Summer Play Scheme, Dublin
Summer play scheme
Workcamp with the children of asylum seekers
Mosney, near Dublin, Ireland, August 2009
Mosney used to be a holiday camp for Irish holiday workers. However, in 2000 it was turned into a camp for asylum seekers. Some 800 asylum seekers for 50 different countries live there, families and individuals alike. There are people who have been waiting many years to find out the result of their request. This waiting causes great stress and anxiety, which can lead to mental health issues.
About 100 of those there are 5-17 years old. This was the group the volunteers worked with. There were 16 volunteers from 12 different countries. The children were broken-down into groups according to age, with 3-4 volunteers with 15-20 children.
The work was hard but fun; the children were very active and liked a lot of attention. The entertainment the volunteers provided was much needed. Mosney is on the beach and it was great to be able to go there, as well as football matches, quizzes, talent shows, games art actives and more.
But it wasn’t all work; there were regular trips to the pub, discos, the beach and other socialising with the local community.
There was a session on the asylum seeker situation and the process that they went though. This included visual aids such as films as well interactive communication.
Within this camp there was also a Peace messenger session organised by Karine Audeguy (SCI France) and myself. Karine discussed conflict and national identity, which talked about peace dilemmas. The whole thing gave the volunteers an opportunity to discuss these topics in depth and evaluate their views.
I was reminded of Martin Luther King, the civil rights activist, who was assassinated in the late 1960’s in the USA. He had said “freedom is a road seldom travelled by the multitude”. I think, for asylum seekers, this quote is particularly relevant. As I write this article many of them were arrested at a make shift tented area near Calais. Their future is now uncertain and they could be sent back to high risk situations.
I feel the volunteers on the Mosney camp did useful and worthwhile work with a group who often receive a hostile and unfair press. The peace messenger inputs on such camps are very relevant. SCI is about peace, tolerance and social justice, for this group of people such ideas seem to be in very short supply at the current time.
Mike Burkett
International Voluntary Service Volunteer, October 2009