Where I am and What I do

Since some of you have asked what I actually do here in Hamburg, I'll post a letter I wrote to my home church in Pennsylvania. It will hopefully answer some of your questions.

Hello, - or shall I say “Guten Tag”? - from Brot und Rosen in Hamburg, Germany!  Brot und Rosen (Bread and Roses) is an intentional Christian community, and part of the Catholic Worker Movement (like the house I was at in San Antonio).  But, instead of serving the general homeless population, this Catholic Worker House focuses on refugees and migrants who are homeless due to lack of documentation.  There are two families and three single Germans who are the permanent community members; they run the house, and take care of the people, finances and donations.  Most of them have part-time jobs, and what money they make goes right back into the community. (Everyone gets a monthly allowance to spend however they like). We live off of these funds, along with donations of money and food; especially nice is the weekly donations of veggies and dairy products from an organic food store! In addition, there is often one or two volunteers (me) who are there to learn what Brot und Rosen is all about and to share in the work.  Last but not least, we have our refugee guests, usually six people at a time. We all live together, sharing one big house and two apartments.  

You may be wondering, what is my job, exactly?  That is an excellent question, and after almost two months, I still don’t know the answer!  One of the German Community members described my job as being an au pair, but instead of kids I have refugees to look after!  I help with the cooking; I clean; I answer telephones; and I interpret between English, German and Spanish.  I also spend time getting to know our guests.  We go on walks, watch movies, play games, and listen to music.  You know you have a pretty sweet job when you are getting paid to play Uno! 

            Another part of my job is at Café Exil, a café staffed by volunteers who give migrants and refugees advice on their situations with the foreign bureau, help with translation and interpretation, and offer accompaniment to appointments if they need a translator or just need support.  At the foreign bureau (Ausländerbehörde) at least, it can often be very beneficial to have someone there with you, to witness what the official decides on your case.  The officials are not known to be especially kindhearted people.  They are not there to make anyone’s life easier, and often their decisions as to how long a person is allowed to remain in the country are arbitrarily made, depending on the country the person is from, or even what kind of mood the official is in.  I am supremely blessed to have my German citizenship as well as American; I know of other Americans wanting to live and work in Germany but who have had a terrible time getting an “Aufenthaltserlaubnis” or legal resident permit from the foreign bureau. 

Our guests are primarily from Africa and the Middle East, although we have also have guests from Latin America and the former Yugoslavia. From the former Yugoslavia the guests are usually Roma (Gypsies), some of the most persecuted people in Europe.   Our guests are very kind and hospitable people, eager to share in the chores and the cooking. They are also completely helpless people.  They have escaped situations of dire poverty or extreme violence and persecution in their own countries, some traveling for years to get to Europe, only to find that instead of being able to become the breadwinners here and a beacon of hope for their families at home, they have no legal status, or permission from the state to work, and so, no money or shelter, and therefore have to rely on charity (although working illegally has also been attempted by many).  Most of our guests go through periods of depression.  As one girl told me, it is the first time in her life where she has nothing to do.  These are people from the third world, whose lives have been work, work, work, and now they feel worthless because they are not permitted to support themselves all because of the lack of one or two pieces of paper.  Here at Brot und Rosen, however, our guests have access to lawyers, psychologists, and medical care (one of the German community members works for an organization that provides medical care to undocumented people).  We involve them in our community life, and also do many fun things together, like apple-picking, candle-making and a community outing to the famous German Christmas markets, taking goofy pictures of each other!  We (Christians and Muslims alike) spent a merry Christmas together, full of singing, games, international and German food…..and don’t even get me started on the cookies! .......