symptoms. Talking about education, is talking about politics with a capital P and that is what it is about: talking about inequality, poverty and wealth, not feeling guilty for someone going through a difficult situation while having a systematic reading. We talked about the practices that we should try to have with people, trying to help them on the basis of the relationship and respect, not discrimination or morals. We also note that the rights of children and young people are not insured, it is worth investing in them, that the crisis cannot be a pretext, we must be self-critical, we must learn how to present what we do in the shade, and organize ourselves in pervasive networks that have become if not interesting, something vital.

What ideas or conclusions can you get out of what was said at the "Civican" ?

- We must promote happiness and speak more about the rights rather than risks, problems or symptoms.
- The non-formal education, the street education with vulnerable people (at risk of exclusion,...), is partly an invisible work . But we must learn to tell it by respecting the confidentiality of their stories while explaining and highlighting these processes.
- The crisis will last long for some people. We need to demonstrate the "profitability" of the prevention programs, and actions that promote and protect children. And in addition to the productivity of the persons involved, the non-formal education must be on the agenda as it is for school.
-The difference between countries and between socio-economic contexts is significant. These are not the same things to come into play and injustices are not equals. But we clearly acknowledge that the challenges are identical, that we can all learn from each other, that the social and educational processes are changing, that they come and go, and that globalization makes us much more permeable and vulnerable. We also point out the difficult situation of some colleagues who receive threats and are being hampered in the development of their profession.

Why was it important ?

It was important for the abundance of voices and experiences, for the availability of the participants, for the desire to interconnect and to act together, by the variety of countries, by crossing professional stories, because in a complex context (restrictions and more people at risk of exclusion because of the crisis) it became urgent to get together, think together and try, through sharing with each other to improve the work we've been doing.

What did the foreign participants bring to this seminar and the work developed by the local professionals ?

As we said, in the context of globalization which is ours, the processes are similar everywhere. The social patterns, the trends of psychiatrization of childhood, the estimation of excluded populations, the treatment of symptoms and not so much the rights… Without a doubt, I think the foreign educators make their contribution by sharing their different professional stories, other ways of thinking, other eyes, new solutions, terrible situations with enormous possibilities and often the same things said in other languages: and this translation provides us with new information. The network has provided us with air, oxygen, optimism, and a place : the world...

The percentage of children sent to school is around 40% among child laborers while it is 62% for children who are not economically active. The gap tends to widen when we consider children from 15 to 17 : 23% against 58%, then more than 35 % of difference.

The level of education is higher among the children who do not work than among those who are economically active. The indicator school life expectancy is higher for a child who does not work. The latter can expect to spend twice as much time in the education system in relation to a child economically active.

These results highlight the rigidity of the Malian education system that does not promote the social reintegration of vulnerable children such as child workers, and underline the urgent necessity to address the educational needs of these children by providing access to "second chance" learning opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills for professional life. The early work for children increases their exposure to risks of disease and injury.

Activities of the DOUNIA Association – Aid for childhood

Created June 15th, 1993, the DOUNIA Association - Help for children introduced many programs in favor of the children in difficult situation. The association organizes the return of children to their family (with parents), both inside and outside Bamako; introduces children to learning Ngoni (kora) ; organizes literacy classes, taught to young girls not attending school. They also receive training in dyeing. To date, 40 girls are enrolled in this center. The young people are supervised and do sport.

Also, Mr. Issiaka Haidara emphasizes the positive participation of some host families helping to supervise children in difficulty. But Mr. Haidara cares about the unfortunate fate of these many young girls in difficult situations and in the grip of all the risks of serious crime (delinquency).

Efforts should be intensified to meet the educational needs of all children and all young people by ensuring access to "second chance" learning opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills for professional life.

It is where, back in Belgium, we meet him, rue de Parme, in Saint-Gilles. On the sidewalk, we pass several of his colleagues, including Kandida, from Rwanda, who's just come back from Neder-over-Hembeek, where one can find a MENA reception center. With Brahim, Karin and soon Zaccharia, she is the legal guardian of about twenty-five uprooted young people often lost in a small but
complicated country.

No vacation for the MENA's and their tutors
Administrative papers, legal procedure, social security, searching for housing, studies and formations… the needs are numerous.
- On the eve of the summer holidays, we ask ourselves : can these young children take a break during the summer ?
- “As long as they are not regularized, they cannot leave the Belgian territory. It is difficult for them, explains Brahim with his singing accent. Some centers organize summer camps. It is also a period where some MENA disappear and others reappear. This gives us more work.”
- Being a tutor is not an easy task : “some of them are in complicated situations. They often have projects different from what we propose. For example, some did not go to school in their country of origin, they learned to get by in life on their own. They come to Belgium to improve their living conditions and earn money. They are looking for a job and we propose them to go back to school, which they do not always understand. Others left their families and had hard experiences in the street, so they have some difficulties to live in a center with strict rules. There is no standard solution. We work individually with each child. Sometimes it works, sometimes they take a chance in another country, but fortunately this is not the majority."
- And why this trip to Strasbourg and Geneva ?
- “I've been mindful of the situation of MENA for three years and I wanted to find out how international institutions can improve their situation, but also how to call them out to situations in which we are often powerless as social worker.”

Belgian of Moroccan origin
To accompany these young people, Brahim is not short of assets, and in particular hi s family's history is also the story of an exodus by his grandparents. In 1966, his father was 16 and arrived with the grandfather in Belgium as part of a Work Program. They exercised various trades : manufacture of tar, asphalting roads, ferraillerie, construction of the subway of Brussels, to end up in a framework factory in… Vilvorde! Brahim's mother, then a teenager, landed also in Brussels with her family.
- “My paternal and maternal grandparents belonged to the so-called Glaha, Brahim tells, Berbers originating from northern Morocco, villages on the outskirts of border cities of Nador and Oujda. Traditionally, they used to go to work in Algeria as seasonal workers, six months a year. This is why my parents were born in Algeria under French colonization and grew up in Oran.” And since the 1960s, all Family history takes place in Brussels where his parents got married. I am a real inhabitant of Brussels, I'm always disorientated when I leave my City to go to the heartlands of Belgium ! "I was born November 4, 1979, at the Hospital St.Pierre, two steps from here. I have always lived, and grew up in Anderlecht, where most of my paternal family lives. Whereas the maternal side is situated in Schaerbeek.” Primary education at the catholic school of Sainte-Marie, secondaries at the Institute «les soeurs de Notre-Dame», Sociology at St.Louis University and then Brussels University (ULB), during which he worked as a street educator, his education was without pitfalls. “Since primary school, I was supported and encouraged by teachers, which has had a positive influence about how I perceived myself. I was recognized by them and by my family. Not everyone has that luck. Distinctions are quickly made. Some are led to no-win situations." 
- Curious, this passage in catholic school for a practicing Muslim?
- “He goes against all the stereotypes that we spread on immigration and religions. In primary school, I attended the Islamic religious courses. Our little Christian fellows talked to us about a « good news » we could not know. This intrigued me throughout my childhood, I wanted to know! He said, laughing. In high school, there was only a Catholic religious course and I read the Bible. That is part of my general knowledge."
- To a point of converting ?
- “No, he laughs, it has never been a question. But I'm so sorry to see some turning in on themselves, while our country is such a mix at cultural, religious, traditional level. For me, this mix is natural." Besides, he remembers having a happy childhood with his two elder sisters, his little brother and neighborhood friends or classmates of all nationalities : Greek, Spanish, Congolese, Tunisian… "a real melting pot of color pencils."
- Were things always so good ?
- "Oh, I experienced racism. In Antwerp I was even called a nasty dirty Arab and insulted because I spoke French. They did not accept the Little « Bruxellois » of Moroccan origin, speaking French. I try in any case to depersonalize racism. I remember every time that the Italian, Greek, Polish people were not better treated on their arrival. Racism scares me, because anything can quickly switch. I think about the last war which took a heavy toll of the Jewish community. There must be spaces of dialogue and meetings, not to make people come to an agreement, but to learn to get to know and respect each other."

Super Daddy on board
Behind his desk, he posted the story numbers, nod to Arab culture. Prominently, the photo of his children, Anissa and Ilyas, twins (5 years old), and Ismael, 3, in the middle of a large red triangle with writing in a childish way : “Super Daddy on board“. Aswel as a photo of him and his wife, Belgian of Moroccan origin. They got married when she was still a student and she's now a social worker in the housing sector. In the photo, she wears the Islamic headscarf : “for me this has never been a criterion of purity, piety or respect. I f I had listened at the time, my wife could have been black or Jewish, and perhaps both. I used to annoy my mother with that. My wife was already veiled when I met her, but it was not a criterion for me. My mother wears the Islamic headscarf, my sisters don't. For them it is an individual choice.” But he recognizes that certain families can impose the veil, which is nonsense because there is nothing more personal.
- And for him, what place occupies religion?
- “It is a cornerstone in my life, very intimate and personal. My parents passed onto me the values of Islam, but there is nothing contradictory with Human Rights or the Belgian Constitution. These are general principles of life : do not steal, do not kill, respect others, etc.. I try to share with others, even if I have to be called into question. I also found them among some Western thinkers Christians, Buddhists, atheists. At the university, I found a wide space of freedom.” One imagines that he also wants to pass on these values to his children, in a fast moving world. “I'd particularly like to transmit them an ability of discernment against the stream of information we receive, especially via the Internet. As parents, we must be vigilant. I also want to take them to Africa to show them that everyone does not live like us, to introduce them to their roots, in Morocco, but also Algeria, where my grandfather is buried.” Talking about travel, a great photo of a camel caravan in the desert is pinned behind him. “It is a rough way of living, but with such freedom, such an opening on the vastness of the world, that we would like to live."

Arriving at the station of Figeac, the young French people are there to welcome us and help to carry our numerous luggage. Despite of that, timidity remains : everybody says hello, introduces him/herself and watches each other attentively.

Just arrived at the campsite, in an instant something happened. It is around the barbecue that I find the young people, laughing as if they had always known each other. From a French joke on Belgians and vice versa, these youngs get to know each other and the atmosphere settles down.

The first three days will be dedicated to the discovery of each other through their region. Through various activities, people mix with each other, a dynamic is created, solidarity settles down. They are also proposed to do Slam, a different mean to express what they feel. A difficult moment for some of them because it is not always easy to say aloud what they think for themselves. The slam will remain for many of them a unique and magical experience where you play with words and make them rhyme in rhythm.

No time to rest that the festival has already begun. Briefing on the various posts we are going to occupy and the various concerts which will rhythm this festival. The young people separate, parking lot for some, barriers for the others or even back line or cooking, each one chooses the experience he/she wants to live during this voluntary work at Africajarc.

The meals are the times when we meet, where we exchange on what we have already experienced. Some will even go and speak on the radio of the festival. From early morning to late at night sometimes, everyone will live their own way the strong moments of this festival.

Arrives the day of the departure… where we swear it will only be a goodbye, that in October, this will be our turn to welcome you in Brussels for the next step of this exchange and, this time, it will be in the frame of the Second International Forum of Social Streetworkers.

On the station platform, they will wave running alongside the train. Moment of silence, everybody stays quiet and the train echoes. Everyone is lost in thought, remembering what they've experienced. More than a European exchange, a unique experience of life. In the train, the young people fall asleep...

- “La escuela va dejando chavales fuera porque es reflejo de una sociedad deshumanizada”

- "Infancia, juventud y exclusión social"

- "Más de 120 trabajadores sociales de 18 países, en Pamplona"

Radio reports (in spanish)

- RNE – (15 de junio de 2010. Informativo regional de Navarra - 14:00 horas- de RNE)

- SER – (15 de junio de 2010. Programa “Hoy por Hoy Pamplona”)

- R5-RNE – (semana del 14 al 19 de junio. R5 de RNE)

- 98.3 RUN - (18 de junio de 2010. Informativo de las 14:00 horas)

My name is Marta Jimenez, I'm 27 and I come from La Rioja in Spain. There, I studied business and administration. After my studies, I was animator in a cyber library where I taught elderly people and children computer sciences during the holidays.

Why did you choose to come to Belgium ?

By chance! At first I was looking for projects in English-speaking countries. I did not particularly wanted to learn French, but when I saw the Dynamo project, it went pretty well straight away and now I like this language! I wanted to take part in an EVS because I wanted to change my life and do something for myself.

What are the activities you took part in during the European Voluntary Service ?

I did social street work and thus many different things. For example, neighborhood tours. At the beginning, I was surprised, I did not known such work in Spain. I only knew the job of social worker in offices. But I understood the importance to go out and meet young people in the street. I also played an active leader role in the Merlo district. My job was to organize activities and workshops so that neighbors can meet each other. We made a lot of workshops (knitting, computers, cooking, etc…) with the elderly, but also other creative workshops with children. I also worked with students coming from a special education school.

What did you prefer to do ?

Everything ! I don't like doing always the same thing. With these different activities, I really felt useful. I had to work with a various public, and had to adapt to them and work differently with each of them.

Was there a link between your studies and this Dynamo project ?

No. But I used to do workshops with disabled people. When you begin your studies, you do not always know what you want to do. Today I still do not know what I really want to do, but I know I would like to work in the social sector and with children. Even if I did not graduate in this field, Dynamo brought me many experiences that I can use.

What are your plans now ?

I want to stay in Belgium, improve my French, looking for a job, and also travelling !

What did your learn during your stay in Belgium ?

I learned to live by myself! I come from a small town and I arrived here in Brussels. I didn't speak French, I didn't know anybody and when I arrived, I had to live all alone in a house for 3 months because I was the only volunteer! But it wasn't hard and I learned to cope very fast.

Is there a strong moment that you remember?

Nothing in particular, everything in general. I spent 10 months completely different with a large variety of things and activities. I have no regrets

What would you advice to young people willing to leave ?

Don't be afraid, take the plunge, fear is necessary to move forward and go further.

How did you imagine Belgians before, and how do you see them now?

Everybody told me that they were very cold and that Brussels was boring with all those European commissioners everywhere ! But this is not true at all. There are many things to do every day, it's a multicultural city and I love it ! And people are not cold at all.

Did the project meet your expectations ?

Completely. I didn't know what I was going to find, but I knew I was going to love it.

It has become common to say that the promulgation on January 10th 2009 of the law on child protection in DRC by the President of the Republic and Head of the State marks a breaking off with the situation of nonright in which the children used to live in the ex Belgian Congo. Rupture because today, the abuse of a child in this country exposes its authors to prosecution accompanied, if it is necessary, by penal sanctions. Rupture also because the Democratic Republic of Congo is not anymore this part of the world where the recruitment of children to go to war, rapes of young girls, assault and battery as well as denunciations of witchcraft of children enjoys structural impunity. All the decriers, the transgressors and the offenders of children rights know they are now vulnerable from the administrative and penal term; which is a great victory for all the personalities, associations and organizations which have mobilized so that the force of law prevails over the law of force regarding children.

A GROWING CONCERN

However, the same way that a wide opinion greeted, in the country and abroad, this great asset of law (legal asset) regarding the rights of children in DRC, this same opinion notes with concern that almost nothing, more than one year after the promulgation of the above law, has been undertaken at the Congolese public authorities level in order to make the change perceptible and effective in the every day practice. Indeed, more than twelve months have passed by since the DRC has adopted this law. We have to admit that the public authorities concerned by the implementation of this important national legal instrument, the Ministries in charge on top, have hardly made it their preoccupation and priority. It is thus the statuquo which prevails in the field, with as consequence that the situation of the child remains precarious in this country where the legal culture of protection towards them is slowly taking roots.

THE CATSR RISES UP AGAINST THE STATUQUO OF THE SITUATION OF THE CONGOLESE CHILDREN

Being one of the main protagonists of the campaign in favor of the promulgation of the law on child protection in DRC, The Social Street Work Support Committee ( CATSR) did not cross the arms in front of the characteristic immobility of the Government to face the constitutional obligation to enforce this law. With their characteristic activism, the members of the CATSR, encouraged and supported by the structural partners of Northern countries, remobilized in the beginning of December 2009 for a wide field deployment. With an ad hoc questionnaire, the CATSR investigators went on to inquire the reasons of the government's lethargy when it was necessary to implement the measures of the law. The results of this investigation led to the publication in late December 2009 of a plea brochure in favor of the effective implementation of the law. This 28-pages brochure makes motivated recommendations for the Head of State, the Support Institutions for Democracy, the children themselves and the national and international community to make them aware of the problem. The CATSR hopes that everything will be implemented so that the law 09/001 of January 10th 2009 on child protection in DRC does not remain a dead letter.