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Competition for the refugees: Monday, 12/10/2015

Team Baraq - with Johannes our photographer, Dominique and Jannique - fly from Saarbrücken to Cos to meet the refugees on the Greek island. In our luggage: posters, leaflets, pens and 35kg overweight. On Cos, we will take the ferry to Bodrum in Turkey. From there we will return to Cos and take a ferry to Athens. After arriving at Cos airport, we went straight to our hotel to organise the next day.
Unfortunately, we found out that the hotel was not 20 km from Cos, but almost 35 km - and it’s not that easy to get to the city by bus. Therefore, to get around, we had to hire a car.

1st day in Cos: Tuesday, 13/10/2015

After breakfast we set out on our journey right away. Unfortunately, in Germany we had not been able to organise much for the trip! Luckily, we had heard about a hotel in the news and on TV - Hotel Captain Elias. Médecins sans frontiéres were also based there. We probably wouldn’t have been able to find the hotel! What a stroke of luck!
We wandered about the streets and discovered a house that looked like a place where refugees could be. When we parked the car, Johannes wanted to have a smoke before taking a closer look at the place. That was because we had to build up our courage!
We discussed how we could approach the building and the people, and came up with the idea of putting up our posters in order to get in contact with them.

While putting up the posters, we must have unintentionally appeared quite scatty - we were being watched. A man on the first floor was watching us, looking very severely at us. However, when he saw our posters, he gave us a smile! Now, the ice had been broken. Later on, the people even helped us to put up the posters!

After putting up the first posters, we summoned up the courage and started talking to the people. We introduced ourselves, handed out our leaflets and explained, that we had come from Germany to meet them here and talk to them. We wanted to raise awareness about their situation in our blog, and invite them to our competition. They were thrilled, that someone had come from Germany explicitly to talk to them. We had swept them off their feet!

Of course, we had pencils and paper with us, as we didn’t want to make the same mistakes as in our competition for Roma and Sinti. The people in slums had been too poor and had neither pencils nor paper. That’s why, back then, such spontaneous action, as we were experiencing now, did not happen! The different family members came out of the building, one after the other. They were from Syria, but were Palestinians. They took our pencils and paper immediately. Some of them went straight back into the house and started drawing!

In a side building, we had seen a man who seemed very sad. We approached that building and asked him, whether we could enter (the buildings had a small front yard). He was very polite and friendly, said we could enter and introduced himself: he was called Mohammed. He offered us a seat and we explained our project. Of course, we invited him warmly to take part! “I will take part!” he said immediately. He said, he only had to wait for his name to appear on the noticeboard. Then he will go to Germany. This was about to happen today.
He told us about himself. He had studied at university in Syria for two semesters, computer engineering.
Mohammed is very likeable and open, and was very happy that we were there. We asked him, whether he would answer a few questions - and he answered spontaneously, yes.

1. How did you get to Cos?
“In … is my home. From Syria, I went to Lebanon, then to Mersin in Turkey and then to Bodrum. From Bodrum, we took a rubber dinghy to Greece, to Cos. The facilitator wanted more than €1,800. The most expensive part of the journey was the boat form Bodrum to Cos - more than €1,100. A normal trip is around €30. But what choice did we have! There were 45 of us on the boat, usually it takes only 10 people.”

2. Where did you get the money from?
“I sold my small business, which I ran alongside my studies.”

3. Why did you leave your country?
“Because of the war. Before the war, my family and I were well off. I studied and had my own business. My girlfriend died in an air raid. My brother? He was displaced and we still don’t know where he is. I was in prison for one month.”

4.  Why? What had you done?
“wrong time, wrong place. I was completely innocent. I had done nothing wrong, and I didn’t know why they kept me in prison. Life in Syria had become unbearable. In my home country, when one turns 18 years old, people are forced to join the military. No matter whether you want or not! Some of my friends had been forced to do so. Two to three days later, they were dead. They had never used a gun before!!!”
Mohammed cried and we felt for him. We almost felt ashamed about asking him that much. But if we didn’t do so, we wouldn’t be able to understand what they were going through and comprehend why they were fleeing! “In Syria, we only have electricity for three hours per day, and water for one hour.”

5. What do you think about Putin interfering in your war?
“It is very bad for our people. It’s great for Assad, as he gets more power and strength. The Free Syrian Army wants freedom for the Syrian people. That’s what my people want.”

Who is waging war in your country?
“Al Nusra, ISIS, the Free Army, NATO, Assad and many smaller groups.”

6. Many Germans are worried about radicals entering our country.
“The fear is justified. However, there is terrorism all over the world. A small group of those coming from Syria also didn’t want to work back home. They will also not be prepared to work in Germany. Yet, the largest share of the young people want to study. They want to work! They want to achieve something in life and are therefore happy to be able to go to Germany. That’s where they see their future.”

7. How many want to become a German citizen?
“Many say they would like to get German citizenship.” 

How does that feel, saying that?
“Now it feels normal, to become a German citizen. I want to become a German citizen!! There is nothing more I can expect from my home country, Syria.”

8. What does our chancellor, Angela Merkel, mean to the refugees?
“For us refugees, Angela Merkel is the mother of the nation, “the mother of hearts! You can feel that what she says comes deep from her heart.”
Mohammed is an honest, well brought up and polite young man! It would be enriching for Germany if such people came to us. At least that was the impression he made on team Baraq.

9. How was it, when you arrived in Greece?
“It was great! There were many people who helped us. I cannot complain. Not at all! We waited for two hours at the harbour and got registered.”

10. Did you have to leave your fingerprints?
“No fingerprints.”

11. Why are you not living in tents like the people by the harbour?
“We still have a bit of money and pay €20 per day for four of us. That’s ok.”

How much money have you got, Mohammed?
“€300. I hope that’s enough.”

12. At the moment, there are less refugees arriving on Cos. Do you know why?
“That’s because of the boy that was found dead on the beach in Turkey. The Turks are trying to shut off Bodrum.”

Mohammed, what do you want to tell us? What’s your message for us?
“Think about your lives!!!”

We thanked him for being so open. May god’s blessings be with him and his companions.
He said, he wanted to add something. We asked him whether he wanted to speak directly into the dictaphone. He agreed and started to speak in English.

You can listen to him here! It moved us a lot.

Baraq - Interview with Refugee Mohammed at Cos

Meanwhile, the people from the neighbouring houses had arrived with their drawings. After all of us had calmed down again, we asked Mohammed to help us talk to a Palestinian neighbour. Without batting an eyelid he interpreted for us! We asked for the names of the kids who drew the pictures, and wrote them down.
A woman told us, that they came from a camp in Syria and they were Palestinians. “We had never left the camp, have never seen Palestine.” Another woman said the Syrian police had hit her on the head. And she stressed that the stitches were 8-10 cm long. We asked whether we could get medicine for her. We thought it couldn’t be too expensive. But far off!
She said that no matter where someone comes from, from which country or which region - one doesn’t hit others on the head.
“We don’t have anything against Jews, but against the state of Israel. We were there first. The expelled us from our country.” They have no hope for peace. “Nothing will change!”

We asked Mohammed to come to town with us and interpret for us. He agreed and thanked us, that he was able to help us.
We decided to take Mohammed directly into our team Baraq. We went to town, straight to the harbour where refugees were arriving in their rubber dinghies, arriving from their “death trip”. That’s what Mohammed called it. He also showed us the boat in which he had arrived (in grey colour).

It was very moving to hear such a story from someone who had experienced it. As we wanted to take some pictures, we went through a gate by the harbour. What we saw there made us really sad. We felt that people didn’t like us taking photographs here.
There was tension in the air, fear of getting caught. We were almost done. We wanted to document that there were different prices for each life jacket.
It happened as it had to. Suddenly, the police were there and we feared we would have to hand in our camera. Luckily, we didn’t have to. We were chased away and watched until we had left. We left without arguing, as we had filmed everything and taken enough pictures. We were lucky to be able to record this tragic situation authentically. We were able to document these intense feelings beyond words, and got a glimpse of what suffering must have occurred. One of our team said: “Seeing all of that makes me realise that my sorrows are minimal, even though they sometimes keep me awake at night.” I think everyone in our team felt like that. We left the harbour area.

Mohammed was a great help! Because of him, the refugees were even more open. He also took us to the exit where the list of names of those who would be able to take a boat to Athens hung, and from there via the Balkans to Germany. He looked for his name, as he was supposed to leave the next day. However, his name was not on the list. Mohammed took us to the park, where refugees go if they need medical care.
There, we handed out our leaflets. We met great, open, dynamic, friendly and hopeful young people. A young man from a group of Syrians told us, he was a photographer and showed us pictures on his mobile. We were really impressed and asked him to join our competition immediately. When we asked him, which country he wanted to go to. He replied “to Switzerland”.

There was a great atmosphere and one had the feeling that the volunteers on Cos were doing their best! Unfortunately, we also sensed the atmosphere among the people from Pakistan, Iraq or Afghanistan being more sorrowful. We will get back to that later!
After we had handed out many leaflets, we took Mohammed back to where he was staying.
As time was short and we had to return our car, we arranged to meet him again the next day at noon for lunch. Mohammed was very happy that we would return the next day and thanked us again for helping us. Now, we also went to our hotel, packed with so many impressions. What an insightful day for us!!

Wednesday, 13/10/2015

We left at 11 am, to make sure that we would get to Mohammed in time. When we arrived, he showed us the piece of paper with his name on the list. He said his boat was leaving at 7 pm. He had packed and all prepared. When we arrived in the restaurant, we asked him whether he was scared about the long journey. He said he was looking forward to arriving in Germany.
He told us that a friend had said to him in Bodrum in Turkey: “You will meet people in Greece who will be good and help you!”
He had replied: “Who is gonna help me?” He stressed that now, while he was sitting in front of us, he knew that his friend had been right! We also want to support him when he is in Germany!

Our photographer Johannes showed him everything you need in Germany: ID card, insurance card, drivers licence, cash card. We were simply happy to be together, without asking many questions.
We took Mohammed back home. We asked him, whether he had time to go to the Palestinian family with us and interpret for us. We would really like to know about the meaning of the picture they had drawn the previous day. Mohammed was very happy to help us! We recorded what the kids and teens said for you:

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Later on we were asked to go to the pharmacy again to buy medicine for the scar on the woman’s head, as they were not able to buy medicine. Of course we agreed immediately. Dominique and Jannique went to get the medicine. Johannes stayed with Mohammed and talked to the man who had watched us sceptically at the beginning. He opened up more and more and told Johannes that the Islamic State wanted to chop his arm off. It was impossible to stay there. One of the women said that her mother was still in the camp and she definitely wanted to take her to Germany.

In the meantime, we had arrived back. Unfortunately, the pharmacy had been closed. But we didn’t want to give up! Johannes, Mohammed, Dominique and Jannique drove off again and, after searching for quite some time, found a pharmacy. There we found out that the required medicine had to be prescribed. We searched for the pharmacy where we had got the medicine the previous day, as they had turned a blind eye. However, this pharmacy was also closed!
After wandering around for quite some time, we found hotel Captain Elias by chance - it’s known from the news and TV. Médecins sans frontiéres were also based there. When we got out of the car, we found chaos. Vandalised and full of rubbish. The hotel had been closed.

                      

Mohammed followed Johannes into the building, as he didn’t want to let him enter on his own. What we saw made us wonder what those people had experienced and how they are today. So many destinies are en route. Our feeling at that moment can not be described. Sometimes it takes weeks before such feelings can be expressed at all.
Suddenly, we had an idea! What if the police arrived, arrested Mohammed for unlawful entry and then he wouldn’t be able to leave the country today? We asked him immediately to go out of the building and sit in the car, so that he wouldn’t be involved.
Even with that danger in mind, he didn’t want to leave Johannes alone. We explained to him, that this was too dangerous for him and drove him home. We said goodbye and agreed that he would keep us up to date on his journey.

Bodrum, Wednesday, 14/10/2015

In the morning, we went straight to the harbour, to Bodrum in Turkey. A tourist guide told us that many refugees hide during daytime because of the tourists. Only in the evening they can move about freely. She said that is wasn’t like in Cos. 

When we arrived at the harbour, we didn’t see one single refugee. Mohammed had called his friend, a refugee who is staying at the harbour. We asked him to help us here in Bodrum. Unfortunately he declined as it was too dangerous for him. Of course, we fully understood.
He gave us some advice which we followed. As the refugees are usually staying quite a bit away from the harbour, it took us a while to find them. Most of them come from Pakistan and Afghanistan. One can’t compare the atmosphere to Cos. The refugees there were a lot more free and open. Compared to this, the situation for them is better there. Here, they lie on the dirty floor, like a carcass, beneath human dignity.

We met a seller who spoke German. He told us the refugees spend the day further up because of the heat. We had heard that the police were hiding refugees during the day and asked the seller about this. He said no and explained that the refugees sleep in the market hall. They arrive in the evening when the market for fruit and vegetables closes. We asked him whether sales for him went down because of the refugees. He said yes, down by 50 to 60%. People don’t want to go shopping when they see so much hardship.
 
With an uneasy feeling we put up our posters in the market hall. Luckily everything went well. While handing out our leaflets, we met a refugee from Pakistan who spoke English. We asked him to give the leaflets to the people from his country and explain our project to them.  He told us his story. All very sad. You can listen to it yourself.

                                              

At the beginning of the conversation, we experienced a strong man - who towards the end broke down. He said it was incredibly hard, especially leaving their women and children behind.  They are convinced that they will be able to make a better life for themselves in Europe and can get their families to join them. That’s what drives many of them! They don’t take the family with them because of the fear of starvation or drowning on the way. Some believe they are terrorists because they arrive alone.

We carried on with our search and met people who helped us putting up the posters. Suddenly there were some young people, refugees, and they wanted to have a photo taken with us. That was a short moment of joy! We wished to be rich and to be able to reduce their suffering. A feeling of being powerless spread, a drop in the ocean, nothing more.
However, this doesn’t stop our team helping within a small compass! It is the feeling of not being totally alone, which gives esteem and devotion.

Our time ran out and we set of again toward the harbour. At the end of our first day we realised that our leaflet was a Kurdish translation. That's quite something! To hand out a leaflet in Turkey, but not printed in Turkish but Kurdish, is quite something.

Now, we are off to Cos. And from Cos, we will take an overnight ferry to Athens at 8 pm. It is a big boat for almost 3,000 people.

Today, there will also be refugees on board, who will travel on from Athens (we will get back to that later). The refugees have to wait behind a gate, just like second class citizens. First, the paying passengers, then the refugees.

                  

The atmosphere on board was really good! We met familiar faces and took pictures. After all these impressions we were quite exhausted. Our photographer Johannes remained on deck for some time to take up the atmosphere and take pictures.

Athena, Thursday, 15/10/2015

At 6 am, we arrived at Athens harbour. There we took a taxi to be back at the harbour at 4:30 pm at the latest. We wanted to get straight to the park “Pedion Areos”. Apparently a big refugee camp had been established there, known from TV and media.

We were surprised when the taxi driver asked us several times if we really wanted to go there.
During the journey, we saw great poverty and a lot of poor people, just waking up and pushing all their belongings in a shopping trolley in front of them. Countless people were lying on the streets, noticeable drug use and alcoholism. The buildings are run down, too. When we arrived at the park, we realised why the driver had asked us several times.

No sign of refugees!

The report had only been published three weeks ago. However, what we experienced were junkies and homeless people, maximum poverty! We hesitated for a moment, wondering whether we wanted to walk through that, as there was danger in the air. But what other option did we have. We walked through the park, talking to people who were on their way to Victoria Square. Well, let’s go to Victoria Square!
As our time was very limited, we took another taxi. When we arrived at Victoria Square, we saw that this was the right place for us to be! First we went into a café to have a bite to eat. One can’t just approach the people. One has to build up some inner strength and that’s not easy on an empty stomach. We saw more and more refugees arriving.

                                                       

We had a look around. Every one of us had got an ice cream in a bakery which we gave to three kids. We should have known that more children would approach us! And that’s exactly what happened. We counted how many kids there were and got an ice cream for each of them. Meanwhile, the people started to be more open. A father had a child without shoes on his arm, and said “shoes, no shoes”. We thought about what we could do, so we stopped our work and went shopping for socks and shoes with the man and his child. The child was so happy! And that also made us very happy. The father was very proud as he had carried his child the whole time. It would have been to dangerous walking around without shoes.

The people were watching us closely. First they were reserved, but seemed to feel that we respected them. That’s when their need become clear, as they get the courage to ask for some things. A friend is born to be a brother when he is needed. Now it was really kicking off. We took our crayons and paper out and gave them to the children. With such small treats we could touch so many hearts. So many happy children. Watch the video and you can see it.
Some kids started drawing right away. Drawing is very important for children as they can express what they experienced and their sorrows in a picture. It’s a kind of release and means of communication.

Surely Faber Kastell and Pelikan would have been pleased to see how happy the children were about the crayons. However, neither Faber Kastell nor Pelikan had wanted to support us. And it is as simple as that. In a €1 shop, we bought Faber Kastell crayons for 1€. For Baraq it makes a big difference whether we pay one euro, or two, or three. We wanted crayons of good quality, as it is no use when the crayons brake right away.
The saying goes: Where there’s a will, there’s a way. However, we experienced neither good will, nor had a way proposed.
Let’s get back to what is important. But you probably realise, crayons have become an emotional topic for us. To be honest, we are still offended! Suddenly there was a cry from the crowd! We met four boys who we knew from Cos. They were very pleased to see us again. Some selfies were taken for them and their friends at home. We wished them all the best for their journey and befriended them on facebook.

Unfortunately we heard that they had become separated and one of the boys was now on his own. They were travelling via the Balkans. There were to many people so they became separated. That’s very sad. We experienced that the refugees need each other. Especially young people form groups to be able to bear the situation. Now in Germany, we are also in contact with them. We will tell you more about that later on.
Johannes met Peter at the square. Peter is an architect form Poland. He has been in Athens for some days and was interested in the architecture in Athens and the local buildings including the refugees. For a short period of time, we had a tour guide. He took us to a square full of posters, where people expressed their thoughts about politics. We also put up our posters there.

Then he took us to an occupied building. An association had occupied it for the refugees. There they can spend time, rest and sleep. And they get clothes and other things they need. The people were very friendly and nice. We were able to leave some of our leaflets there and they would distribute them. That was great!!

Now we went through Athens and put up our posters. We didn’t feel as uneasy as in Turkey. In Greece we felt very comfortable.

Our journey back was quite boring, because the boat was almost empty. The night was very stormy, and one of our team said they had never prayed that much before.

Cos, Friday, 16/10/2015

Our journey back was quite boring, because the boat was almost empty. The night was very stormy, and one of our team said they had never prayed that much before. 5:20 am, thank god, we arrived in Cos. We wandered through town for a while. It was very quite. No café was open yet. We asked a taxi driver how much he would charge for taking us to our hotel. We knew how much it was, but hoped to be able to bargain a little. €40 was his price, no chance of negotiating. As the taxi driver was so persistent, we refused and decided to rent a car, which cost between €35 and €45. So we waited until the rental place opened up, as otherswise we would have had to sit in our hotel all day long, not being mobile. Our time was too precious for that.

When we got to the hotel, we had breakfast, rested a bit to recover from our journey and then drove back to Cos. We were looking for an association called “Cos Solidarity”. A relief organisation had recommended contacting them. Johannes surprises us, time and again, with his excellent sense of direction. He also found the association very quickly. The association warmly welcomed us and we introduced our project.  The people were delighted! No one said it was stupid what we were doing. Quite the opposite: the young people were impressed and very keen on our project.
It was a great experience to be made to feel so welcome even in such a difficult situation. Cos Solidarity’s volunteers have a lot of work. They are one of the first associations on site and have supported the refugees from the beginning.  Our team Baraq could only thank them cordially. Thank you for being on site, for reducing the refugee’s suffering. Thanks!

Some said that the government had done nothing, of course, apart from registering the refugees. When it comes to food or other needs, it is only the volunteers who help. “What happens with our money?” We were told, that there are now many groups (associations) who want to gain laurels. They were nowhere to be seen, when 7,000 refugees were there! Naively we asked why they were currently present and got the response, it was all about money, about donations. The topic refugees was a business for busybodies and the ruthless.

They had to get off to distribute food. We asked politely whether we could come. They invited us to join them. The food distribution would start at midnight at the harbour. They asked us if we had a car. Luckily we had decided against taking the taxi in the morning! Now we were able to help patrolling and receive the refugees arriving in the harbour. Wow! That’s what we thought. We were part of it!
We were scared, but overcame our fear. On some of our journeys we had to learn to deal with our fear. We believe that the fear wants to be the master. However, when one masters the fear, one is a winner! Such a great feeling. One grows a bit stronger and braver. We wanted to share our feelings with you, to let you know that this is also not always easy for us. We also have to pluck up courage to organise this or other projects.

We went back to the hotel to at least get a bit of rest for an hour or two. But we couldn’t rest. We were too excited. We left at 11 pm to be at Cos harbour 45 minutes later. The association Cos Solidarity works there in rotating shifts until 8 am. 

It started at around one o’clock in the morning. Team Baraq followed a convoy along the coast. Every here and there we got out of the cars, waited and looked out. Then, someone from the association said, it seems that no one was arriving, even though the sea was very calm. We drove on, got out of the cars, looked out to the sea, and suddenly a man appeared out of the darkness. A volunteer walked towards him. The man was soaking wet. The volunteer gave the man a hug and said “Welcome!”. He also asked, whether there were more people. With a shaking voice he replied in English “yes!”. “Are there children with you?” - “Yes, many children.” He was told to call everyone, they were safe! Suddenly many mothers appeared, wet from head to toe, and all of them happy to be alive. Blankets and drinks were distributed.

                                                               

We wanted to take pictures, so they could send them home, to prove they had arrived alive. It was really incredible to see how happy these people were, that they and their families and wives were on firm ground again. Some of them were truly in shock. Their legs were shaking with cold and fear. They were overwhelmed with joy. You can see that on the video.

Baraq - Arrival of Refugees out of the Sea at Cos

That night, we were lucky that everyone was alive. Three days ago, three children and several adults had not survived the trip to a neighbouring island. We felt the scope of the situation, the hardship the people had to go through. Suffering. That’s why we wanted to be directly on site, to feel that and share it with you.

Of course, we now understand even better. In the meantime, more cars had arrived to take the people directly to the harbour. Others were waiting there to support the new arrivals, providing fresh clothes, drinks and food. That night, we met nobody from the authorities offering shelter. Everything was organised by the association Cos Solidarity. With dry clothes, supplies and warm words. Parents and their little children were taken to hotels; men had to sleep in tents. Cos Solidarity even has a small team of people who play with the kids as soon as they are dry. They want take their mind of the situation and experience something joyful. They are doing a great job.
Despite the people’s joy to be alive, the situation is incredible. One doesn’t really realise what is happening. People and their children, risking their lives in a rubber boat on the ocean. Life at home must have become unbearable if this is the last resort. Death or Life. When everybody had been taken care of, we sat together in a small group. It was 4:30 am.

One of the volunteers thanked us for being with them that night and starting our project. He told us to carry on, and not get discouraged by anyone. Although it was him and his group who deserved such praise! He said, he was modest. And such projects were important. I explained that people in Germany asked us what we wanted with the refugees and our competition. They had other problems. Sounds logical.

But quite the opposite! The refugees here on Cos, in Bodrum and Athens were very happy about our project. We stressed that we came from Germany explicitly to talk to them and outline the importance of dialogue. We only got positive responses, open and kind young people who were happy to be asked to join our competition. Some of them were truly enthusiastic. We told them, that we had been in Cairo in 2012. We had met the young people there and called our for the competition all over Egypt. The youths were extremely happy that someone had come from Germany for them and that the rest of the world hadn’t forgotten them.

Many young people from different nations come to support this association. We only joined them once. The people here have supported this project for months, day after day, night after night. We thanked them and said goodbye. The whole group, including us, was exhausted. It was our last night in Cos. Tomorrow we’ll travel back to Germany. 
In any case, Baraq has found a new association which we will support through you, with the donations from the t-shirts sold.

Baraq’s aim is to be on air as soon as possible. On our next trip we want a cameraman with us to be able to broadcast live.
We are sorry that the quality of our videos might not be that great. It’s a shame. As we finance everything privately, our budget also has a limit. We are doing our best to become better for you, as we wish to bring you very close to our projects.

That only works with speediness and better technology. We’re sure we’ll be able to make it!
You know, after such eventful days we are totally exhausted in the evening and can not write any more. That’s why we hope to have someone with us who focuses on writing everything down.

That would be a dream. We know that more is possible!

The conclusion is: this experience is priceless. We experienced that if you meet others with love, their hearts open up. We met people that night patrolling along the ocean who were so incredibly happy to still be alive. These are moments which we will never forget. 
We could learn again how important it is to talk to each other, invest time and give courage. These people shared their experiences with us, showed true emotion, pain and gave us trust. Thank you to all of you we have met. We will continue writing about one of them or another. At the moment we can’t as it would put them in danger. The procedure in Germany was an awful experience for some of them. Unbelievable. We’re still in contact with three people and meet them in the camp in Germany.

Baraq - Interview with a Syrian christian in Germany

The winners of the contest Sinti and Roma 2014 to 2015!

The 1st price goes to the school of Milova

"Perspective"

Diese Grafik steht für alle Kinder auf der Welt die rufen „we want a perspective“.

2.Preis: Petro

"All Ways"

We want to be able to take all ways!

3.Gewinner: Marcel aus Berlin

"Poster"

Marcel ist alleine und unser Gott auf Himmel rettet mich! David geschaft gegen Goliat ich kann auch warum nicht!

Day 1 - Monday, May 12th 2014

       

At 4:46 a.m. team Baraq (Jannique and Dominique) was on its way to Frankfurt airport by train where their journey to Timisoara, Romania should continue. We were in a good mood and looking forward to our new project.

At 1:25 p.m. we arrived in Timisoara and were expected by Willi Gehring of the German-Romanian Friendship Community in Saarland (Deutsch-Rumänischer Freundschaftskreis im Saarland e.V.) and the Romanian leader of the aid project of the association Lucian Fenesan who would be our interpreter for the next couple of days. After leaving the airport, we were heading towards the small town called Lipova with approximately 11.000 residents about 50 km away. The association helped us to arrange our project in Romania.
We started right after a short recreation break in the guesthouse Favorit, where Nello Braniscan welcomed us cordially. At 3:00 p.m. we visited one settlement in the outskirts of Lipova. Project ‘Romanies families’. We met the ‘boss’ of the settlement who accompanied us. The people here were very kind and showed us how they lived. Very poor of course. No canalisation, no running water. Look at the pictures. They all gathered around us and we explained our project to them.
Everyone wanted to join in and the atmosphere was great. But these people didn’t want to be called ‘Romanies’ or ‘Roma’, as there was reportedly a schnapps with the same name, but gypsies -thigan in Romanian-.

We have met so many friendly people and our watches were still around our wrists! There are so many prejudices, preconceptions and overall opinions. The doors in our guesthouse weren’t locked and in Germany we have to check twice that they are locked.

In the evening we met a good friend of the German-Romanian Friendship Community. Dan Mian is representative in the district Arad. Also present was the mayor of Lipova, Mircea Jicichi. We exchanged opinions and information. The representative and the mayor wanted to know everything about our project and appreciated our initiative and the project itself.
The mistress had prepared a typical Romanian meal and it was delicious! It was a lovely ending of our first day.

Day 2 - Tuesday, May 13th 2014

       

We had to get up early – breakfast at 7 a.m. and directly after at 8:45 a.m. we drove off to a Romanies settlement in the district Soimos in Lipova. Also these residents gathered around us and we talked to them and explained our project.

Many thanked us and were happy that there are people who remember them and come from far away to create such a project with them. One man told us that there are indeed loads of aid packages for Romanies by the country, but that until now nothing had reached the poorest in Lipova. We have seen the poorest here in Lipova with our own eyes. They seem very sad and lacking in hope for their presence and future.

We wanted to know about the education and the children’s school. The children go to school almost regularly because only then the Romanies receive their child benefit in the amount of 10 € per month. The idea behind this is to give the children the basics for their education to take with them for their lives. Including values like assuming responsibilities, getting up on a regular basis, punctuality, cleanliness, writing, reading and so on. Knowledge makes self-confident, flexible and rouses visions for the future.

We left the Romanies settlement after two hours and went back to our guesthouse where we were able to take a break with our friends of the German-Romanian Friendship Community until 3 p.m. when Mrs Doris Pack would arrive after being picked up from the airport of Timisoara by Lucian and Willi. Mrs Pack is a Member of the European Parliament and has engaged herself for more than 20 years with the problems of the people in the Balkans, in Romania and Bulgaria. In 2003, she founded the European Institute ‘Aurel Vlaicu’ in Arad (approx. 30 km away from Lipova) following the initiative of the German-Romanian Friendship Community. The following day Mrs Pack should receive the honorary doctorate of the university and we were cordially invited by the members of the association to participate in the official ceremony.

              

But first was the formal reception hosted by the mayor, vice mayor and representatives in the town hall.

Thereafter we visited the basilica Maria Radna, a project to promote culture and tourism funded by the EU. We met the Canon Andreas Reinholz who showed us around the basilica and afterwards we had some coffee and the traditional ’Tuika’ together. On this occasion we were able to win Mr Reinholz for our project. He was very enthusiastic about it and suggested to give out our project leaflets on pilgrim’s day (September 7 in honor of Mother of God) when hundreds of Sinti and Romanies would come to Maria Radna. How great is that?!

We left the basilica Maria Radna, Marian place of worship for many Romanies families, to go to the hospital in Lipova which is being restructured ‘from head to toe’ with the help of the German-Romanian Friendship Community, Saarland, who could win a couple of Saarland social service providers as sponsors. It was very impressive how used objects, which were still in good condition, could change a hospital in Romania in such a positive way for the patients. Team Baraq was pretty amazed by the assistance organised and provided by the Friendship Community of Saarland, in the last 25 years. We have a lot of respect for their work! Hereafter we went to dinner.

Day 3 - Wednesday, May 14th 2014

  

Right after breakfast we went to the University ‘Aurel Vlaicu’, where Mrs Doris Pack received her honorary doctorate that morning which was very interesting and exciting. The German-Romanian Friendship Community got also honoured, which was a big surprise for Willi Gehring and his friends. For us it was a great honour to be part of this delegation. And of course team Baraq took the opportunity to talk about our project with the dean of the theological faculty. There weren’t many Romanies going to university at the time, but the dean told us that he’d arrange that they would learn about this project and he was sure that they would surely participate.

The impressive ceremonial act took place in the auditorium that was filled to the last seat. The atmosphere during the program was joyful and optimistic. Again we were impressed by getting to know how much help came from the Saarland in the last couple of years and in every single speech the gratitude has been expressed.

             

The ceremonial act ended with a little drink and we were on our way to another Romanies settlement. We drove from Arad to Lipova for a quick clothes change and then to the community Conop in the village Milova, 20 km away from Lipova situated in the valley of the river Mures. There we met the orthodox priest Gisi and a local assistant and aide of the Friendship Community called Tuti, who lives in the settlement with his family. Willi Gehring explained the Baraq project with the help of our interpreter Lucian Fenesan and the priest was very interested and open minded about it. He agreed to organise our project with the teenagers of the settlement and he offered the parsonage and church as places to realize the activities. The circle of friendship will provide pencils and paper as the Romanies cannot afford buying them by their own.

After the conversation we visited several houses (barracks). Due to heavy rain it was partially flooded that day. You could see and feel the poverty of the people. It was very muddy and dirty, but no wonder with the lack of canalisation, water and electricity. We have never seen something like that before and wanted to know over and over again in the following discussions why the government doesn’t contribute something to improve the living conditions of this people. And sadly the answer was that the government wants to get rid of the Romanies. The harder their life gets, the sooner the Romanies would leave the country.

At this point we could only be thankful for the effort and help of the German-Romanian Friendship Community because they have already helped to improve their living conditions step by step.

In the evening we met our local supporters and had a glass (or two) of Romanian red wine. But we couldn’t just shake off the impressions of the day and that’s why we had some more very interesting and informative discussions with our Romanian friends. That evening Willi Gehring handed over a donation to the house ‘Integra’, a help project for handicapped children. Another Saarland aid project.

Day 4 - Thursday, May 15th 2014

  

Right after breakfast we headed for the village Covasint, approximately 30 km afar from Lipova. We were received by police chief Ioan Slaina and his employees. He has been a member and great supporter of the Friendship Community for about 20 years and we were very lucky he didn’t leave our side the whole day.

We visited the villages’ school and gathered in the headmistress’ conference room where little by little all the teachers came together. The headmistress was so kind to bring us strawberries from her own garden.

We wanted to know how many children of Romanies attend their school and unfortunately out of 270 children there are only 13 Romanies. It is a 2.500 people community with 25% Romanies. Therefore there should be a lot more Romanies children. We asked where the other children were and the majority is staying abroad, for example in the UK, Italy, France, Spain and/or Australia because it is much easier to get child allowance by their welfare systems. A lot of children don’t go to school until they reach the age of 13 because until then they are very useful for there parents because they are exempt from punishment. We were very shocked by this statement and new immediately what they meant.

The girls are forcibly married very early, you can say by birth, and are only allowed to go to school until 4th grade. When they turn 12 they are handed over to their future husbands’ parents and have to work in their household where they grow up with their future husband. This is their culture and they know no other way. Like in our culture where you fall in love and where you chose your husband or wife yourself. The boys are allowed to stay in school until 8th grade if they manage to pass. But accordingly to the teachers the boys only come to learn how to read and write so they are able to pass the driving test.

We asked the headmistress whether she enquires about the other school-aged children but their parents always say that they are going to school in the UK, in France or Italy but she never received a written verification. The majority of Romanies just want to be independent; they want to decide themselves what to do with their lives.

  

After this very barefaced conversation we visited a kindergarten. The German-Romanian circle of friendship had prepared some drawing supplies for the children, purchase value 10 € per child, for Romanian conditions quite some help. Approximately 3.000 children obtain once a year aid in form of drawing supplies or school supplies for schoolchildren.

These supplies are always handed out personally by the helpers from the Saarland to the children in the kindergarten and schools. This time the Baraq team was allowed to be a part of it and it meant a lot to us to look into the happy and thankful eyes of this children.

It would be so important for the Romanie children to go to school. This would be the first step on their way out of poverty. But the contrast could hardly be starker. Why is this way barred for the children? Prejudices, jaundices, cultural traditions, family structures, lacking help from the government –so much has to be smoothed out.

The next stop was at the imposing house of a Romanie baron in Covasint. The Friendship Community had prepared this meeting and we had to declare beforehand not to take any pictures. The baron was a nice, elderly but reserved man in a dark suit. We passed by a brand-new Mercedes on our way into his home. His wife welcomed us very friendly at the door and told us to keep our shoes on against the tradition. She guided us into the conference room which was equipped with precious furniture. He offered us something to drink and after some cordially words of welcome we started to ask our questions.

We wanted to know which dreams he has for his children and grand-children. He told us that he wishes them happiness and health. One of the boys wants to become a lawyer and one of the girls wants to become a doctor. We asked where they were and he answered that they were in France and would also go to school there.

We asked what they were doing there. The daughter works in housekeeping and his son parcels out the newspaper. He wasn’t very talkative but still very friendly and we could visit him anytime again if we schedule the next meeting again because he is en route so much.

We said goodbye and drove off to another house in a settlement which was in a far better state than the others we had visited so far. The baron accompanied us with his Mercedes.

We met several Romanies in a nice living room and after the casual chat the interesting questions came up:

What do you think about Germany?

Germany? Germany is a great country- answered the host. -He enjoys staying there.

Why are so many Romanies in Germany?

He answered: Many teenagers work abroad. With the money they earn they are able to help their families at home. And he is very happy to work in Europe as well.

What do you expect from Romania regarding a minimum wage you can live of?

If there was child allowance in Romania like in Germany, fewer Romanies would wander off to Germany. They would start to build small houses in Romania. He further told us that his mother only gets a 30€ pension which she entirely has to spend on her medication. Another man told us that his pension is 70€ but the retirement home costs 500€ per month.

We asked him for a solution to the problem we have with the Sinti and Romanies in Europe regarding mainly the lack of cleanliness which is a burden for our community members.

He mentioned that there are more than 50 groups of Sinti and Romanies and some of them have a bad reputation regarding cleanliness and tidiness. And this is the problem, he said and showed around. Look how clean and tidy it is in our community.

We could only nod in agreement.

He said furthermore:
The public authorities and the social welfare office in Germany should not assume that any group of Sinti and Romanies would listen to any advice other than the rules and obligations coming from their baron.

We asked where we could meet such a „chief“.

Our interlocutor answered that once a year all the chiefs gather somewhere in the world to talk about current topics. We told him that we would really love to join such a gathering.

Thereupon the promise was sealed with a handshake and we were cordially invited to join. It will be very exciting for us.

We gladly accepted the challenge and then we thought about overtaking a Romanies house with the help of the baron to develop a plan together with the Romanies residents how the living together can be easier arranged. I’m afraid at this point they were thinking that we were totally naïve.

It turned out during the conversation that our interlocutor is the minister, respectively like he said, the presbyter of a Romanies religious community which is scattered in the whole world, mostly in the US.

As we said goodbye after the long conversation everybody was so nice and declared that they would be happy to see us again some day.

Today’s schedule was a bit tight. Directly afterwards we had an appointment with the priest of the Orthodox church in Covasint. He is also the personal employee of the Orthodox bishop in Arad. Here a short remark: 90% of the Romanian people belong to the Orthodox church.

Again we were greeted very cordially and at first we went down into the wine cellar. Willi has known the priest for 20 years. After the visit to the wine cellar we went into a large room with a lot of pictures and cultural pieces like traditional costumes and tools. We immediately realised how committed the priest is in his work to help the Romanian youth but unfortunately not the Sinti and Romanies teenagers.
He wanted to organise several project together with the Romanies but it never was put into practice. Furthermore he told us to save our money and commitment because it all wouldn’t make sense. He said very explicitly that he considered the Romanies as not worth it and that they were too bold and that they allegedly insult him and his religion even in his own house.

We asked for their reasons. We know that the Romanies women often work in the houses of Romanian families and that these houses are by far bigger and more stately than their own houses. We suggested that the Romanies might feel discriminated but the priest denied that. He feared that the Romanies would destroy the reputation, the culture and the faith in Romania.

We realised at this point that this conversation wouldn’t lead us far and that the Orthodox priest would not campaign in our project under any circumstances.

After an exciting day we went back to our guesthouse full of thoughts regarding all the interesting encounters.

The day ended with our traditional Friendship Community reunion which always takes place at the end of the week abroad. The Romanian and Saarland friends enjoyed the atmosphere together and were finally able to relax a little bit from the exhausting day.

Paris

After arriving in Paris, we got a taxi to the Salvation Army straight away. And that's when the chase through Paris started. We followed the taxi in our own car.

At some point he got out and said the building on the other side of the road was the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army support people on the streets all over the world. And there they were!!!!! We had a lot of fun!! We searched for them on the bank of the Seine where we met African refugees living under a bridge.

Finally, we met the water guards who took us to the Salvation Army's boat. Unfortunately, it was closed, as it is currently being converted into a museum.
 

However, we found a second boat where people were being served a meal. We were very happy, as Baraq had decided to donate money to this charity with the help of a t-shirt. 

Then, we returned to the city to hand out our leaflets. We were truly horrified. A horrible image confronted us!!!! We saw two people lying in the middle of the road, as if they were dead.

People's misery can be very cruel. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how they got to this point in life. We went on to the main station. At the station we didn't meet a single Roma or Sinti, even though we had seen videos that made us think there was a lot going on at the station. It couldn't have been more different.

n the evening, we drove back to Germany. On our way, we met a small group of Roma who we camping out on the street and would also sleep there. Elias from our team talked to them. He explained our project to them. Amazingly, they were in high spirits. They had obviously had a super day.

Rom

When we arrived in Rome, we went straight onto the streets. It was already dark, but the city was alive. We walked straight to the infamous Rome station. According to rumours a lot of Roma hand out there.

hat wasn't the case at all. We met a Roma band. We talked to them and gave them our leaflets to pass them on to their friends.
They said, they were well. They played music and made money with their music. That was OK.

The same night, we also meet this amazing graffiti artist. In no time at all he had painted amazing graffiti. We got talking to him and asked him if he was Roma or Sinti. He wasn't and explained to us that each one of his parents came from a different country.
However, we didn't believe him, but gave him a leaflet anyway. We took this photograph the next morning.

By chance, we met him again. He was very glad to see us again and showed us the leaflet. He said that he had read it and definitely wanted to take part. He said that he wanted to buy clothes for his little baby with the money from the competition and said that he had lied to us. He was Roma!!!!! He said that if he told people he was Roma, no one would buy anything from him. He wanted to earn a living with his art.

At the end of the day not all Roma youth steal. "Us Roma, we also dream of creating something with our hands work. With our art, we want to earn a living. But it's not easy for us. This made us very sad. It reminded us of Judaism and some denying their belief out of fear. However, what we were experiencing there is happening in the middle of the 21st century. Young people are afraid!!! of talking about their nationality. Otherwise they would be treated like dirt. What can we say about that! Our next stop was the airport. We were going to fly to Barcelona.

Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona at night. While looking for our hotel, we thought to ourselves: Where on earth did we end up? We were in the hot spot of Barcelona. And our hotel was in the middle of it. Right behind out hotel was the red light district, drug dealers and pimps, keeping an eye on their girls.

It was like hell! People simply lying on the streets, completely wasted on drugs. You only saw people who were overburdened with their lives. It seemed as if they had never seen the sun. We are now in our hotel, having a bite to eat and will then go to sleep.

The next day we set off immediately. We went to a taxi rank and asked a taxi driver to take us to a Roma and Sinti camp. The taxi driver was constantly rubbing his nose. We couldn't understand what he wanted. Finally, he went up to a colleague of his who could speak a little English and he asked us whether we needed cocaine. Of course not, we said!

He said there was no camp, but cocaine. There was plenty of it, if we wanted some. We said OK and went on. When we were out of their sight, we started laughing about the situation. It would have been pointless to discuss with them any longer. The whole day long we wandered around Barcelona, but hardly met anyone to hand our leaflets out to.

We went back to the hotel through the small side streets. Suddenly, we heard two men in a clothing store speaking German. We called spontaneously: "Hello". One of the men came out and asked if we knew each other. We said no.
It felt a bit like home hearing someone speaking German.

We explained the reason for our visit to Barcelona. One of the men was called Wolfgang. He said that he used to be a missionary. But he didn't want to evangelize any more, but instead helped people on the streets, regardless of their religion.

He explained that there were hardly any problems with Roma and Sinti. They had well established themselves. Most of them have been there for two or more generations. Each report we had heard painted a completely different story. But he should know, as he has managed "God's food stall" (El Chiringuito de Dios) in the centre of Barcelona for 15 years.

Let us tell you a little more about "God's food stall": Association to support social justice with 20 volunteers providing personal support for homeless people in the Raval district. "It is important for us to welcome people who come to us with dignity. For 15 years, we have provided food and a place to shower or wash clothes. Especially in bad economic times we see greater demand in Spain for support for the socially weak.

Have a look at their website! We were really amazed by their work and wanted to thank the 20 volunteers who provide personal support the homeless in Raval distict. A big thank you to them again!!!!! Baraq will donate two euros per t-shirt sold to this association.

Now we have to say goodbye. Tomorrow we will fly back to Germany.

Your Baraq team

Berlin

On 28 November 2014, we went to Berlin Bahnhofsmission 6 (railway mission 6) at Bahnhof Zoo.

It had become famous mainly thanks to the book and film “Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo“ (The children from Bahnhof Zoo). The drug and prostitution scene is still very present today on the streets of Berlin Bahnhof Zoo.
We presented our project Roma and Sinti there and displayed our leaflets. The people we talked to were very happy to see that there were people like us who face the challenges of our time - just like they do. We got the impression they felt that out there, there were other people just like them. 

This thought gave them courage. Nobody felt anymore that we were just trying to do something good, but that there were also others out there getting involved and giving their best. It was a very emotional meeting between people who wanted the same as us and to give their best.

One member of staff, they simply called “mum”, told us, that at the moment many Roma and Sinti were coming to the mission. “Mum” will tell other people about our project. It was incredible what we saw in such a short period of time. There were loads of really helpful people at the mission. We were very sad to see so many poor people here in Germany and that they had to be standing in queue on time in order to get some food. 

For a while we stood over the road and watched. We thought “wow”. So many people came around to drop of clothes and other things. Many young people went in as well and donated goods in cardboard boxes. We could really sense the community spirit.  There are people who are thoughtful of others.

We went on to the Berlin city mission’s office where we also presented our project. The people there were very busy but still took time to listen. Thank you so much for that! We were able to give our leaflets to the helpers in the “winterbus”.

What is a “winterbus”? 

Berlin city mission’s “winterbus” or “emergency shelter against the cold” is there to prevent people from freezing to death. Every year from 1 November until 31 March, the “winterbus “ and its team look for homeless people who are too weak to reach an emergency shelter by their own means. The “winterbus” team regularly look for homeless people on the streets and drive them, if they want, to a safe place to sleep.

In Berlin, around 11,000 people have no home. They can look just like you and me. It’s not at all unusual that someone sleeps on a park bench in summer. But in winter?

We carried on to „Görlitzer Park“ where we handed out our leaflets to Roma and Sinti. They were very reserved, almost scared.

Then we went to „Werding Neuköln Kreuzberg“. We went to see the catholic housing association in Harzer Straße. On 20 September 2013, this housing association received first price for their Roma integration project in Berlin. We were very excited about going there. We had heard so many positive things about it. But things turned out differently than planed. Tuesday, 2 pm: The office was closed and we hadn’t thought registration was necessary. So we had to do our own research.

We very quickly got into contact with the young people as they were curious and wanted to know what we were doing there. We explained our project and they were extremely excited. One girl, Steffi, was especially enthusiastic. She immediately approached us and offered help. We appointed her head of our small Baraq group. Steffi opened all the doors for us. We asked her whether she was happy here. She said no, and said she had preferred it were she had lived before. Her previous neighbourhood had been nicer. We could see what she meant and understood right away.

Steffi asked why we did what we did. Why we were organising a competition for her people? We replied, we wanted people to understand her people better and have the chance to get to know them. We said we loved them. Disbelieving silence. “You love us????” “We do, Steffi! We are doing all of this because we love you.” We said they were good people and have a beautiful culture. Steffi could not believe it. She shook her head and repeatedly said “no, no”.

It is so sad, she was the mirror image of what she experienced daily. We we able to experience that with her. A man from her building came down the stairs (someone from our country) and put his fist up right in front of her face. He told her to shut her mouth. We asked him what she should keep quite about, and he said that she knew. He left. Steffi was petrified.

They just don’t get enough human kindness. Because of this as a child and youth she suffered from low self-esteem. While we were handing out our leaflets, one of the women living in the same house came and asked us what we were doing there.

We told her all about it and mentioned that we thought the integration project was extraordinary. She said, when she moved in, she had believed in the project. But according to her, the project had clearly failed. At the beginning, there were residents from different countries. There were a lot less Roma and Sinti then, than around the 90% there is now. At first, she liked the multi-cultural mixture. But slowly more and more people had moved out. She also will move out. Today, there will be people looking at her flat, as she wants to move out. 

Because many people in the house just let their children to do what they wanted, it was very loud.
And these are not just the words of an old woman being a bit oversensitive. Instead, the woman we were talking to, was a young and smart woman. According to her, nobody took care of the people here at all. The integration workers can not cope. 

She also mentioned eight people living in a one bedroom flat. Conditions like these couldn’t be accepted in a project like this and she just couldn’t understand it. And of course she talked about hygiene problems. The fact that the Roma and Sinti had isolated themselves from the others was essentially what was trying to be avoided. It was supposed to be a project of integration.

Unfortunately more and more Roma and Sinti arrived and no other nationalities. That is why the project - for her - had failed.
We handed out leaflets to all the residents. We asked Steffi about what she really wished for. She said she suffered when children in Africa or other parts of the world were hungry and thirsty. It killed her every day. Her wish was to see an end to children suffering from hunger all over. She asked us to write it exactly like this in our blog.
How commendable, so selfless! It was hard for us to say goodbye!

However, we asked ourselves how it was possible, that an integration project had received an award within such a short period of time, within just one year? In September 2012, the integration project “Arnold Fortuin House” was opened, providing 137 flats in eight buildings.

Tomorrow in the afternoon, we will carry on with our journey to Hamburg

All the best, your Baraq team

Hamburg

We spoke to he head of the Mission Sankt Georg and left some leaflets with him. He gave us some good tips about where we were allowed to display our leaflets. Then we went on to the streets and handed out our leaflets in person. There is a difference between the Roma and Sinti here in Germany and in Romania.

There is also poverty in Romania, but the people seem happier and stronger. They are with their family. We see again and again, that there is a lot of mental stress for them here in Germany. One of them told us, they felt lost. It isn’t simply the pressure of trying to survive here in the winter and not freeze to death, but also the one hope that they can send a little money home. He added he would feel like a failure to the family, if he wasn’t able to do that. That would break him.

Our conversation was very emotional. A cry from the deep. Out of respect we didn’t ask him anything else. We also believed there was no more to ask. There was a moment of silence. As if someone had died.

Düsseldorf

The same night we carried on to Düsseldorf in order to start early the next morning. All the best from the Baraq Team

A new day begins. We handed out leaflets in Düsseldorf city. Soon we realized, that there were hardly any Roma and Sinti in the city and surrounding area. A pedestrian explained to us that the city was doing its best to keep their number low.
So we didn’t waste our time and carried on to Duisburg.

Duisburg

After arriving in Duisburg, we went directly to the railway mission. Once again, we presented our project to the head of the mission and asked him to distribute our leaflets. He listened very carefully.

When we got back to the cars, we talked to a taxi driver about directions in order to save time. There were almost 30 taxis, and we don’t know why, but we approached the last taxi. We asked him where most of Roma and Sinti hang out.

He gave us some places we hadn’t looked at in our research. We asked him to take us there. He agreed, but only if we went to the very first taxi in the queue - otherwise he would get into trouble with his colleagues. We wrote down his name and his taxi number and went to his colleague in front. We apologized and said we needed Mr Walid personally for a job. Mr Walid took us to a suburb of Duisburg to see some Roma and Sinti friends.

When we arrived he got out of the taxi and asked immediately if we were able to help his people, the Syrian people. We were surprised that he knew about our project, as we had not explained anything to him. He had not asked us, why we wanted him to take us to the Roma and Sinti people. With Mr Walid we approach a building with some Roma and Sinti people standing in front of it.

It was obvious that he knew them. We explained our project to them. When the taxi driver saw that the people did not understand us, he got involved. He was very determined. One could have thought he was part of our team. What a nice feeling! We handed out our leaflets and paid for the taxi ride. He offered to take us to Hochfeld. We declined due to the cost. He said, he would take us back to town but would then have to carry on. But he didn’t. He came with us to Duisburg Hochfeld. We were very pleased. He made sure we got a good parking spot and did not want any money for it. He spend a lot of time with us and he was like a good omen. When he said goodbye, he took some leaflets to hand out. We were surrounded by Roma and Sinti in Hochfeld.

We handed out our leaflets and also went to a pub. We talked to a lot of people and listened to many different views. For example, an Armenian told us he hated gypsies. He had always beaten them, even as a child. It had always been like that. There were other young people in the pub who were listening to our conversation and got involved.“It is not good what you are saying!!” (the Armenian’s behaviour). They said he had a lot of Roma friends. There was a heated discussion without result.

In the meantime, more and more men crowded into the square. We also gave them our leaflets. One of them told us, he was from Bulgaria. Bulgarians didn’t get any work. Only Roma people got work, that’s what he said. He said that if them, the Bulgarians, got any work, they often didn’t even get paid. We wanted to know who approached them and offered them work. He replied that it was mostly Turks who came and gave them work, but in the end they never got paid. And if they did get paid, they often got too little, even though a different price had been agreed on. It occasionally happened, that they got paid 2.50 - 3.00 euros per hour. In the end you just got done, he said.

However, the gap between Roma and Bulgarians was growing, he said. Unbelievable! They hated each other - we had not realized that until now - because they believed the Roma were given privilege.

Unfortunately, Mensch ist Mensch e.V. (human is human) was closed today. We still left our leaflets with them.

We then went on to meet the association Internationale Initiative Hochfeld e.V. (international initiative Hochfeld). As usual, we explained our leaflet. People really made a great effort to help us. They promised to send the pdf version of our leaflet to other institutions. They also gave us information, addresses and people to contact within associations and youth clubs. Thanks a lot again to Internationale Initiative Hochfeld e.V.. We set off immediately to the new addresses.

The Blaue Haus (blue house) is an organisation for children and youth which is part of, “Vereins für Kinderhilfe und Jugendarbeit in Hochfeld”, the Association for youths and children in Hochfeld. Outside, we met some young people and asked them if they were Roma and Sinti. They said they were and we explained the reason for our visit. Their response made us sad. Some of them wanted to throw away the leaflet, as they were Bulgarians. Another said he couldn’t tolerate the other Roma and Sinti. We asked him why? He just stood there and said nothing. The others asked us why we weren’t organising a competition for their country. We told them why. We asked them if they had any Roma and Sinti friends. Half of the group said they did and would give the leaflets to their friends.

Afterwards, we went to Stadtteiltreff Duisburg Hochfeld (open meeting place Duisburg Hochfeld). People there were also very helpful. We then got in contact with Streetwork Hochfeld and presented our project. We received a list of clubs and associations that were in charge of integration projects.

Our next stop was, Die Falken -Sozialistische Jugend Deutschlands (The falcons - socialist youth Germany). Questioning stereotypes: Who is girl? What is boy? A theatre project for young people from 12 to 14 years old. 
We also left our leaflets there. Unfortunately, we didn’t meet the person responsible directly. However, we will get in contact with him via telephone.

We set off for Cologne.

Cologne

Our first stop was the railway mission. 

Our project was welcomed with open arms. We were given priceless tips on who could help us and give us some support. We carried on onto the streets to hand out leaflets to Roma and Sinti. Whenever we met Roma and Sinti people, we had the chance to explain our project and advertised the competition. Tired but happy, team Baraq is now driving home.

We were able to collect a lot of information and many addresses, and maybe touched a few hearts. We had never imagined our task would be that difficult. We had got in contact with more than 20 Roma and Sinti associations in Germany and had asked them for their support. No one was interested in our project.

While driving home, the following thought came up: What if all the missions, like for example catholic and protestant as well as many other institutions, did not do what they daily did out there on the streets?

It would be unimaginable. The question arose: Maybe one should rethink one’s attitude towards paying church tax, but many people associate it with Rome and the Vatican. However, we have now seen church tax from a whole different perspective.

Mannheim 

We also presented our project in Mannheim and left some leaflets. Then we went into the city to hand out our leaflets. There, we met some Roma people who spoke German perfectly.

One of them said: "If a Sinti wins, and I - a Roma - loses, I would smack the Sinti's face in. Roma do not want to me lumped together with Sinti, and Sinti don't want to be associated with us." Unfortunately, we didn't know that!!! To make things worse, the following email arrived.

Frankfurt

When we arrived in Frankfurt, we went straight to the railway mission. We felt, the mission was very modern. It made you realise, they had money. 

We explained our project and left our leaflets. Then we went out onto the streets and handed out our leaflets in person. Unfortunately, we didn't meet many Roma and Sinti.

Your Baraq Team

Tahrir Square (Midan at-Tahrir - "Liberation Square")

Winner shirts from left to right: Freedom (Mahmoud Ibrahim Mahmoud Ahmed), Muslim and Christian (M.I.M. Ahmed), Hand (Reem), 85 Million (M.I.M. Ahmed), Tahrir (Aya)

First day – 01/11/2013

Everything went to plan on our trip to Cairo – until we left the airport. That’s when it started. The first security check, in the middle of the street. Two tanks left and right. Only a narrow way through. Everybody was checked every 2 km. No one can enter the city without being checked.

A state of emergency had been declared. A curfew was imposed. We had never experienced anything like this. Were we frightened? Yes! One of our team was crying and we asked ourselves whether what we were doing here was right.

Beside our car: Three vehicles transporting prisoners, just like one sees on TV. People sticking their heads through the bars, looking into our car. Empty, desperate faces, full of fear. Eyes you won’t easily forget. At this moment we realised that what we were doing here, was right and that sometimes, one needs to take a high risk – even to risk one’s own life.

While we were driving through Cairo, we could feel that the heart of the city was dying. The city’s pulse was not beating like it was supposed to. When we arrived at the hotel, we realised that we were almost the only guests staying. We ate and went to bed, as we were exhausted from what we had seen.

Second day – 02/11/2013

After breakfast we met Mahmoud, our designer and project manager. He had won our competition. Mahmoud got involved in our project after the competition in Cairo. We have a professional, loyal and competent designer on our side.

Then our interpreter arrived. In this blog, we call him our guide, as we don’t want to publish his name. He told us that he might be able to get a new job in Dubai. At the moment, there is no regular work in Cairo, or in the whole country. Of course, the tourists stay away. The revolution was complicated, he said. Three groups emerged. The first group are the supporters of Morsi and the second group is the military. The third group is in the middle. This group consists of those who have no idea which group they should to belong to, as they do not want to be part of the first two groups. None of the first two groups, neither the Morsi supporters nor the military, were any good, said our guide. That’s way there are fights and casualties among their own people. Dreadful. Our guide has lost colleges, who were simply on the other side politically. There is suffering through the separation and uncertainty. Many people ask themselves: Why so many deaths? The whole revolution, and for what? Many young people think like that.

Morsi was in favour of the dam in Ethiopia. International environmental and human rights organisations are fighting against this multi-billion dollar project on the river Omo. They believe the lives of half a million people were in danger – and a fragile ecosystem was threatened. Peter Bosshard, director of the environmental organisation International Rivers, predicts that if the natural flow of the river Omo was changed, the result would be famine and conflict among the tribes, who have lived from the river for thousands of years. The dams Gibe I and II already put “a lot of pressure” on the ecosystem. www.sueddeutsche.de – by Marcel Burkhardt. That’s why some people didn’t vote for Morsi again as it would result in less water in the Nile, causing huge problems. That’s not what the people want. A lack of water leads to massive deficiencies and poverty.

Our guide believes that this is the main reason why the people started demonstrating. The military supported them at first. However, the military is now in favour of the dam. This split the voters into three groups. We could see that our guide was tired of it all. We continued working until late at night. At around midnight, we had to stop working, due to the curfew. After 1 am, no one is allowed on the streets.

Third day – 03/11/2013

After breakfast we started again right away. We discussed the donations of six euros. The Baraq team wanted to organise a soup kitchen in Cairo funded using these donations. However our guide believed that even if we gave out a thousand meals a day, it still wouldn’t be enough to combat the hunger. More than a thousand were going hungry. Giving out meals could lead to fighting.

So we chose three projects. Project one… project two… project tree…

These are projects from organisations which have an excellent reputation in Cairo. That’s why we chose these three projects. That doesn’t mean that we won’t do our bit in Cairo. However, what we can or can’t do, depends on you. We can only offer our good will, courage, love and hope.

During all these discussions, we felt that we were visionaries and that we still needed thousands upon thousands more like-minded people in order to fulfill this vision. At the end of these debates we were satisfied with our outcome and now it is time to say goodbye.

Fourth day – 04/11/2013

Good Morning. Today, we begun again directly after breakfast. It was apparent that one of our team had been up all night, thinking. She had a great idea about how to photograph the T-shirts. Firstly, we wanted to organise a photo shoot with young people. But we soon realised that this wasn’t going to be easy as many young girls don’t allow themselves to have their photographs taken.

The new idea was to string a washing line between two trees. An alternative would be to have two people holding the washing line and the T-shirts hanging from the line. This event should take place in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Our guide looked at us. It was up to him to organise our passes. We told him it would make us very happy to show the square from another perspective.

This evening we left to buy a washing line. Luckily, we managed to find one. Everything was peaceful in the city. We had left the events of the previous day behind us. We noticed that we were almost the only tourists in Cairo. I ironically told our guide that finally the city belonged to the Egyptians themselves. He didn’t find it very funny. The evening came to an end and tomorrow is another day.

Fifth day – 05/11/2013

We were very excited. After breakfast, we started working immediately. We were all extremely nervous, above all our guide. He had to organise everything. We set off and stopped at the police station. They sent us to a second police station and finally we ended up at the police and secret police.

One of our team started praying in the car. She prayed: Dear father, please help us succeed at Tahrir Square. You have fulfilled all our other wishes. Our designer Mahmoud said that if it is god’s will, we will succeed. With that we knew that if we didn’t receive our passes, they would no longer believe in this project. It was a huge burden on us – these thoughts of Mahmoud!

Let’s not beat around the bush. Our guide set off. We were still considering whether one of our team should accompany him. But at first, he refused. Then he returned. We watched him cross the street. He opened the car door, looking very serious and said: Come with me. Before he had left, we had told him to ask whether they wanted to see the T-shirts.

One of our team went with him. With the T-shirts under one arm, our guide told me that he had had to hand in his licence to be a guide. For him that was the worst thing that could have happened. One could see he was on edge. We crossed the street and went round a corner. The regular police and the secret police were sitting there. We showed them our T-shirts. They looked at one of the T-shirts very closely. We weren’t allowed to take this T-shirt with us. Of course I asked, why? He said, this is a hand. The four fingered symbol of the Morsi supporters. I said: But this one has five fingers. Doesn’t matter. I realised, it didn’t make sense. I would put the project in danger. I left the T-shirt there.

Everybody got out of the car and we left. We took our washing line with us to the Tahrir Square. Thank god that there was a policeman who was helpful. At this point more people arrived at Tahrir Square to see what we were doing. The policeman simply started hanging the T-shirts out on the line. I thought: Wow, he is fast.

Thank god! When some of the T-shirts were hanging on the line, more and more people arrived and began talking to us. The wind was blowing. We couldn’t start the photo shoot straight away. We succeeded in taking two photos. Then the police arrived and immediately took action. With a tone of seriousness, they broke up the event . We didn’t know whether any of the photos would come out. However, there was nothing we could do. If we had questioned them, they may have taken everything and delayed us for a long time.

We were very sad. So, now we had to go to the secret police again to get our guide’s licence back. We were all extremely nervous. Our guide was worried about his licence. I asked him whether I should go with him. He said, yes. I kept telling him not to worry. We would get his licence back! We crossed the street again and went round the corner. They were sitting there, looking sternly at us. They asked us, what did you do there? They thought we would put the T-shirts on and then take some photos. No, I answered, how do you suggest we do that? I am wearing my clothes. Where should I get changed? Nevertheless, our guide got his licence back. I asked the police whether they would like to keep the T-shirt with the five-fingered hand, it would be a present. He smiled at me and gave it back. It was a game of seriousness, sympathy and prohibition.

However, with the help of our prayers, we had succeeded. Our guide and the whole team had the courage and drive to follow this path. We were completely moved by the whole affair.

We went back to the hotel to contemplate our next move. It was now twenty past midnight. Our designer and the guide had to leave us due to the curfew, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to get home. See you tomorrow. Goodnight.

Sixth day – 06/11/2013

This was not a good day. Our phone rang and we were told that the airport shuttle was waiting for us at the door. Our flight was not on Friday as scheduled. We had to act quickly. We were very very sad about the news. Well, now you have experienced what has happened to us. We wish you all the best. Your Baraq team.
Enjoy our range of T-shirts and with winner from Cairo.

Choose an emoticon!

1^st place: Mahmoud Ibrahim Mahmoud Ahmed

الفكرة جائت من الحرية .. الحرية ليست كلمة .. ليس شخص واحد يحتاج الى حرية
او الحرية مجرد شعار . التصميم يعبر عن كل شعب مصر يصرخ بكل قوة ليقول اريد
الحرية .. نريد الاستقرار والديمقراطية دون ان نطغي برأينا على رأي احد اخر
وهذا هو المعني الحقيقي للحرية ..

The idea came from freedom. Freedom is not a word. Not a single person needs to be free or freedom just a slogan. This design reflects all the people of Egypt screaming with all their strength saying, “We want freedom! We want stability and democracy without manipulation of our opinions based on the opinions of one another.” This is the true meaning of freedom.

2^nd place: Reem

ﻳﺘﻤﻴﺰ ﺍﻟﻤﺼﺮﻱ ﺑﺎﻟﻄﺎﺑﻊ ﺍﻟﺨﺎﺹ ﻭﺃﺳﻠﻮﺑﻪ ﺍﻟﺬﻱ ﻳﻌﺒﺮ ﺑﻪ ﻋﻤﺎ ﺣﻮﻟﻪ، ﺣﻴﺚ ﻭﺻﻒ ﺍﻟﻌﻤﻞ : ﺍﻟﺒﺼﻤﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺼﺮﻳﺔ ﻭﻃﺎﺑﻌﺔ ﻭﺍﻟﺘﻲ ﻋﺎﺩﺕ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻔﻦ ﺍﻟﺸﻌﺒﻲ ﻭﻣﻴﺰﺕ ﺍﻟﻤﺼﺮﻱ ﺑﺬﺍﺗﻪ ﻭﻋﺒﺮﺕ ﻋﻦ ﻋﻠﻢ ﻣﺼﺮ ﺑﻄﺮﻳﻘﺔ ﻃﻐﻴﺎﻥ ﻛﻞ ﻟﻮﻥ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻸ‌ﺧﺮ. ﻓﺎﻟﻠﻮﻥ ﺍﻸ‌ﺣﻤﺮ ﻳﺪﻝ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺪﻣﺎﺀ ﺍﻟﻤﺼﺮﻳﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺮ ﺍﻟﻌﺼﻮﺭ ﻭﺍﻸ‌ﺑﻴﺾ ﻳﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ ﺍﻟﺴﻼ‌ﻡ ﻭﺍﻸ‌ﺳﻮﺩ ﻋﻦ ﺍﻟﻈﻠﻢ ﻭﺍﻟﻄﻐﻴﺎﻥ

The Egyptian is very unique in its style and methods of expressing its surroundings. Description of the painting: the Egyptian hand print was taken from the Egyptian folklore and represented the Egyptian flag by the colours taking over each other. The red colour represents the Egyptian blood that was shed over the decades; the white colour represents peace, while the black colour represents injustice and tyranny.

3^rd place: Aya

ﺍﻟﺘﺼﻤﻴﻢ ﻳﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ ﻣﺼﺮ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺃﻥ ﺍﻸ‌ﻫﺮﺍﻣﺎﺕ ﻫﻲ ﻣﻦ ﺃﻛﺜﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﺎﻟﻢ ﺍﻟﻤﺼﺮﻳﺔ ﺷﻬﺮﻩ ﻭﺍﻟﻨﻴﻞ ﺃﻳﻀﺎ ﻳﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ ﻣﺼﺮ ﻭﻗﺪ ﻭﺿﻌﺖ ﺧﻠﻔﻴﺔ ﺧﻔﻴﻔﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﻴﺎﻩ ﺍﻟﻨﻴﻞ ﻳﻮﺟﺪ ﺑﻬﺎ ﻋﻠﻢ ﻣﺼﺮ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺟﺎﻧﺐ ﻭﺟﻮﺩ ﺃﻳﻮ ﺍﻟﻬﻮﻝ ﻭﺃﻡ ﻛﻠﺜﻮﻡ ﻭﻫﻲ ﺃﻳﻀﺎ ﻣﺮ ﺭﻣﻮﺯ ﻣﺼﺮ. ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻨﻬﺎﻳﺔ ﻣﻴﺪﺍﻥ ﺍﻟﺘﺤﺮﻳﺮ ﻭﻫﻮ ﺃﻳﻀﺎ ﺃﺻﺒﺢ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻌﺎﻟﻢ ﻣﺼﺮ ﻭﻳﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ ﺛﻮﺭﺓ ﻳﻨﺎﻳﺮ

The painting represents Egypt where the pyramids are – one of its most famous symbols – as well as the Nile. I put a transparent layer on the water of the Nile to show the Egyptian flag next to the Sphinx and Umm Kulthum, who is an Egyptian symbol too. And at the end there is Tahrir square which became another symbol of Egypt and its January revolution.

The first day

We met the jury, who supported us in selecting the winners for the T-shirt design competition. The jury consisted of 5 members: 3 members directly from Cairo and us, the Baraq team. The event took place in a gallery in the middle of Cairo.

The second day

Started at 10 am. After we had arrived in the gallery, the artists and art students arrived one after the other with their work. Everyone was very excited. The jury was getting nervous and curious about the work arriving. The artists shared their views and emotions they experienced while composing their designs. A moving moment for every one of us.

Every single story touched us deeply. The competition ended at 5 pm when the jury closed the doors to discus each design in private. Not everyone always agreed. However, the winner, Ibrahim Mahmoud Ahmed, was chosen right away. After an hour of heated discussion, the second and third winner, Reem and Aya, were picked. Together we decided to specially honour one Egyptian family as every single member of the family, from the youngest to the oldest, took part in the competition with their own creation. The door opened! Excited faces were looking at us. Next, we all gathered in the gallery to announce the winners. This was a very emotional moment.

The first winner, Ibrahim Mahmoud Ahmed, simply couldn’t believe he had won the competition. He had submitted three different designs, one more convincing than the other. We also loved the creative work from the second winner, Reem. She was also thrilled. The third winner’s design, Aya, was specially convincing to the Egyptian part of the team.

The first winner

   

Studenten, die auch teilgenommen haben

The evening ended in celebration. A big thank you to all the students who made this competition in Cairo possible.

Best wishes,

Your Baraq team

Hello my egyptian friends,

I would ask all who live in Egypt, and love this country to participate in this competition. I beg everyone to join, all those who have a talent in drawing, graffiti or in creating as design for a T-shirt or even those who have a crazy idea for a shirt. We would love to find a T-shirt, which expresses the feelings and the impulse of the young people, who live in Egypt. Show how your heart of your country beats or feels through you. We want to send this impulse throughout the world. Show your thoughts, through this T-shirt, faith, hope, the present, future, love, courage, but as well critical political issues. Express your feelings. You are a heartbeat of this world. Feel it and live this! I think such a T-shirt is a very good way to avow yourself to your opnion. Become a voice of Egypt. Insh’Allah. I am already so happy, that those who have the courage will join to this project. God bless you and your work!

To your Information:

• The project ends, the 21 of february 2013.
• Time and place will be announced.
• For those who are not able to come to Kairo, we would like you to hand in your work the 15/february/2013. We will then give you the exact adress. If you want to participate in this contest, please contact us via Facebook.
• All those who can come, please register/ write in yourself 4 weeks before the expiration of the deadline. This is very important and necessary for the organisation of place etc.
• Please write your personal story, which brought you to the design of your Shirt.
• We want to give to charity of 2 €, for a social project in Egypt, from the proceed of each sold Tshirt.

This project has to fullfill a very important mission. It is now up to you to bring this vision to a success. I beg everyone, who come to hear of this project and want, to pray together and to beg Allah that we will have a great success. I thank all of my friends in Egypt for your support and your great encouragement. Without you this would not have been possible to realise. And I thank all of the students of the Academy of Arts in Kairo for getting the ball rolling. Thank you so much. You became a part of this vision.

God bless you and your work. In deep solidarity

Your Baraq – Team!

Day 1, Cairo 06.07.12

I met my guide and we set off right away at 9 am. The city slowly wakes, because their Friday is like our Sunday. We went straight to the graffiti wall – a place where artists express their freedom though art and my guide explained everything about the revolution. He was part of it and his wife too, although she had just given birth to a baby. She wanted to be a part of it at any price. To quote my guide, “us Egyptians have to apologise to our fellow Egyptians for not having started the revolution years ago”. He told me about a young man, a doctor, who first lost one eye and then during the revolution he lost the second one (picture 1).

Picture 1

80 people lost their sight. There were many fatalities here. On the graffiti wall at Tahrir Square, there were pictures of a big strong man who was protecting many people like a brave angle. He was one of the many heroes of this revolution. At this point of time, he was still in prison (picture 2). The guide also told me about a Copt, who also died in the revolution.

Picture 2

During our conversation, he mentioned a young woman who was cruelly beaten by five men. She was taken to hospital with severe injuries. The revolution took the life of more than 1000 people in Egypt. I then had the chance to meet the father of the revolution in his tent. We asked him for permission to take a picture of him, which he granted (see picture 3). This man was a retired high-ranking officer who stands up the rights of the dead. He lives in this memorial tent, every day and every night. He was there from the beginning. He will not leave this place before theses murderers have been punished. He also includes the unknown murderers, that the secret police, according to statements, had positioned on the roofs and shot randomly into the crowd. Nobody knew who they would hit. It was like Russian roulette. After the revolution, the sniper’s names were wanted in order to prosecute them. The official statement was, that is was not known who was positioned on the roofs on that day. They are still at large. I wanted to know what it felt like knowing that the true murderers are still free. He replied: If you look at these special forces, you don’t know who is a murderer and who isn’t. It was terrifying. One could feel a deep sadness. I felt sorry for bringing it all back to him. However, he also was happy that people are coming to Cairo and do not just rely on the media.

Picture 3