Since 2007, budding high school graduates at the Friedrich-Feld-Schule in Giessen have been helping young unaccompanied refugees from crisis regions to learn German. A successful and award-winning project that Stadtwerke Giessen is supporting with one of its 75 good deeds.
Slipping into the role of teacher during school hours and helping young people from war and crisis zones to learn German - for pupils at the Friedrich-Feld-Schule in Giessen, this is a matter of course. The project is called "Language as a bridge to integration" and started around six years ago. "We have been teaching refugees from countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia in so-called DaZ courses - short for German as a second language - at Friedrich-Feld-Schule for many years," explains Edeltraud Alavi, senior teacher and integration officer at Friedrich-Feld-Schule Gießen. She emphasises the important role that language plays in no longer feeling foreign far away from home and being able to integrate. Contact with other young people is just as important. "We had the idea of involving prospective school leavers in German lessons for young refugees. In 2007, this idea led to the "Language as a bridge to integration" project, with which we even won first place in the 'respekt2009' competition four years ago," explains Svenja Hünding, who runs the project together with Edeltraud Alavi.
Project thrives on the commitment of the pupils
Every Monday, 35 pupils currently meet with the 53 young people on the DaZ courses for an afternoon of learning. In small groups or in a one-to-one ratio, they help to close the existing gaps - since 2009 also with the help of music. The young men and women sing together and practise sentence patterns and vocabulary. The project, which has already led to many friendships, thrives above all on the personal commitment of the young people. "This commitment deserves recognition and support," emphasises Heidi Jung, an employee at Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG) in the Marketing & Sales department. Her partner is a teacher at the Friedrich Feld School and was involved in the "Language as a bridge to integration" project after it was founded.
Heidi Jung therefore suggested a donation as part of SWG's 75 good deeds. On 9 September, she presented a symbolic cheque for 12 dictionaries to the two project managers Edeltraud Alavi and Svenja Hünding and the head of the department for higher vocational schools Liz Regan. In addition to the dictionaries, the Friedrich Feld School is also planning to purchase additional learning boards. When handing over the cheque, the two teachers expressed their thanks and explained why the donation is of such great value to them: "It is important for a city and region that projects like this continue and grow. They not only help the young refugees to integrate, our pupils also benefit greatly from them - in terms of personal development."