Holiday camp for asylum-seeking children

The "asylum" sector of the Office for Social Services of the Canton of Valais hosts a summer camp for children of asylum seeking families together with disadvantaged local kids. There are three groups coming over three weeks, while it is possible for volunteers to join ideally the first two weeks (9.-23.July), the second two weeks (16.-30.July) or all three weeks which is very intense (9.-30.July). The first kids group is aged 6 to 8 years old, the second group 9 to 10 years old and the third group is 11 to 12 years old. The purpose of the summer camp is to give relaxation, games and discovery for children of asylum seekers. These have often been faced with difficult situations in their countries of origin and live in an unstable situation since their arrival in Switzerland.

You will manage every day a group of children, together with other local caretakers and an assistant. You'll participate in the animation, the creation of activities for the children and the practical life of the camp. Most of the programme is prepared. The children will stay with us the whole week, they don’t go back home at night; so you will also spend the evenings with them. Be aware that the working hours exceed the standard in SCI workcamps – you will mainly be working from morning till evening. You will also be asked to sleep 1 night in the hallway in front of the kids bedrooms to support or to handle possible problems at nights. During two weeks all volunteers, the project partner and children live together as a community, so you will not spend much time alone.

The address included here is the address of the office. Once you are selected, you will get the precise information in the infosheet.