One big problem here in Germany is complete integration. We have read about this in one of the lectures before we came to Germany and we have seen it and felt it. A lot of the people who volunteer with refugees and immigrants have “play dates” at the place the immigrates or refugees live, they are more than happy to go and hang out with them there, however, they never go out with them. The full integration hasn’t happened yet, I am not sure why? I have an opinion... maybe it is because volunteers want to feel good and they might feel like they are doing charity or community service that once they are done with it they just leave everything behind the door with the immigrants. Maybe they are ashamed of being seemed with them out in the real world.... who knows!
I do think that programs like Buddies for Refugees are very important and need to be implemented everywhere to achieve full integration, volunteers need to be able to spend time with them not only at their homes but also out on the streets, walking around, getting some coffee, going in a lunch date etc.
I once again feel blessed that my Freising group and I were able to achieve this, we met some really cool and fun people from Pakistan during our visit to the apartment complex (containers) they live in. They were so welcoming, answered all of the questions out curious minds had, were very funny, invited us back for dinner the next week. We built trust right away, we integrated easily. We went to watch the Colombia vs England game together at a restaurant, we went out on different occasion to beer gardens in Germany, we added each other on social media, more importantly we became friends.
Another thing to note here, is that unlike most of the volunteers we were able to fully integrate with some of the asylum seekers. What I mean by this is we socialized in their environment and also outside in the real world like a group of friends.
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