Eva-Maria Dichtl

How did you get involved with ArrivalAid ?

A little over a year ago, I started looking for organizations where you could volunteer. I came across ArrivalAid and the job mentoring program pretty quickly. At that time, an introductory training course for volunteers was being planned, which I took part in at short notice. Getting started was quick and very uncomplicated.  

Did you find us through a volunteer portal?

No, I just did some research and then came across you on the internet.

Why do you volunteer in general? Why ArrivalAid ?

In general, because apart from what I do every day in my job, I wanted to get involved in society in areas where I can have a positive influence on existing problems. Especially from the position that I am doing well and not lacking anything, I felt the need to get involved.

I had finished my studies the year before and started a permanent job. Given this situation, it seemed sensible to me to get involved permanently. I then looked for things where there was a need for volunteers and where I could make a meaningful contribution with my background. Working with refugees seemed obvious to me.

I found the job mentoring program in particular useful because access to the job market is so important for the integration of refugees. Having recently completed a job search myself, I know the procedures and know roughly how the application process works. This means I can provide targeted support to job seekers.  

How many hours do you commit to? 

That is very different. This ranges from 5 hours a week to 5 hours a month, depending on your needs.

Does this also depend on your time or is it more based on the needs of the refugees?

As a rule, I focus on the refugees; I can actually always set it up spontaneously. However, for me it's best to meet in the evening or late afternoon, but that's not a problem for most people.

Do you have an event that stands out in your memory?

What I always find nice is getting to know my mentees at the beginning. Until now there was usually a language barrier, which meant communication was often a little bumpy at first. Especially when this is more difficult, I really enjoy finding out the character and nature of a person and finding out about their background and their strengths and talents.

Another great event for me with ArrivalAid was the cooking event with Plant-a-Talent at the Soulmade Hotel. I met a lot of new and interesting people (both mentors and mentees) and learned a lot about each of them. It was a lovely evening, we ate well and laughed a lot!

Would you also recommend that others volunteer? In general and at ArrivalAid in particular?

Yes, in general I would definitely recommend everyone to volunteer. There is always a need for people to get involved and there is a great need for volunteers in a wide variety of areas. It's also fun and you get a lot out of it. In this respect, I would recommend this to everyone.  

I can also warmly recommend ArrivalAid in particular, because I think there is a successful mix of professionalism and uncomplicatedness here. For example, the website: I found out everything straight away and it was easy to get information when I decided to join. At the same time, it was also very relaxing to just get in and join in. All the people are really nice and the team is a cool, warm bunch. Everyone is happy that you are taking part and at the same time they also understand if you, for example, B. is limited in time. In this respect, I can only recommend it to everyone!

You said you are also committed to contributing something to society. Does your commitment also benefit you on a personal level?

Definitely. The bottom line is that we in Germany in particular are doing extremely well. I, for example, grew up very privileged: I was able to enjoy all the freedoms, school, studying, traveling. I had a supportive family and a stable political and social environment. Given that this luck through no fault of our own is an absolutely exceptional case compared to the rest of the world, it's quite good to have the feeling, at least now and then, that you're actively helping others with something. In addition, you get to know a lot of different interesting people and benefit from working with people from different countries because you learn a lot of new things and get to know new perspectives. If that leads to something good, such as: For example, to make the application process easier for someone, then that's a good feeling. Apart from that, working with the mentees and the people at ArrivalAid is just fun!