Blue Door Education

📣 48 HOURS TO GO!!! We're re-opening our doors at 4pm on Monday 02 September! 🥳

✏️📚🗣 We've missed our students so much, and we can't wait to get cracking on a new term and a new school year!

💙 See you on Monday!

We're asking the Government to regularise those people we have allowed to make Malta their home. This cruelty must stop!

39 strong civil society voices come together!

Statement here: https://maltarefugeecouncil.org.mt/Press-Statement-Regularise-those-you-have-allowed-to-make-Malta-their

❓ Did you know that 🇸🇩 Sudan has one of the largest numbers of out-of-school children in the Middle East and North Africa region?

ℹ️ Over three million children aged 5-13 years are not in the classroom, 76% of primary age children attend school and in secondary school that figure dips to 28%.

If you want to know more about critical political, cultural and environmental issues driving migration from 🇸🇩 Sudan, follow this link: 👇🏿
https://www.bluedooredu.org/factsheets

🖊 📖 📊 BDE country factsheets are compiled by our volunteer Adri, who worked for many years as a Country of Origin Information (COI) Researcher, her final post before retiring being with the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) in Malta. 🖊 📖 📊

💙 All that's missing is U ... 💙

Whether you're interested in teaching, assistant teaching, childminding, admin, IT - our doors are re-opening on 02 September and we need YOU to help us welcome over 150 students per week on/at the following days/times:

Mondays and Thursdays 4.30-6pm, or 6-7.30pm, and
Fridays 10.30am-12 midday (women only).

💙 Join us! 💙

💙 19 August is World Humanitarian Day, and on this day especially we honour all those working in the humanitarian field, and those who lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. 💙

Find out more about World Humanitarian Day here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Humanitarian_Day

❓ Did you know that in 🇻🇪 Venezuela the first 9 years of education are compulsory?

ℹ️ 97.4 % of the population is literate, but alarmingly the net enrolment rate in primary education fluctuated substantially in recent years, with enrolment in secondary education at 89.7% (2015). This is a reflection of the increasingly authoritarian and undemocratic governments in power since 1999.

If you want to know more about critical political, cultural and environmental issues driving migration from 🇻🇪 Venezuela, follow this link: 👇🏿
https://www.bluedooredu.org/factsheets

🖊 📖 📊 BDE country factsheets are compiled by our volunteer Adri, who worked for many years as a Country of Origin Information (COI) Researcher, her final post before retiring being with the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) in Malta. 🖊 📖 📊

📣 What’s on the menu at Blue Door Education this August? English with Verbivore! 🥳

🤩 Over the next six weeks, we’re piloting a partnership with Verbivore, an online learning platform, for 20 of our B1+ students. Students are onboarded, then log on to follow lessons at their own pace and at times they choose, enabling more flexibility for learning windows. A quick tutor log in means we can also track progress and pinpoint potential areas to focus on and improve when our on-site lessons recommence in September. 💪🏼

💙 We thank Verbivore’s founder Iona Douglas from the bottom of our hearts for her exemplary generosity and kindness in offering this opportunity to our students! 💙

ℹ Find out more about Verbivore here: https://www.verbivore.app/home

☕ Ahhh coffee, it wakes us up, keeps us going and you can even buy us a digital coffee for just €2 here:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/bluedooredu

📚✏️📄Check out our wishlist of classroom supplies and help us buy what we need here:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/bluedooredu/wishlist

💶 Become a member and support our work on a regular basis starting at just €5 per month here:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/bluedooredu/membership

💙 Thank you for your kindness!

📣 It’s a wrap! 📣

🙌🏻🙌🏽🙌🏿 We’ve just completed another exciting school year, which saw our team of over 65 volunteers exercising compassion at its finest for over 600 students from 25 different countries, with classes ranging from literacy through to B1+. 📚📖📝

👩🏼‍🎓👩🏿‍🎓🧑🏽‍🎓🧑🏿‍🎓 We gave our students and volunteers a super summer send off with some celebratory certificates for 70%+ attendance, as well as fabulous food from SAHHA! 🌞🥙🧆🥗

🎻🎼🎻 We were even serenaded by one of our musically talented students! 🎻🎼🎻

💙💙💙 And now it's time for our students and volunteers to enjoy a well-deserved break, while our staff get busy in the background preparing for the new school year! 💙💙💙

❓ Did you know that in 🇪🇹 Ethiopia just 51.8% of the population is literate?

ℹ️ Primary education is free and compulsory for the first six years, and yet 32% of children of primary school ages are out of school, the disparities being largest between urban and rural, rich and poor. In addition some parts of Ethiopia, such as Oromia and Somali regions, are critically affected by both drought and conflict simultaneously, making for precarious living conditions and dire need for humanitarian aid.

If you want to know more about critical political, cultural and environmental issues driving migration from 🇪🇹 Ethiopia, follow this link: 👇🏿
https://www.bluedooredu.org/factsheets

🖊 📖 📊 BDE country factsheets are compiled by our volunteer Adri, who worked for many years as a Country of Origin Information (COI) Researcher, her final post before retiring being with the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) in Malta. 🖊 📖 📊

🌍 On Sunday 04 August, "Designing Home for Refugees" 🏠 invites you to participate in a workshop to improve the lives of migrants in Malta.

ℹ Collaborate with asylum seekers, architects, and students to design comforting and inviting spaces within reception centres. This is an initiative by architect and university teacher Sandro Valentino of Valentino Architects, Blue Door Education and MOAS. Together we strive to create a more humanized and welcoming environment.

🕐 Time: 1pm / 13:00 hrs
📍 Location: Valletta Design Cluster, Malta
🍴 Food and drinks provided

Join us in contributing to a more inclusive community! No registration required.

ℹ This week we welcomed two trusted partners to our school. Both provide essential ongoing support and services for refugees and asylum seekers, and this week they invited our students to get involved and have their say on issues paramount to belonging.

👉🏾 aditus presented information regarding the Strengthening Knowledge on Integration and Non-Discrimination - SKIN Project, which aims to address the needs and discrimination faced by Malta's racial/ethnic and religious minorities, particularly persons of African descent/persons of colour and individuals who practice the Muslim religion.
For more information, see the graphics or click here: https://ncpe.gov.mt/projects-and-specific-initiatives/skin/

👉🏾 Jesuit Refugee Service Malta presented information regarding PICUM (The Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants) which is a European network of organisations working to ensure social justice and human rights for undocumented migrants. For more information, see the graphics or click here: https://picum.org/

Our gratitude goes to both aditus and JRS Malta for providing information in different languages, and in such a motivating and comprehensible way.

❓ Did you know that in 🇬🇲 The Gambia just 58.1 % of the population is literate?

ℹ️ The six years of lower basic education are compulsory and free, but hindered by a lack of facilities, and only selected students whose parents can afford the cost of ongoing education enjoy the relative luxury of three years at senior secondary school. 48.6% of people in The Gambia live below the poverty line, and the main humanitarian challenges are flooding and droughts, leading to waves of internal displacements. In 2022 torrential rains and storms led to the worst flooding in half a century.

If you want to know more about critical political, cultural and environmental issues driving migration from 🇬🇲 The Gambia, follow this link: 👇🏿
https://www.bluedooredu.org/factsheets

🖊 📖 📊 BDE country factsheets are compiled by our volunteer Adri, who worked for many years as a Country of Origin Information (COI) Researcher, her final post before retiring being with the European Asylum Support Office (EASO, now EUAA) in Malta. 🖊 📖 📊

📣 We’re recruiting an Operations Officer!

💶 Part time contract of 20 hours per week à €13 per hour.
📆 Contract is 01.10.24-31.03.25 and is maternity cover.
❗️On-site presence is 100% required Mondays 3.30-8pm, Thursdays 3.30-8pm, Fridays 10am-12.30pm, and occasional Sundays 9am-2pm, remaining hours are WFH.
👩🏼‍🏫 Minimum 2 years teaching experience and/or TEFL/CELTA/ESOL required.
❤️‍🩹 Minimum 2 years experience working with marginalised communities required.
💪🏼 Experience volunteering and managing teams is a bonus.

💡 If you’re interested in joining our team of passionate and compassionate human beings in the field of adult education, literacy, community building, and supporting marginalised people, drop us an email at [email protected] with your CV, and tell us why you'd be the perfect addition to our team.

🤩 Yesterday we were invited to visit Esplora Interactive Science Centre to learn about science and how relevant it is in our every day lives.

ℹ The day began with a wonderful, warm welcome for our students and staff, and the first stop was the engineering space. We then moved on to the planetarium to learn about the solar system. After a light and refreshing lunch we went to the sensory room for some hands-on activities. All these stations helped us understand the importance of the scientific processes when communicated through questioning, predicting, experimenting, analysing and making conclusions.

🎁 Children and teens were also presented with free toys to take home.

💙 We thank the Esplora team from the bottom of our hearts for this kind and generous invitation for our students! It was a super fun day, we learned so much, and it will stay in our memories for years to come!

We couldn't run our school without our kind-hearted and extremely talented volunteers.

👀 Look out for these buses and tag Malta Refugee Council with where you spotted it! 💙

Malta Refugee Council

📣 We’re recruiting interns for the coming school year 01 September 2024 to 31 July 2025.

💡 If you’re interested in joining our team of passionate and compassionate volunteers in the field of adult education, literacy, community building, and supporting marginalised people, drop us an email at [email protected] for more information.

Yesterday we attended Moviment Graffitti's Conference: Malti ta' Malta.

During the first panel, Jesuit Refugee Service Malta and aditus spoke about what statelessness means and the problems faced in Malta.

The second panel was led by Grace, Daniel and Promise, who were all born in Malta. Their parents came to Malta in 2007 and held Specific Residence Authorisation (SRA), which was then revoked in 2019. As a result, the children lost their residency permits, which barred them from going to school and seeking opportunities for further education, as well as from travelling abroad with teammates to participate in sporting events.

This family has suffered so much already. It's time to reinstate their rights so they can move forward with their lives towards happiness and contentment in the country they have made their home.

❓ Did you know that in 🇸🇴 Somalia more than three million children do not go to school due to poverty, insecurity, high school fees, and household/labour demands?

ℹ️ Girls and internally displaced children especially have low attendance, there is a lack of (female) teachers, and nomadic children often have no education. In addition, education opportunities outside major urban areas are very limited.

If you want to know more about critical political, cultural and environmental issues driving migration from 🇸🇴 Somalia, follow this link: 👇🏿
https://www.bluedooredu.org/factsheets

🖊 📖 📊 BDE country factsheets are compiled by our volunteer Adri, who worked for many years as a Country of Origin Information (COI) Researcher, her final post before retiring being with the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) in Malta. 🖊 📖 📊

💙 Check out our Impact Report from April to June 2024! 💙

🥰 So many new friends, new experiences and so much learning! 🥰

💙 Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming back this wonderful family from the USA. Initially generous donors and supporters of our work, Joyce, Ted, Sam and Alex have also become trusted allies and friends, and it's such a pleasure to spend time with them.

💙 Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity and kindness. Donations like yours ensure our sustainability, and keep our doors open and our services free for those in the community who need us most.

🥳 We're having a blast at the SparkFest, organised by our friends at Spark15 !

💙 Come by and say hi!

🤩 Today we joined the World Refugee Day Conference “Building Communities Together”, organised by the Malta Refugee Council.

ℹ The Keynote & Response Panel was made up of
* Warsame Ali Garare, Human Rights Lawyer,
* Dali Agrebi, Co-Coordinator MGRM ,
* Jasser Hammami, Intersectional Human Rights Activist,
* Hadia Bashir, Jesuit Refugee Service Malta ,
and was moderated by Dr. Maria Pisani.

💪🏽 This event was the culmination of months of building synergies within the Malta Refugee Council, and participants were invited to jointly pave the way for more welcoming and embracing communities.

🗣 The discussions delved into a myriad of pertinent topics: from experiences of young refugees to the diverse experiences of those grappling with mental health issues and disabilities. Refugee political engagement as a key tool towards inclusive dialogue and representative communities was also explored.

💙 Blue Door Education stands in solidarity with refugees - today and every day.

📣 World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the globe. It falls each year on 20 June and shines a light on the rights, needs and dreams of those forced to flee.

ℹ This year, the UN theme focuses on solidarity with refugees – for a world where refugees are welcomed, and given the current political shift to the right this is needed now more than ever before. Solidarity means keeping our doors open, celebrating refugees’ strengths and achievements, and reflecting on the challenges they face.

💪🏽 Solidarity with people forced to flee also means finding solutions to their plight – ending conflicts so they can return home in safety, ensuring they have opportunities to thrive in the communities that have welcomed them, and providing countries with the resources they need to include and support refugees.

💙 If you’re looking to stand with us in solidarity, swipe through the graphics and find out how you can support our work in the community.

ℹ Find out more about World Refugee Day here:
https://www.unhcr.org/events/world-refugee-day-2024

🤩 Last week we were invited to speak with grade 9 students (aged 14/15) at Verdala International School as part of their interdisciplinary unit, which focusses on migration.

ℹ During our brief visit we gave the low-down on the impact of volunteering, how difficult overcoming communication barriers is for our students, their arduous journeys to Malta, and how important language education is in a new host country.

🗣 There followed a lively and engaged Q&R session, where VIS students confirmed they are very aware of and sympathetic to disparities in educational privileges, as well as being eager to become involved in community projects.

💙 We thank all students and staff at Verdala International School for this golden opportunity to speak openly and honestly about migration with these bright young people, as well as for all their ongoing support in the form of many volunteering hours and donations in kind.

🤩 A few months ago, Gerko from the Netherlands contacted us for an online chat. He told us about his work with migrants, refugees and asylum seekers at Singelland ISK, a school for non Dutch-speaking students aged 12 to 18. As he was planning his annual holiday to Malta he asked if he could drop in, and last week we finally had the pleasure of meeting in person!

ℹ Gerko is a teacher of maths, sports, cookery, care & welfare, and is a mentor and a confidential counsellor for students. In his spare time at the weekends, he and his wife Tineke visit detention centres in the Netherlands to help and advise residents on how to find their feet in their new environment.

😊 We learned so much from each other during this short visit: our work has many parallels, but we also saw many differences in policies, Malta’s being the harshest. 😞

💙 Thank you for visiting us Gerko and Tineke, and for all the work you do in the community, helping to make the world a kinder and more just place!

ℹ Find out more about Gerko’s work here: https://www.singelland.nl/isk/onderwijs