Friend
@Foto:alvivi

Start with a Friend: Arrive better together

Start with a Friend (SwaF) is a nationwide project that brings together people with migration biographies and locals. SwaF is also active in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region with a group for Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg. Zita Hoefer coordinates with a team of volunteers the activities of SwaF and tell here personally about her work.

Friendships at eye level

Okra is a type of vegetable that originates from Egypt. It tastes a bit like green beans but has a much nicer shape. It happens from time to time that there is something to eat somewhere that I have not tried before but something comes on the table that I have never heard of, that is rare. While breaking the fast together on Start with a Friend I not only learned what Okra tastes like but also for the first time dealt with what Ramadan really is even tried to fast for the day - unfortunately without success. When we washed the dishes together with twenty people at the end of the evening we tried to teach each other lullabies. I can't really say how wrong my attempts to sign in Arabic were but I noticed that "Guten Abend, gute Nacht" sung in German can still sound Arabic.

The Start with a Friend mission in Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen

But more importantly, that evening I once again realized what is one of the basic ideas of Start with a Friend: that we feel more comfortable when we are surrounded by people we like and with whom we can talk and laugh openly. Finding such people is not always easy, especially when we are new to an unknown place. It becomes even more difficult if we do not yet know the culture of this new place and cannot speak the language. Wiht our local group of the non-profit organisation Start with a Friend we try to facilitate such meetings in Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen which help you to find new contacts and friends. But how does it work?

Strangers can become friends

In order to facilitate arriving in Germany and contact with new people Start with a Friend Tandems mediates between (refugees) newcomers to Germany and locals. This idea is simple and at the same time, in our eyes, makes it so beautiful: We meet people, get to know them personally and then put them in a tandem - based on common interests, living conditions and last but not least out gut feeling. In the ideal case a friendship develops from this. Our tandems are as diverse as the people who join us. What the tandems experience with each other is up to them. This makes SwaF flexible and uncomplicated. No prior knowledge or training is necessary you just have to be open with each other. In doing so we support our tandems: as contact persons for questions and through our many different events.

In addition to the madiation of tandems we would also like to see a colourful and open communty which we promote with further events. Once a month we invite all tandems, interested people and friends to our so-called community events. Then we play together, go to the museum or cook as we did when we broke our fast together. Every first Tuesday of the month we also meet for a delicious lemonade at our regulars' table at Café Rost in Mannheim where we can exchange our experiences and ideas.

By the way, the idea for all of this was born in Berlin where Start with a Friend was founded as a small project in 2015. In the meantime, intercultural friendships are being fostered through Start with a Friend in 22 locations in Germany and all of this through the dedicated work of countless colunteers who are committed to a more cosmopolitan society. We in Mannheim have existed since spring 2017. Since then we have experienced many beautiful, funny and new things together and have learned a lot from each other.

Take part

If you also would like to become part of the SwaF community and meet new people sign up with SwaF or come to a regulars' table. SwaF is looking forward to all new faces.

important dates:

  • every first Tuesday of the month, from 19:30: SwaF - Stammtisch in the Café Rost, Pflügergrundstr. 16, 68169 Mannheim

All further dates and more information can be found here: Start with a Friend – Mannheim/LU/HD

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