Thursday 14 December, ICDI’s Rutger van Oudenhoven and Mathijs Euwema gave a training for interns and volunteers of the new Vrolijk Nest in the refugee centre in Drachten. ‘Nest: a Home Away from Home’ is a psychosocial support programme developed in Bosnia and Herzegovina by Kinderpostzegels, IN Foundation and ICDI, and is implemented in the Netherlands by De Vrolijkeid. The Nationale Postcode Loterij supports this programme.
The main aim of the training was to familiarize the interns and volunteers with the NEST concept, and how they can strengthen resilience of children and child participation. The new Nest in the refugee centre Drachten will open officially 2 March 2018. This training by ICDI helps the team to prepare for their work with the children. Each Nest team consists of two paid staff members, supported by 5 to 20 interns and volunteers.
In Nest refugee children can experience a safe, supportive environment, aided by creative activities like music and theatre. Nest was recently named a best practice in the ‘Let Children be Children: Lessons from the Field on the Protection and Integration of Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe’ report, which presents different support programmes for migrant and refugee children in European countries.
ICDI is a partner in Nest and provides training, supervision and research.
