Veleda

Full CV / Resume

I never worked in a job that I compley despised, but the work that I enjoyed most, I never got payed for. However, that is the kind of work I want to do in the future much more often. Therefore, I l you a bit about my voluntary work.

Planning is my passion. Schedules, holidays, essays, finances, Christmas presents, school reunions – I enjoy being in charge and feeling responsible for others. Key to the success of every little project is some kind of routine. In fact, routines have some kind of a therapeutic effect, therefore cleaning and shopping come very easy to me. Of course, that does not mean that I cannot adapt to other people’s habits.

I am very good with small groups of children. For a few years I used to work in holiday camps, where I organised game sessions, football games, treasure hunts, or a trip to a swimming pool. Of course my fellow co-workers and me had to participate in every event which we planned.
Recently I started shifting from taking part in activities for children to projects mainly for refugees. These include dinners for refugees to build networks, community brunches where prejudices against the newcomers can be broken down, or organising a stall for typical African food for the next street party.

Besides my engagement in organising events, I also actively participate in the educational projects for refugees. During my off time from university I teach different classes. The lessons for children are less language orientated, but more focusing on giving them confidence to succeed in their new school despite the new language. The children are only with us for a few days, a few weeks maximum, because they are quickly sent to school due to compulsory school attendance. In the mean time I help them getting an idea on what to expect from school in Germany and give their day a structure and normality.
However, the project that gets the most of my attention is the German class for adult refugees. Since refugees do not get any German lessons before the decision on their application for asylum they can spend up 2 years waiting for an answer. In order to save them from wasting so much life time, my fellow team members and me take turns and give voluntary language lessons. This classes are not only voluntary work for the teacher, but also for the students. Therefore, it is not only important to know how to explain my mother tongue to other people, but also to keep the sessions interesting. I very much enjoy preparing the lessons and I am proud to say that my group of approximay 20 men and women do enjoy my lessons too. Otherwise they would probably not attend them on a regular basis.