"Solving one isolated problem makes more sense than getting depressed", Mr. Sulliman, KuB

Our next meeting was with Stephen Sulliman, at KuB (Die Kontakt- und Beratungsstelle für Flüchtlinge und Migrant, in English: The contact and counseling center for refugees and migrants).It is a non-profit association that established in 1983. Mr. Sulliman is the one who is in charge of the administrative affairs in the association. He started as an intern in 2000 and has been working since then.

At the beginning, he explained us their 'aim', then the period after when Germany received more than one million refugees and briefly their services.

As stated on the name of the organization, it is focused on refugees (mainly) and migrants. They just want to open their services for the ones in need, money and papers are not their concern. They did not want to see the refugees as an issue. 'Illegal' immigrants are also their concern, the documents don't mean anything at all. All they want is that the refugees would live in Germany independently, take responsibility for their life here and be in connection with the society.

Subsidy from the Government

From 2000 until 2015, the organization had almost no money. The refugees were not considered as an issue. When the association asked money from the institutions, all they gave was nothing but a very superficial encouragement. Mr. Sulliman also added that the government were giving problems about the bureaucracy. In 2015, Germany accepted more than one million refugee into its land. There was no preparation for this and the government were seeking help. As KuB was working with refugees since 1983, the officials came to them. The government gave to KuB the money with a very few administrative conditions, so they can execute a lot of things for the purpose to provide that every human being deserves in life in the best way. He also mentioned that the number of the employers in the organization has reached to almost 350 after the subsidy.

German Courses

As a very fundamental service, there are German language courses taught by volunteers. The courses begin from the alphabetization to the level B2 (upper intermediate). In addition, everyday they have some people who can speak 30 languages but mainly Arabic, Farsi, English and French. We can say that the association tries to overcome the language obstacle. Also, because of the technology and the internet, translation is easier than before.

Psychological and Pedagogical Services

They have a consultation on the right of asylum and residence, psychologists and legal advice service. According to a research from Munich University, %60 of refugees suffer from the PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) so he emphasized on the importance of the consultation and pedagogical help.

Since the violence to women is a very serious issue in shelters, they have also social pedagogic service for them. In addition, he mentioned that actually violence and human trafficking are the big issues in general context of refugees, not only women. We asked him if women were arriving to the point of that they can defend themselves at some point. Even though the organization cannot reach all the women in need, it is getting better, they are becoming more independent than the time when they came first to Berlin.

"As a social worker, you have to try, try and try. You have to invest a lot. Solving one isolated problem makes more sense than getting depressed", Mr. Sulliman said.

Art Projects with Kids

Being a kid in a shelter is sad and traumatic enough. To heal their mental health and give them a space outside their situation, they have some art projects with kids together with psychologists. He underlined that the thing they do is not an art therapy, it is more a pedagogical approach. So, these projects has been taking place in the shelters. He added that not only are they working with kids but also with young children and teenagers. For example in a refugee camp in Charlottenburg they meet with the children on a weekly basis to paint, to do handicrafts or to play soccer.