Written by Philipp Schäfer. 

You might have heard something about the project “Teachers on the road” at the last Networking Conference. There we have collected money for the project, as you can see here.

Let me give you an overview how a local group of Naturefriends from Germany got connected with this project and what is it all about.

The local group of Naturefriends in Frankfurt had their annual summer party and invited a group of refugees, which had just been quartered at the other side of the road a few days ago. During the party they quickly became friends and are meeting weekly since then. They exchanged cultural characteristics like making Christmas cookies, traditional dances and did sports together. Sometimes people who translate join the meeting, which helps making deeper conversations. Through these the Naturefriends found out details about the interests, passions and former jobs of the refugees and what they are missing being in Germany now.

The answers were simple. They needed friends for the daily amusement. [Refugees aren’t allowed to work in the first 15 months they are in Germany without an official permission. And even with permission it often very difficult to find a job. People searching seeking asylum or being tolerated may not work in the first three months at all. Source: proasyl.de]

Therefore the local group made a public post searching for people from Frankfurt or the surroundings, who would be interested to do free time activities like going to the cinema, museum and baths with the refugees or to do sports or music together. Since then the mail box is always full of messages from people who like to help. When the local group asked for group tickets at an ice rink to do ice skating with the refugees, they even got free tickets

During the beginning of the work with the refugees the local group got in contact to a local organisation of people called “Netzwerk Konkrete Solidarität” (network for concrete solidarity). The aim of this organisation is to provide concrete help to groups of people which are socially disadvantaged. In spring 2013 this organization visited accommodations for refugees all-over North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse and was shocked about the circumstances. In conversations with refugees they often heard about the wish of learning German.

So the project “Teachers on the road” was founded to teach the refugees German, helping them to break their isolation and getting part of the German society. Teachers or students during their vacation as a teacher since then help the refugees to learn German. The idea spread and there are five local groups of “Teachers on the road” in Germany now. For their everyday work they need office material and textbooks or the rent of their office. So the money we collected at the Networking Conference  in the Netherlands and the Young Naturefriends of Germany have collected at their last Federal Conference in Hesse will be defintely in good hands.