Young, fled and everything left behind; their world is turned upside down. In this photo exhibition, these young refugees provide insight into their world through impressive, personal and moving stories. The photographs of these young people from photographer Jaap Stahlie is a mix of young people from all over the world and some young people from The Hague, together with everyone’s history, form a special and moving whole. 

Their stories make an impression, hold up a mirror to you, take you into their lives, their dreams and their doubts. Meet them in the Atrium of the City Hall in The Hague, where they can be seen during the exhibition We left behind not only walls and a roof but part of our souls from August 31 to September 27 4PM.

Personal Life Stories
Foundation Reclame Maken Voor Jezelf, in collaboration with VluchtelingenWerk, the Municipality of The Hague and Kandidaten Netwerk/Urban Talentz foundation presents this project. During this project, the workshop leaders and participants (young refugees and young people from The Hague) discussed their personal life stories and their own (core) values. The workshops took place in SoZa where many refugee people are housed. Here they worked on developing their talent and getting to know themselves. The result of this project are posters and poems in which young people share their personal stories with the public. The core value(s) of the project are: creating an encounter, thinking about citizenship, connecting and pride.

Foundation Reclame Maken Voor Jezelf
When Melle Dotinga – founder of the foundation, poet, copywriter and core values ​​expert – developed internal communication for a juvenile justice institution in 2006 – aimed at young people there, the idea arose to encourage them to look at themselves positively. This is how ‘Advertising for Yourself’ was born. A series of lessons that encourages young people to be proud of themselves and boosts their self-image. Writers, poets, spoken word performers and rappers give the lessons. They know how to turn on every young person, so that they feel the positive experience of writing a poem, a rap lyric, a ‘spoken word’. A top photographer portrays every young person and that is also a very special and exciting experience for some. The lessons end with an exhibition in which the photo portraits with texts are shown to the public. This results in great conversations between young people and their parent(s) and other audiences. The RMVJ Foundation teaches in youth care institutions, in special and regular primary and secondary education, in juvenile justice institutions, in various places with young refugees and at IMC Weekend School. In addition, workshops are held with people with mild intellectual disabilities and people with acquired brain damage. The lessons are also popular abroad, such as through the Tika Foundation at a secondary school in Nepal and at Mundo de Talentos in Mexico.
For more information, go to reclamemakenvoorjezelf.nl.

Meet your new neighbours
As an international city of peace and justice, The Hague does what it takes to help people fleeing war and violence and in vulnerable positions. Together with residents, organisations and entrepreneurs, the municipality is working hard to offer these groups of people a home. This includes getting to know each other, connecting with your new neighbours.