The Trampoline House

Asylum seekers spend on average over three years (and often up to six) in the Danish asylum system.
It is a period of waiting and inertia. Asylum seekers are not allowed to work; they only attend courses inside the camps where they live; and they have few opportunities to make use of their skills and competences or even to become familiar with life in Denmark and meet Danish citizens.

Most have little choice but to stay in Denmark as their native countries do not want them to return. They and their children suffer from isolation, poverty, lack of opportunities and a sense of powerlessness to influence their own lives, a situation which slowly breaks them down psychologically. The effects of this isolation are particularly marked since asylum seekers arrive in Denmark with high expectations, energy and ability. They possess great experience and potential – professional and human – which deteriorates during the asylum process, resulting in increasing passivity.

A Danish NGO, Den Selvejende Institution Asyl Dialog Tanken, is addressing this problem. It approached Oak Foundation Denmark for funding to open the Trampoline House, a variation on a community centre (with a café and a crèche) where asylum seekers and Danish citizens are able to meet in an atmosphere based on respect and inclusion. The plan is for asylum seekers from the various camps at Seeland to be able to meet fellow asylum seekers and Danish citizens at a community facility in the centre of Copenhagen.

The organisers believe that through making use of people’s competences, their self-esteem will be enhanced. Perhaps more important, by having the opportunity to meet and interact constructively with Danish people, asylum seekers will engage, feel useful and be seen as such, in the eyes of their families.

The key method used to achieve this is to make use of the competences and skills of the various people visiting the house. They are asked to volunteer to prepare and provide courses in subjects about which they are knowledgeable. As a result, there are classes for cooking, reading and dancing, and courses in Danish, Arabic, Danish culture, hairdressing, and so on. In addition, the asylum seekers can receive legal support from volunteer lawyers.

The Trampoline House was opened in November 2010 and is the first of its kind in Europe. A large numbers of volunteers and asylum seekers come to the house regularly – often several times a week. Judging by these numbers the project is already a success.