By IsraAID Staff | IsraAID Germany
It is a one of a kind project: refugees sewing protective masks for Holocaust survivors in the projects of IsraAID Germany. Towards the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our refugee volunteers began making 150 masks each week in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Stuttgart, and donated to Holocaust survivors and other persons in need. So far, more than 30 persons with a refugee background took part in the initiative, and over 1,000 masks have been made and distributed. The project was enabled through the close cooperation with our local partner and their different project that support elderly holocaust survivors.
“We are very happy and grateful that young people, who came to Germany as refugees just like us, are thinking of us and have made these masks for us”, said Marius. Marius, now 79 years old, survived the Chernivtsi Ghetto as a child and came to Germany also as a refugee.
Marah*, originally from Syria and in Germany since 2015, says that she has learned in the Leadership and Participation project of IsraAID Germany “how we can be role-models within our communities and to be able to do that we have to deal with the history and circumstances in Germany. Many people think that we Muslims are automatically anti-Semites. I hope that with this work, we can show that this is not true. It was a moving experience for me to be able to hand over the masks to elderly people who survived the Holocaust, which I only really learned about in the last few years.”
Anna, Project Manager, is also extremely satisfied with the project. “The program was born out of necessity and has developed really well. Giving people meaningful tasks automatically leads to a change in mood, increase in confidence, and motivates them for other activities. At the same time, we can create acceptance of the refugees among the host society. By doing this, we are bringing together two groups who would otherwise seldomly have contact with one another.”
We appreciate your continued support while we continue this program in Germany.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
