Many Norwegians view summer holidays as a birth right, but not everyone in Norway can afford to take off and go traveling. Thousands of children won’t have any holiday at all.
The Norwegian Red Cross is sponsoring holiday camps for around 1,000 children and youth in Norway this year, but the humanitarian organization reported this week that it has to turn down half of those who apply.
“It’s terrible to have to say ‘no’ to people,” Børge Brende, secretary general of the Red Cross, told newspaper Dagbladet. “Some parents are crying on the telephone when we tell them we don’t have room for their children.”
Most local townships also offer some form of sponsored holidays for children from economically struggling families, but they also have a capacity problem. Around 85,000 children live in families in Norway who can’t afford holidays.
Views and News staff
