SPEAK

The number of international migrants globally has grown exponentially over the past years, reaching 258 million in 2017, with 30% attempting to create or maintain a stable life in Europe. In the same year, 2.9 million people became asylum seekers, the largest annual increase in the history of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees*. The problem of integration materialises via challenges encountered when these people reach their destination: language, culture, lack of an informal support network. Other factors include ethnic and religious discrimination and xenophobia.

We address the two main causes of the problem—the language barrier and the lack of an opportunity to meet the "other”—with a community-based solution. Participants come to our program motivated by teaching their language or culture, or learning a language and culture. In doing so, they communicate, break prejudices, create friendships and, ultimately, build an informal support network.