„Über den Tellerrand“ als NGO-Name? Das hat uns neugierig gemacht! Wir haben bei dieser NGO aus Deutschland nachgefragt, worum es bei diesen Blicken über den Tellerrand geht, welche Vision hinter dem Verein steht und welche Erfolgsgeschichten schon geschrieben wurden. Viel Spaß beim Lesen des neuesten NGO-Porträts unseres Deutschland-Schwerpunktes!
Photo: Über den Tellerrand e.V. Berlin
„Über den Tellerrand“ klingt ja spannend. Geht es bei euch um Horizonterweiterung, um Essen, oder um beides?
Clearly about both! Or simply "broadening horizons through food".
We use cooking and enjoying familiar and unfamiliar dishes together as a unifying element. Because food is home and adventure. Slicing and frying creates conversations that don't necessarily require a common language. Integration becomes a fun topic at the kitchen table.
Since summer 2015, we have been organizing cooking events in Frankfurt am Main where people from Frankfurt and people who have fled to Frankfurt meet. In different formats and different group sizes, meeting spaces are created in a relaxed atmosphere in which all participants can contribute their talents, skills and cultural background. As further opportunities for encounters arise from the shared cooking experiences and on the initiative of refugees and local volunteers, integration becomes a sustainable process that goes beyond cooking and eating together.
Photo: Über den Tellerrand e.V. Frankfurt
Can you briefly introduce your initiative?
Über den Tellerrand Frankfurt e.V. is the first of more than 30 satellite locations of the Über den Tellerrand network, which has been implementing the 'integration at eye level' approach since 2013, starting in Berlin. The aim of Über den Tellerrand's work is to build intercultural friendship networks of refugees and local residents (communities). In our community, the boundaries between newcomers and long-established residents are becoming blurred. Positive exchange and mutual curiosity, equal participation and flexible social engagement become possible.
We facilitate cultural experiences with our cultural group. In this context, we visit theaters and museums together, take part in city tours or organize games or bowling evenings. Our regulars' table offers space for regular informal meetings and is open to new and familiar faces.
Photo: Über den Tellerrand e.V. Frankfurt
What are you particularly proud of? What success story can you tell?
We are particularly proud of our Job Buddy program. This is a specially developed mentoring program that supports refugees when they arrive in Germany. In a 1:1 mentorship, a person with professional experience helps a refugee individually in the application process and with orientation on the German job market. During the five-month program, the mentors support the refugees in finding their way around the job market, preparing application documents and preparing for job interviews. All Job Buddies come together at regular network meetings. Experts supplement the meetings with professional input and workshops on topics such as intercultural competence and human resources.
Around a third of the participating refugees find employment through the program. An important step towards successful integration. And at the same time, people who rarely meet in everyday life get to know each other.
How can we support you? What opportunities are there to volunteer? Do you offer internships, paid jobs or voluntary work?
We offer a wide range of flexible volunteering opportunities. At our cooking events, community members guide other participants in cooking and pass on their own knowledge. Our cultural group and our regulars' table are planned and organized by volunteers. We are always open to new ideas - gardening outside the box, kicking outside the box - whatever the community feels like doing.
We also facilitate civic engagement in other areas of our association's activities in order to initiate integration processes in Frankfurt by Frankfurters. Our volunteer teams are active in the following areas: maintaining our Facebook page, creating the newsletter, press work, photography, graphic design work, support with bookkeeping and as part of the Job Buddy Program.
In principle, we also offer the opportunity to do part-time student jobs, internships and federal voluntary service.
What do you want for your club in the future? What visions do you have?
We believe in a society in which everyone is an equal member and can play an active role in shaping it. In order to achieve this, the values of social cohesion, mutual respect and openness towards diversity play a central role for us. With our various formats, we want to reach more and more people in Frankfurt over the next few years in order to actively contribute to the positive coexistence of refugees and local residents. Because for us, integration is purely a matter of pots and pans!
Links
- Website „Über den Tellerrand e.V. Frankfurt“
- Facebook-Page „Über den Tellerrand e.V. Frankfurt“
- Would you like to support the association financially? Click here for details.
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