Chocolates for all!

At the monthly meeting of Respekt: Menschen various types of chocolates were scattered over the tables.  Of course there was also tea and mineral water.  Lots was consumed over the course of the two hour meeting, but there was also a lot accomplished on the agenda.  Marlene, the lady with the white scarf reminds me of you.  She was also a teacher, has a great sense of humor, a sharp political take, and a good heart.

Respekt: Menschen developed a few years ago when so many civil society groups formed to help with the influx of refugees.  These smart folk decided to send reps once a month to this meeting so that they can keep each other informed about what they were doing, and get help and info from each other. Many of these smaller groups are no longer functioning and RM is now doing much of the work.  Many who come here actually work with refugees in their job as physicians, social workers, etc.  But they find that RM can be much more reactive than their large agencies. It's a huge benefit to have their know-how.

The following will be some notations from this first meeting we attended.
1. At the beginning of the year 2 members went around to all officials at the offices dealing with foreigners, to refugee social workers, and the supers of the camp buildings and brought each person a rose, a card, and a personal thanks for their hard work.  Jack and I got a quick insight into how hard it was for them to be genuine when they were dealing with a particularly difficult official :).  But what a great idea this is!  They plan to do it again next January.

2.  They lamented the fact that while Mannheim, just across the Rhein bridge from us, has land and former US barracks which can be used for the refugees, Ludwigshafen (LU) is lacking any exta land to build on, let alone empty buildings.  Also, we learned, LU at one time was quite wealthy and now is lacking any extra resources.  BASF is the largest employer in the town and they questioned whether the taxes could be raised on it....  "Steuerschlupfloch" = tax loop hole

3.  They discussed, but came to no conclusion, of what to do with the incorrect public perception that the refugees situation is hopeless.  They agreed that the local paper fails to publish success stories.  They really believe there are only a few truly hopeless situations.

4.  The local camp is overfilled.  Refugees stay there until they get papers to live in LU.  Now there is a new problem:  Folk who get their papers cannot find another residence, which makes them homeless.  A completely different part of the local gov't is responsible for the homeless.  Those bureaucrats do not want refugee responsibilities!  So they all had a chuckle around the table and discussed various houses and apartments that will be coming available.

5.  One woman reported having used 300 Euros from RM to help pay for the 550 Euro cost of a DNA test.  The gov't insisted that this man prove he is the father of the child, in which case he gets to stay in Germany. RM said it was a way of getting rid of him and that it's obvious he belongs to this family.

6.  A family from Kosowo has been told they must leave after being here 4 years.  However, their son is 14 yrs old and has attended German school for all 4 yrs.  If his report card in February is good, the family can appeal to stay.  If he fails, they must leave.  If he were not between 14-18 yrs old, they'd have no grounds to stay.  He is sure he'll pass all his subjects. This means the parents may stay till he is 18.  Then he can stay, but they must go...unless there is another child in the family at that point of the right age and already 4 yrs in school.  The woman in the picture with the red hair accompanied this family to the office for foreigners and explained their case.  The official collected their passports, listened, and agreed that once he gets a copy of the report card he'll apply for their right to stay. When they left, the red head took them out to a cafe to celebrate.  Instead of being happy, the mother had a meltdown because they'd had to leave their passports and now were without proper documentation!!  She became hysterical.  The red head explained to us that it was not only scary for her, but actually also a real problem because for certain things they have to show their passports and now they'll be without for a while.

7.  We also heard the story of a politician at the state level getting involved with helping a migrant family and getting in deep trouble because of it.  She found out that a family was being deported because their combined income was not quite enough according to state rules.  They averaged 30 Euro less a month!  She overruled the expulsion.  The public thought she'd overstepped and not followed the law.  When she was able to show that her job gave her that right (she had just never used it before), then the furor died down.  Germans do want rules to be followed.

They invited us back for next month's meeting and wished us well in our work at Friedenshaus.  By the way, they always meet in our LU Mennonite Church building.