- SAWA communities
Through connecting activities, we create inclusive communities with SAWA where (young) asylum seekers feel seen and heard. A positive and necessary distraction from the long waiting time and restrictions of the asylum procedure. Together, we organize activities and take outings in the city to informally get to know Dutch society, build friendships, regain (self) trust and build a network.
The activities contribute to identity development, meaning and landing in a new place. In addition, the activities help to make the long waiting times in the asylum process more sustainable, meaningful and bearable - in this way, we work preventively on the negative (mental health) consequences of isolation, apathy and chronic stress.
- youth
With the young people, we undertake structural weekly activities in the city. A combination of excursions, workshops, meetings, fun and educational offerings. Our activities include visiting museums, cooking together, going out into nature, sports & games, film workshops, a football tournament, horse riding, skating, art workshops and visiting concerts. Taking them out creates encounters, confidence grows and we give back a sense of normalcy.
women
Although a number of women also participate in the youth groups, there are generally far fewer women within this age group living in the reception locations. For the women who are there, participating in the youth group is not always obvious. Because we also want to reach them, we regularly organize activities especially for women. With these activities, we want to provide a safe, creative space for self-expression, skill development and connection with society.
kids
The youth regularly propose to organise something for the children who live in the reception centre. The location is very austere and besides school, there are not many activities for the children. That is why we organise activities for the children a number of times a year, especially during school holidays. The young people supervise and recruit the children.
Social connection
In all our activities, we look for social connections with the neighborhood and the city. We do this on the one hand from the urgent desire of the young people to come into contact with the Dutch, and on the other hand to introduce Amsterdammers to their new city residents. We aim to build communities where people labeled as refugees are not patronized, romanticized, or stereotyped because of what happened to them or where they came from. We also want to break the stigma on young - often male - asylum seekers by facilitating special encounters.
We regularly organize networking dinners and collaborations with special partners in the city. We also like to attend events to let our young people speak/give them a role.
SAWA Support
Through the structural activities, the regularity and the time that we spend together, we build a relationship of trust. Because we do not represent an authority, the young people entrust us with their concerns and problems and the complex issues they face in their asylum procedures. That is why we focus much of our time on social support for these young people who, due to their age, the fact that they are here without a family and their limited rights in the asylum process, are often in a vulnerable position.
The support we offer includes contact with lawyers, translating letters, arranging medical appointments or referrals, solving bureaucratic obstacles, familiarizing yourself with public transport, connecting to a work- or study-related network, assisting with practical matters of life in the Netherlands and making meaningful connections with Dutch society. Since the case managers of the COA and the Dutch Refugee Council often have too large a caseload, we act as a bridge and refer to other authorities where necessary.
SAWA Advocacy
As an interest group, we stand up for the rights, interests and well-being of children, young people and young adults in the asylum procedure. We do this, among other things, by joining relevant campaigns that are important to our target group, collaborating with organizations that share the same interests, giving the young people's stories a stage, participating in local initiatives to promote encounters between local residents, and collaborating on research.
