Through its work in Switzerland, Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER) fosters social inclusion for disadvantaged people, promotes equal opportunity and supports asylum seekers and other socially deprived people with legal advice.
HEKS/EPER operates five regional offices in German-speaking Switzerland and one in French-speaking Switzerland, which together manage over 50 projects in 13 cantons.
Mothers and fathers who speak a foreign language often lack information about how best to prepare their children for kindergarten and school. In the regions of Basel Stadt/Baselland and Western Switzerland, HEKS/EPER supports foreign language-speaking mothers and fathers with practical ideas for the targeted stimulation of their infants so as to develop their motor, cognitive, language and social skills. In addition, parents learn about family-oriented facilities such as playgrounds and family and cultural centres. They also get to meet other families, thereby becoming better socially networked. In Berne and Eastern Switzerland, HEKS/EPER also offers German language courses geared to mothers and their preschool children.
