I am online

Today my new homepage goes online and I am more than happy about it.

Because for many people on the run, it's now "down to the wire" and they need us more than ever!

I have been working mainly with and for young refugees from Syria and Afghanistan for 4 years.

I am the founder of "Give me your hand", this association was mainly active in southern Styria in the beginning. I was on daily duty at the Spielfeld border for 2 months, among other things as coordinator of the interpreters for the EL. Even here, many of the young men we looked after provided Austria with a priceless voluntary service through their very social and consistent work.

We have put together many great projects.

Volunteer German courses, a cooperation with FH Joanneum Graz/German courses, Refugee Coffe, Aktion:Bahnhof, Let's cook 2gether. We sent volunteer refugees to the schools to help the children and teachers communicate at the beginning, we connected people from different countries with Austrians to reduce mutual reservations and fears and to lay the foundation for a good life together.

We have been successful in finding school places and apprenticeships. Many of the boys we first met 3.5 years ago have achieved considerable success and are right in the middle of our community.

What I have noticed again and again and what I think is also part of the recipe for success: the boys need love and rules.

Imagine having to leave your homeland, but above all your beloved family, due to the saddest of circumstances, war, terror, radicalism, etc. You have to leave everything you love behind. You have to leave behind everything you loved despite war, despite fear. Your parents, your siblings, the smell of familiar surroundings, your sleeping place, your grandparents, your friends, your dog, everything to which you are emotionally attached and which were precisely those things that gave you the peace and security you needed to survive between the terror of war, bombings, raids by radical troops, mafia machinations.

The young people were brave, activated all their strength, their courage, took on the superhuman to somehow manage this difficult journey into the unknown.

On the way, many of them encountered the darkest sides of humanity once again. Here in Europe: child and organ trafficking, unscrupulous traffickers, the mafia that forced them to work, aggression at its peak.

What they are missing most here with us now, and what not a single person from the governing parties is talking about, are people they can confide in, where they can let their secret tears flow, have conversations, talk about their great grief of loss.

Someone who shakes their hand, strokes their face, gives them a handkerchief when the tears flow, or cries with them, takes an interest when someone dies in their distant homeland, shows them how much their fate, their life means to us. Yes, these young people need that, just as we all do.

It takes time to build trust. But the investment in that time, in becoming familiar with these young refugees, is invaluable for all of us. We get to know each other, we reduce fears, we weave ourselves into an active community and we begin to give each other solidarity. Hurts, wounds can heal and slowly souls can open up again. This is a development that is incredibly important for good social coexistence. For all of us and for the next generation, all of our children.

Since the guys I work with, apart from two with whom I share a flat, come from the most diverse areas in and around Graz, over the years my kitchen became more and more an office, community and learning space. We never had the money to rent an office, a common room, which I am glad about today, because I can organise my work the way we, my friends and I think it should be and don't have to comply with inhumane state guidelines, the eternal reduction to an inhumane minimum.

Here, in our flat, we cook together, drink tea, dry tears, discuss training plans and make friends. This is where networking to competent legal advice takes place, this is where we start our excursions from. This is where tasks are discussed and completed. Preparations for projects are made here. And this is also where meetings with other helpers take place, because networking is more important than ever.

Now I, like so many other committed helpers, am in the situation where young people whom we have learned to love, who love us, who trust us, who have given their best, are faced with the dilemma of Austria's disastrous refugee policy. In my case, exclusively young people from Afghanistan.

And it is exactly here and now that it is so important to stay in this place, next to these young people, and to stand by them with all the possibilities at our disposal.

All these years I talked about "my" boys. I rejoiced with them when they won prizes, completed German courses up to C1, started apprenticeships, mastered vocational school classes and made friends with Austrians.

Thanks to a populist and cruel refugee policy, it is now time to "get down to business".

Against all reason and against better judgement, the Austrian Federal Government wants to send people, especially from Afghanistan, out of our country and back to Afghanistan. A country where terror, war scenarios and radicalism are the order of the day and where, according to human rights experts such as Friederieke Stahlmann, Max Planck Institute, Prof. Wolfgang Benedek, human rights expert, Thomas Ruttig, journalist, there is currently no chance whatsoever for returnees to start a new life.

The federal government has refugees who live with Austrian families, who have apprenticeships, who go to schools, who are members of associations picked up from our midst in order to deport them to Afghanistan.

And that is precisely why I will not leave my place. It is not possible for me, because I would not forgive myself to leave young people alone who so urgently need all our help, our voices, in the greatest need.

How much I would wish, if my own children were in this situation, that they would receive support and what every human being needs from a stranger somewhere: Trust, affection and solidarity, in short, love.

That is why I stay here, in my place, and walk this path together with the young people. Every day new ones join us, because the fear and despair of the people is great. Often I don't know how to cope with it all, but thanks to good friends and a large, very strong network of many strong comrades-in-arms, I keep going.

The homepage is a start into a new dimension. I dream of a "House of Hope", I dream of "Changing the Narrative", I dream of beautiful celebrations because these young people have passed their school-leaving exams here, completed their studies, finished their apprenticeships, yes, I dream of that. And I dream of it and I don't give up hope that finally also politicians will say publicly what they whisper to me behind closed doors: "We should finally find a reasonable solution for your concerns".

Even if I almost lose heart now and then because racism and xenophobia have found their way into the Austrian parliament, I know from practical experience how many wonderful people there are in our country in all different walks of life. And I know exactly how many committed NGOs there are in Austria.

And I know deep in my heart that reason and love will prevail.

I will continue to work consistently for this in the future.

I thank "my boys" for their trust, for their great performances , for their strong characters and for their big hearts. I will also bring up these people here in the course of the next few months.

I would like to thank all those who have taken on sponsorships, accompaniment or anything else. I would like to thank all those who supported us in our training and in our search for apprenticeships. And I would also like to thank all those who have taken on the therapeutic care of our souls.

Last but not least, thank you to all those who make good legal representations for people.

Because without all of you I could not do my work.

And only together will we master the great human and political challenge.

Let's not say in the future:

"We did not know"

 

Let us work so that we can say to our children and grandchildren:

"Yes, terrible, we knew. That's exactly why we stopped and connected with the people. To do together whatever was necessary to prevent these human rights violations and this immoderate unreasonableness and unkindness".

In gratitude and great confidence,

Doro

Comments 7

  1. Dear Doro, on behalf of many others I thank you for making visible what would otherwise remain in the dark and for not limiting yourself to pointing out grievances but actively working to eliminate them. There are many people who point the finger at others. What we need are people who reach out to each other and you not only demonstrate this, but you live this insight and that is what makes your work so important and successful. I wish you all the best and much success in the future and hope that many of us will "recover" from the "social upheavals" in this world. Even if it seems like a paradox, but without wounds the disease would always remain hidden and would make its way unnoticed until it paralyses the heart. Only by attending to the wounds do we all become aware of the underlying illness and with this awareness of all that is wrong can the process of social recovery begin. Somewhat crankily worded, but hopefully understandable nonetheless 🙂 Continued love and best wishes. Robert

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      Author

      Dear Robert, dear friend!
      Your lines are always understandable to me.
      Thank you for your encouragement and your continued support. What would I have done without you, you consistent supporter of people in need. Many of the boys made their first steps in our language with you. I know how happy you are that they are already working, that they can have discussions with us, that they are among us. I look forward to our reunion and thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you are doing, undeterred by the political disaster. With love, Doro

  2. Dear Doro

    Nice to see that you are an activist, and with a hp to boot; your comments accurately describe the political situation. Maybe we will meet in person one day.

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      Author

      Dear Irmgard, thank you for your lines, yes, I would be pleased.
      Just get in touch, it is important that we network well. All the best, Doro

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      Author

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