HelperNet gGmbH

A look back at last week Last week we had the chance to present insights from our work, within the TRIGG Program for traumatized refugees, at the round table. The discussion was about Return and Reintegration in Nigeria with IOM Germany and Social Impact gGmbH and their Project Arrives. ⚡️ Our CEO Laurin Schulte was attending the event and in this post we would like to go over the key points of his presentation about Nigeria in a few lines: When I was first asked to speak about Nigeria in only 10 minutes I was hesitating. There are so many things to say about this diverse, densely populated and complex country that I didn't know where to start.  However, as the topic was about return and reintegration it was important for me to also speak about why people might not want to return to Nigeria. In the last years 28% of our TRIGG-Participants were Nigerians, so I shared two of their tragic stories, that clearly show why returning is not option for many.  There is simply a blind spot in the German asylum system, that leads to only 12,2% of Nigerians recieving some kind of protection in Germany in 2023 (ProAsyl). However, the majority of Nigerians had good reasons to take on the dangerous way to Europe, crossing the Sahara and the Mediterranean. These people are often victims of crime, corruption, local disputes and armed conflicts like the Fulani-Farmer-Conflict. Some women were trafficked to Europe for prostitution, some were circumcised and try to protect their daughters from FGM. All those cases are not covered by the German asylum laws.  During the discussion I came to the conclusion that a "voluntary" return is often not voluntary but just a better option than being deported forcefully. Many offers for return and reintegration focus on empowering and training Nigerians to open businesses in Nigeria upon return. However those people who are eligible for such programs are the same people who are eligible to get a permanent residency in Germany though skilled labour. Single mothers for example, who often can't learn German or go to work are being disciminated twice, by not providing them with necessary protection from FGM or human trafficking and by not being eligible for residence permits though labour. We should take this serious when we are speaking about return and reintegration in Nigeria. We would like to adress a special thanks to all those who made this event possible, and to all the other speakers and attendees: the Nigerian Embassy in Berlin, Gloria Olabisi and Go1School e.V. David Badu, Social Impact gGmbH, Michelle Balon, Julia Mamedov IOM Germany, prof. Van Den Brook, Stephan Kelm, René Nwanosike, MSc, MA Sandra Vermuijten-Alonge Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH Edith Otiende-Lawani Akinola Famson

Updates from last Saturday 🔥 Last week we had the honour of taking part in the award ceremony for the "Preis für offenherzige Weitergabe", translated as "Prize for Open-hearted Sharing". Out of 74 applications, we made it into the top 10 and were nominated! The various nominated organisations all had an honourable and promising concept to defend, making the competition tough. We didn't win any prizes that evening, but the encounters and exchanges with the different volunteers were the real reward. Many thanks to Ashoka Deutschland gGmbH WOHN:SINN - Bündnis für inklusives Wohnen e.V. and Stiftung Bildung for the organisation and the great evening, as well as the exciting workshops the next day.

Stress is growing 💫 A few months ago we applied for the "Preis für offenherzige Weitergabe", or literally translated as "Prize for Open-hearted Sharing". This prize rewards charitable organisations that share their successful concept with others. And what a nice surprise it was when we were one of the 10 organisations nominated from all over Germany! The final verdict announcing the winning organisation will take place this Friday 21th of June at 17:30 at the Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst (SMÄK). Over the last few years we have worked hard to create a support group for traumatised refugees, to develop our own support methods, to create a group of volunteers to whom we pass on our knowledge, and to open a second support group in Tegernsee. This nomination is a kind of recognition for everything we do every day with Helpernet and we are extremely grateful.   This is why we would like to thank WOHN:SINN - Bündnis für inklusives Wohnen e.V. for giving importance and visibility to organisations such as ours. We look forward to seeing you on Friday!

Things are moving ⚡️ Yesterday our CEO Laurin Schulte and Ulrich Flossdorf went to the Fachtag München 2042 (Yes, you read that right). We talked about migration and, more specifically about : " Do we still need migration services in 2042? ". The very clear answer is yes! During the day we received really interesting insights from the different presentations given by the City of Munich, by Dr. Janina Seebach from Caritas, by Barbara Abdallah-Steinkopff  from Refugio München and by Prof. Dr. Gerhard Trabert. It's through discussions, events and chance encounters that we are gradually getting things moving. We would like to thank Caritasverband der Erzdiözese München und Freising e.V. who organised the event. And a special thanks to Iulia Riedmayr and Nicolas Büechel who we have known since 2018. Time when we were both working on approaches on how to stabilise traumatised refugees. We are happy to see that they are still working hard and offering crucial help to refugees! 🙌

Under a beautiful May sun, with a wonderful team, we ran. ☀️ On this Sunday 12th of May, we were more united than ever as we crossed the finish line of the #GirodiMonaco. What a joy to have achieved this together! Thank you to Bellevue di Monaco for organising the event and to our crack team for their energy! 

We are talking about us 🗣 To help people cope with trauma, the Tegernseer Helferkreis has launched a new project in which we are taking part. And it was on the occasion of this first meeting that Merkur.de dedicated an article to the project. We are proud to invite you to take a 5-minute break and click on the link below👇👇 (non-german speakers : use the translation option) https://lnkd.in/emv33DV5

🛎 Feedback On the 12th of April, Laurin Schulte and Katharina Halser had the great opportunity to take part in the AdEx digital Bootcamp in Zürich. It has been an enriching experience for HelperNet gGmbH! In this post we'd like to thank AdEx Partners for their warm welcome and for putting an expert eye on the issues we face as an NGO. 🙌

Dear community, After a few weeks of absence, we're back in force. For those working with volunteers in leadership positions we are pleased to offer you a new workshop! 💪 Our CEO Laurin Schulte and our therapist Ulrich Flossdorf will give you the keys for strengthening resilience, and more specifically how to overcome crises and show strength. When? 🗓 The meeting is scheduled for the 24th of April at 5 p.m. Where?📍 At Königsdorfer Str. 5 - Kloster Beuerberg - 82547 Eurasburg We would like to thank Ruth Busl and the Kreisbildungswerk Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen e. V. for organising this workshop. We hope to see you there!

Back in a few pictures to the African Ambassador Labour Mobility Summit in Berlin on the 15th of March. It was a great chance for advocating for refugee potential when speaking about labour shortage as part of the Spurwechsel ("switch lanes") from the new Fachkräftezuwanderungsgesetz ("skilled labourer immigration law"). Often refugee potential is not recognised when speaking about acquiring workers which leads to a paradox situation: While we are recruiting skilled labourers from certain countries, citizens of the same countries are waiting for deportation from Germany. We thereby overlook the potentials we are loosing and that Germany is currently lacking labourers in general, not only skilled labourers with recognized degrees. Further, we had the pleasure to meet some already well-known faces from previous Zoom calls in person for the first time. Daniel Ogutu Akinola Famson and Martin Kanopka. Special Thanks also to the organising team of Giving Africa a New Face (GAaNF) e.V. with special thanks to Abschira Kontny for the moderation. It was nice meeting Caroline Mwangi Leonard Konrad-Adomako Kazeem Ojoye and Bill KODJA again and I also want to thank Edith Otiende-Lawani for never giving up and making possible the impossible. All those who participated truly inspired us and especially Eric, Andrew and Kamara from our Team. Hence, also a special thanks to them for joining our delegation and to the rest of our team that joined Ulrich Flossdorf Katharina, Egor and Laurin Schulte. We are looking towards a positive enrollment of the 360° Labour Mobility Alliance and are happy to walk this way together in 2024 and beyond.

Vorgestern hatte ich das Vergnügen, mit meiner geschätzten Kollegin Marzena Juliana Pustelnik am African Ambassadors Labour Mobility Summit 2.0 in Berlin teilzunehmen! Der African Ambassadors Summit, organisiert von der 360° Labour Mobility Alliance und Giving Africa a New Face (GAaNF) e.V., ist ein gutes Beispiel dafür, wie eine ganzheitliche Zusammenarbeit zwischen verschiedenen Akteuren wie Behörden, Unternehmen, Bildungseinrichtungen und der Gesellschaft gelingen kann, um Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund erfolgreich in den deutschen Arbeitsmarkt zu integrieren.  Während des Gipfels haben wir als socialbee gGmbH über unsere Integration von Menschen in den Arbeitsmarkt durch Jobs und Weiterbildungsangebote für Arbeitssuchende + Unterstützung von Unternehmen bei der langfristigen Beschäftigung von geflüchteten oder migrierten Talenten berichtet und verschiedene Lösungen für die Arbeitsmarktintegration diskutiert, darunter die Förderung von Vielfalt in Unternehmen, die Bekämpfung von Diskriminierung und Vorurteilen und die Stärkung des Zugehörigkeitsgefühls, um mehr vielfältige Talente für den deutschen Arbeitsmarkt zu gewinnen.   In diesem Sinne möchte ich mich ganz herzlich bei Edith Otiende-Lawani und gesamten Giving Africa a New Face (GAaNF) e.V. Team für die Einladung und die bereichernde Organisation, für den netten Austausch mit Jana Grebe, Michelle Balon und Welella Negussie von IOM - UN Migration Team, Martin Schott von Bertrandt Group und Martin Kanopka von WYN Legal, zum Austausch über gemeinsame Kooperationsmöglichkeiten mit repräsentativen Organisationen der Zivilgesellschaft wie Caroline Mwangi AG-Career Hub, Kazeem Ojoye @African Youth Enlightenment Empower e.V., Jacklyne kuhn Kenyan Women In Germany e.V., Akinola Famson Afrika-Rat Berlin Brandenburg e.V., Caren Moirongo @Stuttgarter Frauen Stiftung, Laurin Schulte HelperNet gGmbH, Leonard Konrad-Adomako AiDiA - Afrodeutscher Startup Pitch , Esther Bornefeld Vivian Onzere, Afrotopia e.V., Hayford A. Anydoho Ossara e.V., Kerstin Njoya Bruder Hilfe e.V. bedanken. #africanambassadorssummit #LabourMobility  #EqualOpportunities #GlobalCollaboration #africantalents