by Dika from Indonesia, Dika Yeremia Mahendra from Indonesia was working as a Volunteer in the Church of Dortmund for one year. During that time, he has lived in the Volunteershouse. With this post, Dika says goodbye – his Volunteerservice is over now.
by Carol from India, I travelled to Frankfurt on 2/3/2020 for my interim seminar which was organized by Deutsch-Indische Zusammenarbeit (DIZ). It is a compulsion for all the south-north volunteers to participate in 25
by Gentille Mironde (Congo, DR) and Josephat Seleman Hema (Tanzania) On 7th February 2020 we had a birthday party for Josephat in the volunteers‘ house. Some friends came to the house and we had inter-cultural food collection.We prepared food of Asian and
I still cannot believe that March is about to end soon. Yes, I am excited as I will be completing five months in Germany but deep inside my heart, I am very sad, as all my favorite friends are going back to their own countries. There are times in life when you meet people who are just very hard to forget. Yes, it is almost the time when I will be saying goodbye to Josephat, Racheal and Dika, that too at the same time. They were supposed to leave on 28th and 29th but due to corona virus, all the countries are closing their borders and all the flights are flying due to which Racheal, Dika and Josephat will have to leave within this week, as soon as possible. Due to this situation even, their farewell party was cancelled. We thought that we had 1 or 2 weeks at least; we also thought that we all will spend as much possible time together but now we hardly have any days left, may be 1 or 2 days. Unfortunately, they all have to leave in a very chaotic situation but I think it’s for the best. You never know, may be in next 10 years, we all will laugh on this situation.
by Josephat Seleman Hema from Tanzania, Back in October 2019 I attended a Tanzania-Network-in-Germany conference in Berlin. I was happy to get a chance of reading one poem and one article I wrote on the last night of the conference.
by Josephat Seleman Hema from Tanzania, On 09.02.2020 we had a Sunday service with the Theme of the next Kirchentag that will be taking place in May 2021 in Frankfurt/Main. It was a nice opportunity that we as International volunteers participated in preparing a sermon and so we all had different things to talk about for the Kirchentag.
29th November 2019, after a day full of packing, trying to hold on to as much memories as I can and with a very heavy heart I stepped into Dirk’s car. Bid bye to the Volunteershouse one last time. The clouds were gloomy on our way to the Frankfurt Airport and half way though it started to rain and I remember Rachel telling me “Germany doesn’t want to let you go, that’s why the skies are pouring”. As I bid farewell, I couldn’t just hold my tears back, I hugged every one a little tighter and said to myself “You will meet them again, I promise”. As I checked in my baggage and waited for my flight, then came the most devastating news: my plane was cancelled due to technical issues, the next possible flight was only after 48 hours. My worst nightmare had begun!
By Carol Naidu from India, The Dortmund Petrikirche (St. Petri church) is one of the four medieval town churches of the Dortmund city center. It was built in 1322 as a gothical hall church and lies in the western part of downtown.
Hello! My name is Georges Kasereka Kalungero and I come from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am 25 years old. I was a teacher at Bondire Elementary School from 2014 to 2016. My Hobby is football. I am a delegate of my church called ECC (Church of Christ in Congo), an association of Protestant churches here in Congo. I was a teacher in one of the Protestant school, teaching children in the 3rd and 5th grade. Going to Germany is a chance for me to discover many things and also a chance to live on another continent. I will also be able to build relationships with people from different countries, such as Louis and Adelia, both of them are from Indonesia. The time we will spend with each other will be a time to acquire new knowledge and experience, and that is exactly what we will do.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Espérance Mirindi is preparing in these days for her voluntary service in Dortmund. She will arrive in Dortmund in April 2020 and support the team at the central advise centre for homeless people at Diakonie Dortmund. Espérance is introducing herself in this video:
