Pathways
to your own track
Vision
Pathways is dedicated to practically assisting young Syrian refugees who are trying to build a new life in Turkey and Jordan, but also in the Netherlands. To coach them in their personal development and to support them in their school and professional careers.
Especially for these extremely vulnerable young people, as the future generation that will be faced with the huge task of rebuilding a completely destroyed country, the stakes are high and Pathways is therefore fully committed to empowering this group of youth and assist and support them in discovering their own unique track. We believe that every individual who is able to make the own skills set to use in pursuing personal passions and in developing unique talents, automatically will be dedicated to make a positive and constructive contribution to society and thereby inspires others as well.
Mission
Pathways has identified 4 specific focus fields that form a bottleneck in the healthy development of these young people into successful young adults. We believe that special attention and support should go to the focus fields below:
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Education
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Civic Engagement
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Health
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Employment
But as much as we are dedicated to our mission, we are convinced that the basis of constructive help, emphatically doesn’t lie in removing hurdles for young people. We believe that it is of utmost importance that youth is taught how to overcome these obstacles on their own, provided that they receive thorough guidance in the process.
By means of giving them confidence in their abilities and the responsibility and space to take ownership of their own development, however in combination with the right support (and providing a safety net if necessary), we provide them with a demarcated and thus (emotional) secure “school of life”, to serve as valuable and solid foundation for future positive and active participation in global society.
Program Components
Pathways program consists of different parts
Education
Refugee youth often find themselves alone, in a foreign and highly underprivileged environment, in which they often have to survive on their own. Pathways wants to prevent this challenging situation from leading to an interruption of school careers.
Civic Engagement
Our Civic Engagement program aims to stimulate the development of so-called soft skills, through exposing this youth to a wide range of subjects and fields of work, like journalism, medicine, law, philosophy, the arts, astronomy and entrepreneurship. The program also provides in training skills such as presentation, research, debate, collaboration, and conflict resolution.
Health
We believe that a healthy body and balanced mind are of unprecedented importance in actively and constructively fulfilling one's life. This goes for everyone, but certainly for young people who are in full physical and mental development.
Pathways therefore pays special attention to health, both physical and psychological. Moreover, (young) people who have had to flee, carry a lot of baggage with them. It is the rule rather than the exception that the road to safety has been one of physical and mental challenges or even dangers. Pathways supports Syrian youth in finding the right healthcare, psychological help and support and in developing a healthy lifestyle.
Employment
Pathways ultimate goal is to lead refugee youth to a situation of structural social and financial independence. An indispensable last link in this, is guidance towards appropriate (in terms of field of interest and at the right level) and stable jobs.
Partners
Collaboration with public and private partners is indispensable to achieve the goals of the ambitious mission.
In Turkey Pathways works closely with the Turkish government; Office of the Vice President and Ministry of Labor and with several Universities, YTB and United Work.
In Jordan, the program is being developed in collaboration with Luminus College and Unversity, with support from the Ministry of Labor.
In the Netherlands we cooperate with Stichting Vluchtelingenwerk (Dutch Council for Refugees) local Asylum Centers (and the umbrella organization COA) and municipalities.
