Study visit of Dutch municipalities in Barka Network in Poland

The representatives of Dutch municipalities, who invited Barka in January this year to start homeless migrants’ support programmes in 3 big cities in Holland ( Utrecht, The Hague, Amsterdam) came to visit Barka Network in Poland on 14-17 October. Representatives of organisations helping the homeless in those cities, the police and NOS journalists took part in the visit as well.

The participants visited Barka Network programmes in Poznan and the area, among them: the Communities, where homeless migrants, who have nowhere to go back, are returning to. There was also time to speak to few persons, who used to be homeless in Utrecht, Amsterdam and The Hague and were reconnected to Barka programmes in Poland, underwent alcohol addiction rehabilitation and are rebuilding their lives now.

Apart from visiting the Communities, the participants of the visit saw the educational programmes run by associations in Barka Network : Social Integration Centres in Poznan, Kwilcz, Gebiczyn and Chudobczyce, which are preparing long-term unemployed to enter the job-market. They also had the opportunity of visiting social cooperatives started by people, who completed Social Integration Centre programme and also local partnerships for social and vocational inclusion functioning in communes of Kwilcz, Czarnków and Lwówek Wlkp, which had been facilitated by Barka and now are functioning independently.
Dutch guests visited also the social settlement built in private-public partnership of Barka Foundation, City of Poznan and Polish government. Another entity visited was a limited liability non-profit company in Kwilcz , wchich gives employment to people who completed reintegration programmes , but still cannot find their way in open market.