by Georges from DR Kongo

We are very happy to be in Europe, precisely in Germany. We arrived in Germany on 23 March 2021. It was a Wednesday. We say glory to God for his protection. My very first foot on German soil – and all things were new to me. At Düsseldorf International Airport we were warmly welcomed by Carolin Daubertshäuser, Frauke Linke and Dirk Loose, who brought us to the Volunteershaus in Dortmund. In that same first day Carolin taught us some notions about the use of household goods including the toilet, shower and especially the modern kitchen which requires a lot of attention. Our rooms are very nice and cleaned.

My first observation is that I discovered that time is the most respected thing in Germany, and this following their four different seasons of the year which gives them a habit of respecting the weather, because in winter, the work does not evolve well as in spring and summer which are now the periods in which it is necessary to work a lot to recover the you mps lost especially during winter, which is why the saying goes „time is money“.
The next day, we took a city tour with Carolin, she showed us how to use different trains in the city, with different tickets so as not to get lost. Then she showed us their office right next to the church Petrikirche. The office is the Referat Ökumene, which is the department for international partnerships and ecumenism in the Church of Dortmund. We were also taught how to do the shopping in the supermarket.

During the first week in Dortmund we had different visits with different people at the volunteershouse, we were given also a SIM card from the ALDI TALK network that we can spend calls throughout Europe. However in the same week we received invitations from different families and it was good that we lived there with great hospitality. The same week we opened a bank account and at the end of the first Sunday we were introduced to the church and directly participate in the preparatory activities for Easter.

Arriving in Germany in times of Covid-19 means, that we all were masks and that we can only meet with people from 2 households in the same time.

Thank you dear all.