by Hannah from Chenai, India

Ever since I heard the news that the volunteershaus was shifting, there has been a void in my heart. During my time in Germany, the Volunteershaus was our comfort zone. Though it was very very far from the city centre, the house was just perfect for us volunteers.

The big garden where we played volley ball, sat on the pool during the hot summers eating cherries. The always noisy and loud kitchen, which sometimes had the most pleasant aromas from around the world and most of the times a burnt pizza. The living room filled with our beautiful images and movie nights. Volunteershaus was the best place a volunteer could ever get. I was lucky enough to have spent a year and a half to have live there.
There is a burden in my heart, that when I see the wickede house the next time it wont be the volunteers house. To me the house is filled with a ton of memories and emotions. The reason why I loved being there was because of the people around me. Gentile’s Dance, Lousie’s and Dika’s food. Rachel’s humour and Joe’s poem. Now when I look back at it, it just looks so perfect.

Dortmund has always been a part of me and so is the Volunteershaus. There is a famous english proverb which says “Home is where the heart is”. This proverb doesn’t make a lot of meaning to us volunteers right now, who still live thousands of miles apart from wickede but our hearts are always there at the Volunteershaus.