As we all know, funding in this sector is chronically scarce. We were glad to contribute funds for some practical materials — books and tablets — to help teach Dutch and provide general orientation to the many young women who arrive here hoping for a peaceful and safe future. For them, Belgium is not just a foreign country ; it is an entirely unfamiliar world.

Our contact with the centre was warm and welcoming, and we were delighted to accept their invitation to join an outing in Ghent. Two of us — a member of the Austrian group and myself — accompanied the group to Huis van Alijn, a charming museum of everyday life that traces how people have lived, worked, celebrated and loved from the early twentieth century to the present day. Its main exhibition uses the rhythm of the annual calendar to explore the great and small rituals that shape a life. The exhibits were thoughtfully presented and very well suited to the occasion.

And who were the young women we spent the day with ? Seven in all : six from Eritrea and one from Afghanistan. All hold an official visa and have been in Belgium between six months and three years. They arrived under extremely difficult circumstances and, despite having the legal right to remain, they have no guaranteed permanent accommodation — meaning that some of them are at times forced to sleep on the street.

What struck us deeply was their composure. Despite everything they have been through and continue to face, these young women carried themselves with a quiet dignity that was genuinely moving. Most were rather shy, though one or two who had already acquired some Dutch made the effort to speak with us — a small gesture that felt like a real moment of connection.

All of them receive language tuition and orientation classes, as well as practical guidance to help them integrate as quickly as possible. This is precisely where our Association has been able to make a modest but meaningful contribution. We learned that there are very few resources for teaching Dutch to Tigrinya speakers — Tigrinya being the language of Eritrea — which became a particularly acute problem when the organisation was informed, at relatively short notice, that over two hundred Eritrean arrivals would be in their care. Our conversation with the project coordinator left us in no doubt : there is much more we could do.

Renate Smith,
Projects Committee and Austrian Group
March 2026