The project "Refugee minors: When toys take on a different voice", started in 2021 in our effort to give a voice to the refugee minors who are hosted in the Unaccompanied Minors' Shelters of Kinoniko EKAV. Our partner, Christina Vazou, listened to the children's need to share their experiences and thus started educational activities in which, through Playmobil toys, the children created representations of their lives and their dreams.
Starting from the birth of an idea, its implementation and its subsequent evolution to a very dynamic level, the children found the space to follow a methodology on the one hand and on the other hand to communicate their personal experiences with a wider audience. The representations that were created by the children, were so special and overwhelming, that even the employees of the Shelters were left speechless. Through them, we can see their lives from a different perspective. We come closer to understand better what is happening in our world, why so many young children are forced to leave their homelands, and what are the difficulties they encounter not only on their journey, but also in Europe.
The purpose of this page is to present, step by step, the evolution we have witnessed by accompanying the children in this creative way of expression that helps them to process their memories from a different dimension. On the other hand, this project enables all of us to visualize moments of these children's struggle and to understand their mental state a little better, so that our communication can be more essential and effective.