MUCT is a database project/campaign that is ongoing at UID.

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We understand the place of universities in assisting refugees to integrate, and we refer to this as integration through education; our research however has uncovered that while there are many projects going on across institutions of higher education in the Netherlands, organized for the benefit of refugees, or by refugees themselves, there isn't a complete database with all of these information, for free and easy access to refugees, students, researchers and other interested parties. To this end, therefore, we have commenced the creation of the database. 

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What is MUCT MUCT is more than an online platform, it is also a community – educators, diversity officers, admissions officers, student groups and associations, cultural groups, language schools, and non-profits who join their efforts to assist, promote inclusion of refugee students, and inspire colleagues to do the same on their campuses.

Launch of the Database: The database was launched on 18th April 2018, at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Partners, supporters and sponsors for this project include, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Stichting Vluchtelingen Studenten UAF, Wijdoenmee.nu, and RealXmedia The Hague.

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Use: The database is being used to assist newcomers with their integration into educational institutions, especially those of them who have never been in any Dutch higher institutions of learning. We anticipate that the project can provide easier means for making new friends, contributing to the school community and eventually becoming successful in their chosen career fields.

Read the project report here.

This project began as a compliment to the language lessons we provide. The idea behind the book club is to provide a fun environment where participants enjoy learning a language through book reading. They focus on practicing their speaking and listening skills, while expanding their network.

This project is supported by the Hague Central Library, and partly sponsored by the American Book Center of The Hague.

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It holds twice a week for the Dutch book reading club, and once a week for the English book reading club. The first term of the project ends in June 2018.

There will be a second term from September 2018. 

It has been a huge regular participants, Dutch and foreigners, including refugees.

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To sign up or know more about this project, email hello@uidnl.org

Games from Around the World (GAW) is a special project at UID. It takes place once every quarter, each time, we introduce new traditional and international games and sports. It is a family friendly event, open to all ages, from babies to the elderly, because playing games and sports just got funkier!

First GAW event took place on 25th November 2017 from 13:00-17:00

Location: Rijswijkseweg 252, 2516 EN Den Haag. 

To know when the next GAW event will take place, visit our events page.

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The focus of this sports event is to connect people of different backgrounds together, to play games that are widely played across all continents of the world. This include Hop Scotch, Football, volleyball, Sack race, Table tennis, Basketball, Sjoelbak, spijkerpoepen, koekhapen, dodgeball, Pickup ball race and more! Reminding everyone of the great times they had playing such games in the past, and how these good memories can be carried along to this new community where we find ourselves.

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Why this project?

This is one way to help foreigners, including refugees, to increase contact with the rest of the community. Secondly, language will not be a barrier in this case, as many sports and games can be played by people who speak different languages and who cannot often understand themselves through words. Playing traditional and international sports and games will therefore be a new way to discover where cultures meet and where they uniquely differ.

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More importantly, we hope to use this as a way to assist refugees, (especially children) who are finding it difficult to adjust to their new society, to better integrate by playing common games with others from different backgrounds, and at the same time holding on to important aspects of their cultures, which form part of their identity, while integrating in the Dutch society.

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The Integration Chat Room project is a recurring socio-cultural integration project, aimed at addressing the socio-cultural differences we have in the community. We will be dividing it among different aspects of life. Food, Work, School, Family, Health, Relationships, politics, and much more.

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As long as it is are part of life, we will discuss it; share our individual experiences, explore different ways of managing them, and turning these differences into the right tools for beautiful diversity!

The first event  took place on 27th September 2017. 

You can watch the full video here.

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Click here to know when the next integration chatroom will take place.

Many have need for clothes, accessories and other types of items. We want to do our best to help those who have such needs, to obtain the much-needed clothing and accessories to survive the cold season, vital household items to set up their new homes, and even bicycles to get around Dutch cities. For this purpose, many awesome people have supported this project by donating both used and new items to us. We continue to ask the community to donate so we can assist those who have the need.

The only rule to donating is to ensure items are all in good conditions, and does not require costly repairs. 

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What began as a collection of just clothes and accessories for the cold winter months, has grown into the receiving of more items such as suitcases, furniture, laptops, computers, books, household items, bicycles and any other thoughtful items. Some of which have been given to asylum seekers whose applications were rejected, and who are facing deportation.

We have also used this medium to raise funds to finance our other community projects, by selling for charity purposes, some of the items donated.

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Donations have been so far distributed once every month, with the exception of some months depending on the activities in the community. 

For more information about the next donations day event, or if you have items to donate, please contact us via email hello@uidnl.org 

Creative writing is an art which for some comes naturally, and for others, learning refines this talent. UID created this course to enable some newcomers who wish to write about their stories or those who simply want to use their passion for creative writing to make their contribution to the society; while keeping in mind the fact that writing can be therapeutic, not only for refugees, asylum seekers or victims of different crimes, but for just about anyone.

For the sake of efficiency, we have ensured a small class size, and a one-on-one approach, giving each participant the opportunity to bring out the best in them as far as creative writing goes.

Participants have the opportunity to learn how to write books of different genres, poems, and other types of creative writing of their choice.

SCHEDULE:

Register or email us to obtain our weekly class schedules. 

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To Register for the course;

Send an email to hello@uidnl.org including your name, contact details, and why you want to participate in this course.

Seeing that many humanitarian migrants in the Dutch society desire to not only be fluent in the Dutch Language but also to be able to easily express themselves in written English.

Some refugees desire to write the stories of their journeys; others simply desire to attain an intermediate or advanced level of writing in English, to enable them to create proposals, project descriptions, or any other type of official, academic or creative writing in English.

 UID, therefore, created this English Speaking and writing class, with the help of our volunteers, to offer informal English writing classes to support interested persons to achieve whatever level of writing we can provide.

SCHEDULE:

Register or email us to obtain our weekly class schedules. 

To Register for the course;

Send an email to hello@uidnl.org including your name, contact details, and why you want to participate in this course.

Art and Amity Project is the second episode of our Integration Through Folklore series; it is aimed at giving artists the opportunity to express their perception of integration of refugees in the Netherlands, and to share their views with the public, ultimately learning relevant lessons to improve or restructure projects and policies targeted towards integration of refugees in the Netherlands as well as to showcase their own cultures through arts.  

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Viewing integration from this angle is less controversial and will give the community an opportunity to understand the variety of cultures that exist among us.

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Drawing, Painting, Crochet art, poetry, music, and dancing are among the types of art to be explored. More information coming soon...

This was the name given to this project by its initiator, Japanese Student Artist named Yukari Nakamichi, from the Royal Academy of Art, the Hague. The central aim of her project which she carried out in collaboration with UID was to break the stereotypical outlook towards countries that have undergone or are still undergoing armed conflicts, by sharing happy memories of their culture and daily life, prior to the commencement of the armed conflict.

She interviewed 3 people from Syria, including one refugee; the memories they shared about Syria, are all breathtaking; Yukari turned these interviews into letters to any interested reader. When next you hear about Syria; remember that it is a beautiful country, with great people, great culture, and with lots of natural endowments. Click here ​ to see highlights from the project.

It is an upcoming documentary of all interviews we conducted with stakeholders in the refugees’ integration subject, across the Netherlands; these interviews were enlightening, as we made several discoveries. One important discovery is that many refugees we interviewed were grateful to the Netherlands for welcoming them, and they had a positive attitude while hoping to gain assistance on certain difficult areas of their integration process.

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A second discovery was that some communities initially rioted against having refugees among them, partly because they felt excluded in the decision making the process of the settlement of these refugees in their communities, more so in the face of the negative news accompanying the topic of refugees and the crisis.

When however engaged by their mayor and the municipality’s integration team in Tilburg, they had a better understanding of the intentions of the municipality with regards to refugees; most of these people who were initially against the process, not only accepted it but volunteered  alongside foundations and groups, welcomed the refugees and  helped  them to settle into the community.

In 2016, we interviewed De Wijk Helpt volunteers, a project in Tilburg helping refugees to socio-culturally integrate by organizing activities, ranging from cooking and eating together with the elderly, homeless and any other interested persons, to assisting others in the community with whatever they need. 

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The special thing about this project is that De Wijkhelpt not only offers help to refugees but the refugees themselves offer lots of help to Dutch people and people from other nationalities living in Tilburg and surrounding areas. 

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Our interview with them revealed the sense of community they have developed, so much that they call themselves brothers and sisters, as one big family. Sara Van den Brink who is the founder of De Wijk Helpt, together with other volunteers in Tilburg, organized a wedding ceremony for a Syrian couple, who fled the war before they could have a proper wedding party. More from our interview with Dewijk Helpt will be part of our full documentary.

Click to view more about the wedding.

Volunteers and refugees with Ecclesia Language group were among our interviewees; they help refugees to practice the Dutch Language in their day to day lives. One of the challenges refugees face in the Netherlands is the lack of contact with people from their host communities, which can slow down the process of attaining fluency in the Dutch language. 

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Practicing the Dutch language in informal places has proven highly beneficial to them, much more than intensive classes which pay greater attention to grammatical structure and syntax. The refugees who benefit from Ecclesia's approach are very grateful to the group.  Some clips from the interviews we had with them, will be featured in our full documentary.