Our activities and programs
Parenting across Borders has been offering dialogue series for international parents in Utrecht since 2019. So far, we have organized and facilitated several groups in both English and Arabic. In these groups, parents from different continents participated in the dialogue process and formed a support matrix. During these years, we have developed a unique reflective approach aimed at centering self-knowledge among dialogue participants.
Dialogue series structure:
Each dialogue series consists of 8 to 10 sessions. In each session we will discuss a different topic related to parenting abroad. The program of the sessions will be designed together with the dialogue group participants.
Group structure:
Dialogue groups consist of 6-8 participants and function as a closed group. This means that the same participants meet in each dialogue session and new members cannot join the group after the second dialogue session. This allows the group to make meaningful connections, build trust and create a sense of a safe, closed community. Each dialogue series is facilitated by two trained dialogue facilitators trained in the Parenting across Borders dialogue method.
Self-reliance and sustainability
At the end of the dialogue series, all group members are encouraged to continue the dialogue independently. As a group, they can choose their own themes and formats for how they meet and connect. The Parenting across Borders team continues to support the group as needed.
The program of the dialogue series:
Here are some of the themes we will discuss during the dialogue series:
– Preparing mentally and physically for childbirth in the Netherlands.
– How to build a support network around birth and the transition to motherhood.
– The structure of health care for children in the Netherlands and how to make the best use of it.
– Multilingualism and raising my child in more than one language, myths and facts.
– Shifting identities and the transition to parenthood.
Training the trainers
Parenting across Borders believes in the power of a global community of parents who support each other across the city’s diverse neighborhoods. Therefore, in addition to organizing and facilitating dialogue groups, we offer dialogue facilitation trainings for international parents who have participated in a dialogue series and would like to learn dialogue facilitation skills. Upon completion of the training, trainees will be able to facilitate new dialogue series for international parents in a language chosen by the participants and spoken by the dialogue facilitators.
Dialogue between international parents and youth health professionals
As international parents, when visiting the outpatient clinics of the child health care center (CB), we may face some communication problems with the pediatric nurses and staff.
We as international mothers (and parents) often encounter challenges in our communication with the pediatric nurses and staff when visiting the child health center (CB) with our babies. These challenges are usually the result of several factors, such as cultural differences regarding child rearing, language barriers and sometimes simply differences in communication styles. Parenting across Borders sees it as part of its mission to improve communication between international parents and caregivers. Therefore, in certain projects we collaborate with healthcare professionals in Utrecht to create meaningful conversations and encounters through dialogue sessions or other activities.
