June 20 is World Refugee Day. There are currently more people fleeing violence, war or the effects of climate change than ever before. More than half of the over 80 million people on the run are children. Behind these numbers are over 80 million stories - stories of violence and loss, but also of courage and hope.
Since 2018, we at Stadtlandkind have been supporting the work of Save the Children for refugee children in Switzerland - as we have done for the past 1.5 years. Together with Save the Children, we were able to support these children despite the project being halted due to COVID-19.
Background to the partnership with Save the Children
Our long-standing partner is committed to a world in which all children are protected from violence and receive child-friendly support. You can find out more about Save the Children's work in Switzerland in this blog post to read more.
The coronavirus has not spared Save the Children's projects in the past year: for safety reasons, the centers have banned any visits from external persons and closed most child-friendly spaces. Save the Children had to suspend activities on site and provide alternative support for the children and their families: Exciting ideas and activities were developed so that children, young people and families could continue to learn and play in modest spaces and with few materials. Save the Children distributed the resulting learning and play sets together with suitable learning and play materials to the shelters, offering the children a welcome change.
The developed play and learning ideas are also online for you here freely accessible.
However, the current pandemic is not only challenging children and their parents in asylum accommodation. Many families are currently experiencing a double burden and have to master the balancing act between working from home and childcare. So if you're also running out of (play) ideas, we've put together the instructions together with Save the Children to all interested caregivers, parents, grandparents and anyone else who looks after children at home and could use some new ideas. Have fun trying them out!
