What can you do?

  • We and the parents hope that the letters will be viewed by as many people as possible in order to start the conversation about migration.

    That’s why we have created several posts on our Instagram and Facebook page that are easy to share, like the trailer. You can share them in 9 languages.

  • The project is a useful tool to motivate people to listen to each other's stories. So whether you are a school teacher, community center administrator or simply organizing a day for your family, feel free to use this project. Email us what you need. The only consideration as far as we are concerned would be a photo of your event. We like to show that on our social media.

    For larger events, we would like you to contact us first.

    We give lectures too.

  • If you want to see more about the theme of people who have been forced to flee, we recommend the following documentaries. You can view them all online:

    • ‘Waar liggen Europa’s grenzen?’ (Where are Europe's borders?) by Eddy van Wessel and Daimon Xanthopoulos: At the border of Bosnia-Herzegovina with Croatia, migrants live in very inhumane conditions. Whenever they try to cross the border, they are stopped with great force (2021, 25 mins, only in Dutch)

    • ‘4.1 miles’ by Daphne Matziaraki: A very poignant portrait of Christos, a captain of the Greek coastguard on Lesvos who in 2016 is suddenly entrusted with the task of rescuing thousands of migrants from the sea (2016, 21 min, English subtitles).

    • ‘Shadow Game’ by Eefje Blankevoort and Els van Driel: Unaccompanied minor refugees attempt to cross the borders of Europe at the risk of their own lives. They are followed for several years. In addition to the long documentary (56 mins), there are also a number of short documentaries (2021, 90 54 and 30 mins, English subtitles).

    • ‘Flee’, by Jonas Poher Rasmussen. In this poignant animation film you hear the story of Amin, who was forced to leave his home country of Afghanistan as a young child and arrived in Denmark. Amin looks back on his life, opening up for the first time about his past, his trauma, the truth about his family, and his acceptance of his own sexuality. (2021, English subtitles).

    • ‘The Island of All Together’, by Philip Brink and Marieke van der Velden: Tourists and refugees meet on benches in the park or by the sea, and have conversations about life. This was our previous movie (2015, 23 mins, English subtitles).

    • 'Along the Way' (2022). This film by filmmaker Mijke de Jong follows two Afghan girls as they struggle to survive in a world of danger and human traffickers during their flight to Europe. The girls act in this film, but they tell their own story (75 min, only Dutch subtitles).

    • ‘Look beyond borders’ by Amnesty International: People who have fled in the past and local residents sit opposite each other and stare into each other's eyes for minutes. What happens then? (2016, 5 mins, English subtitles).

    • 'All that we share' (2017). In this commercial for a TV station, people in a studio are literally set apart with surfaces on the floor, but after a series of questions they turn out to have much more in common than they initially thought (3 min, English subtitles).

    • ‘Where the children sleep’ by Magnus Wennman. A photo series about children who have fled in Europe, photographed trying to sleep somewhere. (2016, photo Project).

    • 'Two million subscribers, but all alone' by Sakir Khader: With his two million subscribers, Obada who fled from Syria to the Netherlands is one of the largest YouTubers with millions of fans in the Middle East, but in the Netherlands hardly anyone knows who he is. What is it like as a young newcomer to meet the expectations of your parents when you have a different future in mind? (2021, 45 mins, only in Dutch and Arabic)

    • 'Front Line' (2021), a documentary by journalist Bram Vermeulen about the five-meter-high steel wall between Turkey and Greece. Also subscribe to Bram's weekly newsletter, as it is very interesting (45 min, only in Dutch).

  • It is not possible to donate money through us. But if you feel the need to donate, you can do so through these organizations. They all work in Greece:

    Because we Carry, Medical Volunteers International, Home for All, Stichting Bootvluchteling, Movement on the Ground en Stichting Vluchteling.

  • We were told by various parents that the letters in this project also inspired them to write a letter to their own child. Because how special it is to have a letter later - when he or she is an adult - in which you as a parent tell them what life was like back then.

    We have a few tips for you, and they are the same tips that the parents from the project also received. Such as: 'Errors' do not exist, because everything you write from your heart is good. The length of the letter does not matter. And write in the I-form, address your letter directly to your child, for example: Dear Lina...

    These are some suggested questions you can write about: What was the day like when your child was born? When does your child make you proud, touched, angry, happy, or laugh? What kind of character does your child have? What game do you like to play? What is your best memory of the past? What does your life look like now? What are you worried about? What do you wish for your child for the future? How do you want to help your child with that? What is your dream?