Driving Hope on Wheels: Mobile Spaces for Healing, Learning, and Inclusion
Years after conflict and displacement, many children and young people continue to face emotional distress, disrupted education, and limited access to safe spaces. Through mobile mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) and digital learning initiatives, Jiyan Foundation brings care, learning, and opportunity directly to underserved communities.
The Challenge: Addressing the Long-Term Impact of Conflict
Across northern Iraq, thousands of children and young people — particularly within Yazidi communities affected by ISIS atrocities and displacement — continue to experience the long-term consequences of violence, instability, and interrupted education.
Many children and adolescents living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and remote communities face limited access to recreational activities, psychosocial support services, digital learning opportunities, and safe environments where they can rebuild confidence, social connection, and a sense of normalcy.
Some children and youth continue to live with the psychological and social effects of trauma, loss, family separation, and prolonged displacement. Limited access to structured activities and educational opportunities further increases the risk of social isolation, emotional distress, and exclusion.
In response, Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights developed mobile initiatives designed to bring psychosocial support, education, and safe community engagement directly to locations where access to services remains limited.
The IT & Play Buses
The IT & Play Buses are mobile, trauma-informed spaces that provide MHPSS, recreation, and digital learning opportunities for conflict-affected children and youth across the Dohuk Governorate and Nineveh Plain.
By traveling directly to camps and underserved rural communities, the buses help reduce barriers related to transportation, access, social stigma, and limited educational and psychosocial infrastructure.
The Play Bus: Safe Spaces for Children
The Play Bus is designed primarily for children up to the age of 12. Equipped with games, art materials, educational tools, sports equipment, and recreational activities, it creates safe and supportive environments that encourage emotional well-being, creativity, resilience, and positive social interaction.
Activities include:
- Recreational and team games
- Art, drawing, and creative activities
- Music and movement sessions
- Educational and interactive learning activities
- Confidence-building and group engagement exercises
For many children living in displacement settings, the Play Bus provides a valuable opportunity to experience play, routine, and social interaction in a safe and supportive environment.
Activities are facilitated by trained psychosocial staff and psychotherapists who help identify children who may benefit from additional mental health and psychosocial support services or referrals for specialized care when needed.
The initiative also prioritizes the inclusion of children with physical and mental disabilities to ensure all children can participate safely, equally, and with dignity.
The IT Bus: Digital Skills and Future Opportunities
The IT Bus is a mobile digital learning space designed to improve access to technology, education, and future opportunities for vulnerable youth living in camps and remote communities.
Equipped with 12 computer workstations and internet access, the bus delivers practical digital literacy and technology training in areas where educational resources are often limited.
Training includes:
- Windows operating system
- Microsoft Office programs
- Adobe Photoshop
- Basic computer and internet skills
Courses typically last between three and five days and conclude with certificates recognizing participants’ newly acquired skills.
Beyond technical education, the IT Bus also contributes to psychosocial well-being by strengthening self-confidence, teamwork, social interaction, problem-solving skills, and future-oriented thinking among young participants.
The initiative supports vulnerable adolescents and youth through structured and inclusive learning environments that encourage participation, empowerment, and social inclusion.
Areas of Implementation
- Khanke Camp
- Sharya Camp
- Essyan Camp
- Kabarto Camp
- Rural villages and host communities across northern Iraq
More Than Mobile Activities
The IT & Play Buses are more than mobile programs. They are trusted community spaces that combine psychosocial support, education, creativity, inclusion, and human connection in accessible and engaging environments.
Through these initiatives, Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights continues to support children and youth in rebuilding confidence, resilience, skills, and hope for the future.
This project was created from a pilot project “Deradicalization and Community-Reintegration Program for Former ISIS Child Soldiers and Vulnerable Children and Youth” and subsequent research conducted internally by Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights in Khanke camp (Duhok area) for Yazidi youth and in Laylan camp (Kirkuk area) for Sunni Arab youth.