Why Passage?
Parenting is a journey, a passage that begins with our own experience of being parented, and is marked by the various transitional stages in our experience of parenting our children. Whether we are conscious of this process or not, from babe in arms to leaving home our children’s needs change and grow. The journey can be gentle or tempestuous, and as parents we can feel a little lost at times. But we weren’t supposed to do this alone as the proverb says ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. Passage, parent support group aims to provide a community for parents on this journey.
Passage is a parent support group and social network for parents and professionals related to the field of education, health and children’s social development in Luxembourg. The group is run voluntarily by parents for parents with the support of practitioners with relevant experience.
We decided to set up the group primarily for three reasons:
- Parenting is a challenging job wherever you are in the world, but often parents in the English-speaking community of Luxembourg are living away from their home country without local family support. These parents may have some difficulty accessing the information and support they need regarding the education, health and social welfare of their children.
- Finding practitioners who can work in English is a particular challenge in Luxembourg. Often these practitioners may be unaware of other English-speaking professionals. This makes information sharing and referrals difficult.
- Parents who have lived in Luxembourg and experienced some of these challenges have a wealth of information to share. We recognise that by providing support to each other we support and grow ourselves. There are no right or wrong answers in parenting but at least we can explore ways to make it an easier and more enriching journey together.
Our aims and objectives:
- To provide a forum – for parents and professionals to meet; provide support, exchange information, and discuss the challenges of modern-day parenting. We do this via our website, regular support group meetings, seminars, network evenings and workshops.
- To build an living archive of resources for English-speaking parents and signpost relevant support organisations and events in Luxembourg.
- To facilitate a network for professionals working with children, young people and parents in Luxembourg.
Passage would like to provide a forum in Luxembourg for a vibrant community of parents and practitioners to exchange information and discuss the challenges of modern-day parenting. Beyond this we would like to develop a series of seminars and workshops which enable parents to discover their richest selves, both inside and outside the role of Parent.