Summer newsletter: Greening up your summer with AMSED

As part of the project “A green summer to meet animals“, wich took place throughout the whole summer, AMSED had created a new type of trip within the association, based on the exchange of knowledge, the awareness of several matters and social inclusion. The goal of these trips is to allow disadvantaged people and their families to spend a nice summer, fun and full of exchanges, through hiking and farm visits in Alsace. Slowly getting out of the health crisis, it seemed important to us to propose these trips to recreate social links and mostly, to allow children to spend enriching holidays with a view to education, awareness and socialization. The participants can discover another side of the Alsatian heritage and the farm world, create links and share, but also discover other landscapes in mountain to relax. The target public is composed of people with the refugee status, newcomers and youth from priority neighborhoods.

Back to the outings:

La Perheux farm visit 

On Thursday, July 15, AMSED went to the La Perheux farm (La Perheux pass) with a group of 8 people, including 5 registered in our refugee inclusion project (AIR).

On the agenda:

  • Visit of the farm hostel with explanations on how it works and its spirit
  • Presentation of all the animals: horses, rabbits, sheeps, pigs and mostly cows which are part of their main activity. We discovered the place of each animal in the farm and how they live throughout the year
  • Snack and tasting the products from the farm, allowing us another moment of sharing

We were immersed in this “peasant spirit” mentioned by our guide, who showed us a way of working that was very respectful of the animals and the surrounding nature.

Then, the group had a picnic and a short walk: the opportunity to exchange in a beautiful context of generational and cultural mix.

Malplaquet farm visit 

On this Sunday, July 18, AMSED organized a great outing, allowing a large number of people to benefit from the project: about sixty people (most of them registered in our insertion project) were invited to spend the day at the Malplaquet farm (Labroque).

On the agenda:

  • Small walk for those who wished to go around the farm
  • Visit of the cheese factory and the farm’s premises for the ones who were interested
  • Moments of relaxation and sharinf whithin the farm: a meadow was opened for the group to spend the afternoon there
  • Fun and educational activities: initiation to horse riding, coloring and drawing workshops, henna workshop…
  • Barbecue

For the sixty people attending, it was a real moment of sharing and exchange, allowing everyone to get out of the urban setting of Strasbourg and to discover the mountains and the animals of the farm. The hosts were also really pleased to welcome this public, full of enthusiam and animation.

Visit of an apiary school

For this outing, on July 25, a group of about fifteen people went to Colroy-La-Roche to visit the apiary school of the commune. The people who were mobilized are registered in the integration projects dedicated to people with the refugee status, and to newcomers.

On the agenda:

  • A two-hour visit of the beekeeping museum: discovery of the world of bees, how they work and live, but also the beekepers’ job and its history and evolution
  • Fun games proposed by our guide: role playing and awareness of the respect of bees
  • Visit of the educational apiary: equipped with protections, we could see real hives and the beens living there
  • Honey tasting, produced by the beekeepers of the Association. Some of the participants could even buy some honey on the spot.
  • A picnic: a pleasant moment of sharing and games for the children

Children and adults were both happy to be able to see the bees up close, although some of them already knew this environment, which allowed more in-depth dialogues with our guide, and the sharing of similar experiences.

Visit of the goat farm 

This time, on July 28, a group of about fifteen people (from the AIR project and newcomers) went to the goat farm in Griesheim.

On the agenda:

  • A picnic all together with games for the children
  • Free visit of the goat farm: we saw the milking of the goats, then the other animals at the farm

Both children and adults really enjoyed this visit, where everyone exchanged and shared good moments in groups.

Visit of the Kieffer farm 

After a month without any visit, the project resumed on September 01 with a visit of the Kieffer farm in Limersheim. This afternoon took place with a small group of 8 people, including 2 families registered in our social integration projects.

On the agenda:

  • Free visit of the farm and the animals: presence of a large variety of animals, to the delight of the children
  • Games in the corn maze: treasure hunt inside the maze, where the group had to answer questions to solve an enigma
  • Games and sharing time

 

 

Outing at the Friedel Park

This Sunday, 12 September, the group composed of about ten people went to the Friedel Park in Illkirch. A total of two families and several young refugees spent the afternoon together.

On the agenda:

  • Visit of the animal park: a space where animals (from the farm and the farmyard) circulate freely
  • Moments of games and sharing in the park

 

It was a beautiful afternoon, fun and filled with great moments.

Outing at the Orangerie Park

For the last outing of this project on September 19 , we went to the “Orangerie Park” for a very busy day:

On the agenda:

  • Picnic: each participant brought a dish from their country of origin
  • Games and activities: Slack-line, recumbent bike, badminton, board games…

During the whole afternoon, the group had a very nice time. About twenty people came, many of them for the first time, therefore making new encounters.