Welcome to "Channel Welcome"
with the support of "BAMF"(Bundesamt für Migration)Federal Office for Migration,will in the next 3 years
a new and independent Internet TV Channel in the
Media landscape establish
Here will get, in front of and behind the camera,Human with
migration background a platform,for a stronger participation
to a social live in Germany.
the VHS Augsburg is Project manager and every month here will be a 45 minute
series produced.
On the first of every month will we release in (also) our
Website,different Posts,
which will deal with problems of Migrants
and their lives in Augsburg,Bavarian and whole Germany.
"Channel Welcome", don't want to get in rivalry with other established
providers.
But want to become a new,
independet format.
Content and Information
have absolute priority!
But it still want to entertain and make fun.
I will lead through the Series,bring additionaly information
for the Posts and will make hopefully curious for more.
Encouragement for the Series,suggestions for posts or interested in working with us?
Then send us a Mail
In the City Gersthofen,right next to Augsburg,
in the shadow of the protestant Church,
are happening some strange things.
In the "Orange Group" a former Kindergarten,there meet
a few young, good-looking,dark skinned men from a
african country called Eritrea
with a white-haired, elderly,
unafraid woman.
Together they write signs in booklets and on a board
in which words and sentences result.
And everything
happens in the guard of
the deacon there,
who deploys in the name of the lord,
that every human
has the same rights.
I also speak Swabian with them.
I don't feel it only in the community, i feel it overall.
But also have conversations,where i see
that attitudes are still hardens,with hast surely to do with fear,
with fears.
The Press
often reports about "we get flooded" and whatever. - But thank god
are there the fearless
who don't care about the opinion others. -I have,while shopping groceries
in the market,seen always more black boys.
And these boys reacted to my approachement
instantly and smiling.Thats why i decided to
go to the home and look at the boys.
The best way to integrate the people,is in my opinion,
or to give them a option
to offer them to come here and to be welcomed.
There are volunteers who engage and
calm down the mood.
And that i think, calms the citizens of Gersthofen.
Ursel Beutel raised 3 daughters successfully,but
then the life became a routine.
After I thought
it would be a shame,if i
would only sit on the couch and the boys were so nice
i thought
i will get in contact
and this contact reached,
20 of them boys instantly. The first step was,that i
went to the home
and after that
i found them interesting
and all of them were 19-29
i thought
it is exactly the right thing and i will introduce them in the german all day life.
its 5 minutes to half.
it is
shortly
before 1:30 am
We went to the terrain of the
evangelical church
and the room,
as you can hear, and they
offered me a room,which was used as a kindergarten before.
And since then we are doing the lessons over the name "in the Kindergarten".
"School in the Kindergarten"
9 Months in Germany
1 month in Munich
8 months in Gersthofen
My theacher is Ursel
in Gersthofen.
I am Aman.
i am from Eritrea.
I am
21 years old
My Work is
painting.
I am Haile i come from Eritrea
20 years old.
-And how long are you in Germany? -9 months.
My name is Alexander
and i am from Eritrea.
I am
25 years old.
I am amazed how much
over the communication of the volunteers
on neighbours and friends
happens. That there is raised awareness
and people
engage for refugees, unsalaried
and also
wake interest in other people.
We were in the market and i introduced fruits and vegetables.
We were at the meat counter,because the boys don't eat pork
We bought bread and pretzels.
We were at the swimming pool last week
and at the library.We just have tried out the practical things
But not every human have the gift
to see a human in the other person
whom you help when he needs it.
And there are critics and people with fears
who needs to apply to convince.
Through the club "Gersthofen is colored" and a mayor who
gets in determined and tough on this thing,
they communicate really positively and show that we have everything in sight.
We take you seriously where you
have critical approach.
Heres a an example.We had a signature collection in Gersthofen
against the raising of the numbers
of the refugees in the "Ziegeleistraße".
And the Mayor has everyone of this list
called to a personal conversation.
I found it really tough and brave of him and
from a Mayor who started new and
who has really less time.This was really role model like how he stand behind this work
and behind this people.
Now they even start to build own sentences,
which ends up funny sometimes because
they use words
which you don't use like that in the german language.
The roses let hang their heads
and one of the boys said,
"the roses are boring and i am boring, too".
Thats the reason why i like doing it.
I think its important that you make clear,
that they are human beings.
Thats a high
worth.When i meet a person,
then he is my reflection. I say that as somebody who
is trained theologically.
When i meet somebody with the
esteem that he is a child of god,
then i treat him differently.
The most refugees are young,
if not traumatized.
The families paid a lot of money,
but its always the same circulation.
Authorities are overwhelmed with the big appendix.
The process takes too long,
too less language lessons.
Not everyone gets a work permission or waits really long for it.
The packets are overly crowded
7-8 people in one room.
The live consists most of the time of sleeping and eating
and boredom. -Many people in one room up to 7 people
7 people,
only one table,
are really loud,
it is a
big problem in this house.
We already have had bigger numbers
of refugees added in this country.
Because at the time where i was in Munich, i know that the numbers
where in one year over 400´000.
That means
you can't say"the boat is full".
We are today in a better economical situation,
then in the 90´s. -So all the
black boys come from Eritrea. They are
up to one year on the run and came
with the boats over Mediterranean Sea.
The reason why is
in Eritrea is a civil war.
And the boys get instantly, after they finished school, drafted to the army
for a undefined time.
There they have also shoot with guns on people and
they, who didn't want that, runaway.
Which is really expensive.The whole family has to
put money together,because such a flight costs up to 6-7 thousand dollars.
That means only one person can flee
We are one of the richest countries
and i was 4 times in Tansania and learned hospitality and life.
When you experience that and see how you treat other people
and strangers,
then i gotta say i have seen personally
a huge spread.
We have to go back to,
i come back to the theological,
the important things in life. -And when i,
at my age, go out surrounded with 3-4 black boys
to the market or anywhere else then i feel the look of other people
but i don't care about that.
Then Huan,
our trainee,
wanted to know something too.
Camera is rolling.
I can talk school english which comes back to my mind again.
The boys speak english too,but
only few words. Then we tried on german,
english and
with hand and foot
the communicate the whole thing.
-Second question is,did you ever had the thoughts to quit when something bad would happen?
-Me? No never.
-What do you have to say to the people,who say that Germany shouldn't take that many refugees?
-I think we have so much space and money,
that we can take many.
The course of study: mechanical engineering,
is at least in Augsburg, still in men hand.
But then there came,Ling
from the far China
and she brings the old bavarian,classical gender distribution
out of order.
Ling got asked often,
how old are you?
But is it important?
I answer for Ling.
She´s too short to be old.
I know Ling from the school in China.
I think she´s cool,
because she´s studying something in germany,what women study rarely.
My name is Ling and
i am 26 years old.
I study mechanical engineering in Augsburg.
Ling and I studied together in China
i went first to Germany after my studies.
I had for a long time
the wish to visit Germany
or to get to know it.
I studied German and can speak
the language.Then i thought
i want to have something to
with Germany.
Then i decided to continue to study in here.
Ling is from Guangzhou, a huge city in China.
The life in Augsburg ist completely different for her.
At the beginning,Ling had the problem to handle the german boys.
The boys don't talk to me,
because they´re shy or something.I don't know,
they just don't talk with me.
The first 2 or 3 months,
I felt really lonely in the courses.
I don't have
close friends
and always go by myself to the canteen
and study by myself.
But thank to god i met a boy and he
helped me a lot.
I´m sorry for him he stopped studying.
I don't have to talk a lot with the boys.
And when they
talk about something i just listen,because
i have nothing to say.
I understand the girls but i still don't understand the boys.
Nothing about
whats on their mind.
And today after one year,Ling judges the boys differently.
I think the boys in Germany
are more open minded then the boys in China
and not that shy.
And second, the boys here are more polite
than the boys in China
i think
or maybe i only have met the bad boys in China.
The girls in Germany,
are also interesting for me,
because they are independent.
And they already have accurate
lifegoals, unlike the
most girls in China.
They always think of the relationship and getting married.
Ling have to get rid of the cliche,
that every chinese is good in mathematics.
I don't think every chinese are
really good in mathematics.
My maths teacher likes to make fun of chinese people,
about the maths topic.
"the chinese are so good in maths"
But i am not one of them.
I am not really good in maths, i have to study a lot,
to understand this point.
I have two older sisters,
and a older brother.
I am really happy, my sister is always concerned about me.
My parents too.
I have, most of the time the feeling that i am the focus of the family.
But i need this feeling.
Meantime, Ling has settled her life in Germany.
She has hobbies like painting and jogging,
but has problems with singing,
because here in Augsburg is no real karaoke.
The chinese new year, is the most important festival in China.
It´s like christmas for the germans.
The whole family meets with is celebrating the new year.
And Ling had to celebrate the new year without her family for the first time.
Yes, I miss my family
i haven´t seen them for a year. Not even on new year i can fly back, because i have exams.
And my sister brought her baby, the last week into the world.
Last month, no i mean this month
and i can't fly back. And i am sad about it.
And we...
communicate sometimes through the chinese "whatsapp".
Swap fotos or something.
Or sometimes
we talk through Skype,
but only rarely, because my family
isn´t good at
showing their feelings, like me.
My first goal, now is or my small goal is to complete the university.
No.
I am to sweet nobody would discriminate me.
Just a joke.
Even in the rich germany,
not everybody is able to buy his daily bread.
Even though it on the other side there is plenty of quality food,
which doesn´t get used anymore in the economical process.
In order to them not to get wasted, but to land on table and plate,
there are throughout Germany thousands of
volunteers on more than 900 places,
that more than 1,5 million people can get regularly an additional meal.
Mid June took in Augsburg the yearly "Augsburger Tafeltreffen" place.
The "Tafel" got 1996, as much i know, founded in America, in New York.
At the beginning of the ninties, the first few "Tafeln" got created in Germany.
In Berlin and in Münich.
And the "Augsburger Tafeln" exist since 1996.
Welfare receiver, people whom pension isn't sufficient, more and more refugees.
Up to 50 more sign ups everyday.
The affected are ashamed, only a few have the courage to stand to their plight.
Shopping at "Lidl" and "Aldi" costs too much money.
-Which you don't have? -No. I can only buy few things from there.
I am from Belarus.
I live in Augsburg with my son. I am a single mother.
I am unemployed but will start working soon.
I went in February 2011 in early retirement
and thought about what else i can do.
So i came across the "Tafel".
And am since August 2011 employee and helper of the "Tafel".
At the Town Hall Square in Augsburg, they celebrate the 3 days long meeting.
Prominent politicians greet prominent politicians
set themselves advertising effective in the scene.
A small group on the edge believes,
it all don't fit together.
But one stands, unobtrusively, humble on the side.
Usually, we shouldn't exist. In a state like us,
there shouldn't be poverty.
We lived 100 km away from Tschernobyl.
I had no choices i became a mother
and thought i have to do something.The only choice was to escape.
I always wanted to work,but my child was only 2 years old.
And i had also problems with the german language.
I knew i couldn't start without knowing the language.So my first problem or goal was to learn the language.
My second problem was, i studied to become a teacher.
I am a teacher for Russian language and literature and have a Bachelor in it,
which didn't got acknowledged. Inbetween i went to a lot of courses in the VHS and to some private courses.
So i did a lot of things,
but im still learning.
The number of people we provide
rised in the last 2 years enormously.
I thought it would be a big help
and i never deceived.
It is a wonderful help in all this years.
The people are really helpful,
their just kind and humanly.
They went on the ground and work for free,
which you have to thought about too.They work unsalaried. Which earns a lot of respect.
My name is Franziska Wieser
and i work, since april of this year, unsalaried at the "Tafel" as
transition, till my training at the bavarian police starts next year in april.
I knew that there have to be something like that, because
not everybody can afford groceries at the market.
Then i thought about it too, but really dealed with it
have i wanna do something as a volunteer
and don't wanna do a Minijob.
I wanted to do something which could help the people
and the first thing that came to my mind was the "Augsburger Tafel", because
i knew they help needy people.
This was the point why i wanted to do it
and that it would help my schooling and get me ready for it.
And because people with problems come here too.
We now have around 5000 people,
4500 who pick up groceries,
1200 of them are kids and teenagers.
And we provide 500 peoples in institutions like the Womens Shelter
or different schools or clubs.
You get a little fruit,
a little vegetables,
a little bit of sweets,bread and something like sausages and cheese.
This is really a big help and you can
manage the family money a little bit differently.
You know you get a little bit
and you can live a bit differently.
I just didn't wanted to sit at home, i wanted to help the people.
With more than 200 volunteers, financial only from donations,membership fees and spending from 1 euro.
So you can realize help too.
I am in pension since one year. I started to do this work to carry myself financially.
I do it once a week, every Wednesday.
I lead the list hear, that means i collect the money.
The "Tafel" not only cares about feeding needy people, but also contribute to less food to be wasted.
I am a open human and can say that i am i need.
But of course there are some inhibitions and its embarrassing.
Not directly embarrassing, but you know you take help and you have right for that help,
but you know you're grown you can work and care for yourself.
Thats the obstacle and can hinder you.
So what means embarrassing, a emergency can't be embarrassing.
And a lot of people are in a plight here.
I am not talking about myself but the people who really need it.
I know a lot of people who say, people who go to the "Tafel" are lazy people who don't want to work.
Its not like this they really got problems and you feel sorry for them.
And you have to help them.They go home and say i feel embarrassed to come here
and i say there is no reason to feel embarrassed. Bein in need can happen to anyone.
And our employees make that with fun and joy,
because it makes a lot of fun.
It is beautiful i love to work here.
"whose bread i eat,his song i sing"
an old proverb
that has even today his full meaning.
And so, even cool headed
encouraged journalists, have to swim with the flow.
Have to say and write
what is current in the majority social opinion trend.
But we want to connect,
when we think its right and important.
Is it really a progress,
when from chef section to movie award, a quota independently from performance
and existent participation is fulfilled?
When german politics decides something,
then its rarely consistently.
And its mostly superficial the purpose, to keep the voters, to satisfy lobbyists and associations
and show strikingly to the outside
"we are doing something,we are progressive"!
Exit from nuclear energy, environment on locations and goals,
which get softend all the time.
Homosexual marriage,tax justice same loan for everyone.
Halfhearted, instead with body and soul.
Even the introduction of the Womens quota, the only quota which gets propagated,
which some female politicians sees as a historical progress,
is nothing else than eye wishing.
In which we have to ask, is such a quota
a progress in Germany?
Don't there have to be then in Jogi Löw´s Team atleast 4 women instead only in female Teams?
This is, if anything else, apartheid.
In every Formula 1, then there have to be alteast one woman too behind every wheel?
Germany so likes to go beforehand.
So Louis and Niko out and Susi in.
No!
Quota should be here for
to integrate weaker people in the social life.
Older people, people with handicaps.
But women in general?
I don't have to be one who have to be promoted specially,
especially in a country, where really weaker people need
our solidarity urgently.
Inclusion instead of exclusion!
People, who come from different countries,
for which reason ever,
who want to live, learn and work here.
Who are not able yet to speak the german language.
Who are on their own.
Who still don't got no strong community behind them
for them, makes quota sense.
There are the people who speak mostly on Channel Welcome
who work on this project, post to fulfill another quota.
A quota who isn't weak, but full of sense.
That for is Channel Welcome.
And how many x´s or y´s somebody got in their genes, doesn't play a role here.
Because most of the storys in Channel Welcome have a serious background,
we still want to end every series with a episode
conciliatory and laughing.
Thats why its today about, also for current event, a migration story from a young lady named Lucy.
Lucy was born, in the todays plagued Greece, from a homeless mother
and a unknown father as the youngest of 3 sisters, under the name Sally.
In babyage she reached, as a so called "unaccompanied underaged refugee" with the plane to Germany.
No political escape but with the goal to a better life offside the street.
In Osnabrück, she was taken by a Foster Home who called her now Antje
Later, she started a schooling to work with people with diabetes.
Where she also reached certain fame.
Unfortunately, she had to give up the work prematurely on base of panic attacks and her short stature.
For the search of a new home,the singer Silke Hoffman from Augsburg, got attention for her.
She adopted Antje and called her from now on Lucy.
Since then Lucy lives happily in a patchwork family.