Fedasil Rixensart I

CODE: CBB0226ESC

Work:

Volunteers will share their time between organizing activities of the center's residents (especially the children and teenagers living there) and maintaining the center's outside areas, including its vegetable garden. They may also be asked to do some other small tasks, such as helping to sort clothes donated to the center.
Recreational activities :
Half the time, volunteers will organize and lead activities for the center's residents, particularly children and teenagers. Some examples could be: group games, creative and artistic workshops, board games, walking excursions, going to the swimming pool, sports, movies, cultural visits, ...
The children are between 3 and 12 years old. However, it is impossible to predict in advance the number and ages of children who will be staying in the center at the time of the project. The children speak French.
The teenagers are between 13 and 17 years old. Some arrived in Belgium alone, without family members. Some of the teenagers are also mothers.
It is also possible for the volunteers to offer some activities for adults living in the center, but the children and teenagers have priority.
The volunteers will receive the support of the center's educational team, who’s used to work with volunteers every summer. However, they will have some autonomy to offer their own activity ideas.
Outdoor maintenance:
The other half of the time, volunteers will work outside to make the center's environment more pleasant for residents. For example, they will plant and sow flowers, remove weeds, or help out in the center's vegetable garden.

Accomodation and food

Volunteers will sleep in a mixed dormitory with bunk beds, in an annex building. Toilets are located in the same building, but for showers, volunteers will have to go to the main building. Volunteers will have access to the washing machines in the center’s laundry room and can leave their personal belongings (passport, money, etc.) in the safe at reception if they wish. They will have access to Wi-Fi. They will have tea and coffee available during the day in the staff kitchen.
Volunteers will be cooking their own meals in a small, basic kitchen. So feel free to bring your own recipe ideas, but keep in mind that it should be kept simple. Please let us know in advance if you have any special dietary requirements so that we can do some shopping ahead.

Location and leisure

Rixensart is a small town located 25 km from Brussels and 7 km from Wavre. Rixensart still retains its country charm but you can feel its proximity to Brussels (40 minutes by train, 20 by car). The Fedasil center is located outside the city center, but a few steps from the famous lake of Genval, the cinema, shops, supermarkets, the train station…

Project hosted by

The Fedasil reception center for asylum-seekers in Rixensart hosts individuals or families who have requested asylum in Belgium. They hope, with this request, to get refugee status which will allow them to stay legally in the country. These people come, for example, from Palestine, Afghanistan, Eritrea, DRC, etc. and have fled situations of war, persecution, discrimination or environmental disasters. Before they can settle in Belgium and build their future there, their refugee status must be proven and granted through a long administrative process. In the meantime, they are hosted in this center near Brussels.
Always waiting, the residents of the center never know what tomorrow may bring them. Individual situations are multiple and complex, but never easy. The life of the Fedasil center of Rixensart reflects these individual tragedies and the hopes of the residents.
The Fedasil center of Rixensart has hosted groups of volunteers for many years.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/FedasilRixensart/?locale=fr_FR

Directions to meeting point

Sunday the 26th of April at the train station of Rixensart around 3.00pm.
Find your route on : www.belgiantrain.be

Additional comments

French is the common language to the children of the center, who learn it at school. It is necessary that the volunteers do speak some French, so the children can understand the volunteers during the activities.
The consumption of alcohol is strictly prohibited inside the center.
This is an intense and demanding project, both in terms of emotions as in terms of activities. Volunteers will work 6 hours a day, but in addition to these working hours, they will also need to brainstorm and plan their activities. So don’t hesitate to already bring your activity ideas with you!

This project is a volunteering team, supported by the European Solidarity Corps program of the European Union. Compared to the usual workcamp participation scheme, some main financial and administrative differences must be underlined:  The participation to the ESC volunteering teams is subjects to several principles and conditions, presented on the ESC webpage: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity/mission_en  The volunteers do not have to pay any fee (not sending, nor participation fee) to attend the project  The volunteers will receive pocket money, calculated on basis of 6€/day, once they arrive on the project in Belgium  The volunteers will receive a financial support for their travel, according to a maximum amount established in accordance with their travel distance  The volunteers need to register on the European Solidarity Corps Portal; CBB will organize their matching, on the online system, with the volunteering project  The volunteers will have to complete a participation report, submitted online by the ESC portal