It takes a village.

I have been hoping to be able to write a post with this title for over a year.

Several times, as things were dragging on, I started, trying to write a comprehensive and understandable report of what was and had been happening, and failed. And things weren’t finished yet… This all sounds mysterious, and I still don’t know whether I will be able to put this into coherent writing. But it was an imminent part of my (terrible) past year, and I feel the need to get it out of my system. In fact, it was the beginning of the series of catastrophes that made last year so awful, and as we have now reached a point where it looks like things may be on the mend, I will give it another try.

Over the years I have repeatedly written about my work helping refugees, and one Senegalese refugee in particular, trying to find ways to get them a visa, residence, work permit, job, whatever. A means to get on with their life which they had uprooted by leaving their country, either fleeing from a civil war (Syrians), catastrophic political conditions after years of foreign interference (Afghanistan), economic hardship (African countries). 

 

One of my posts was even titled ‘Victory’, because I had thought we had ‘won’. Little did I know…

In mid-February (last year, 2024) things shattered. A small mistake was made when my Senegalese protégé changed jobs – the HR person for the new employer did not notify the authorities of the fact that he was now working for this new firm. We had told her twice that it was necessary, but she ‘thought it wasn’t’. Of course, she didn’t have to pay the price… I did notify the authorities, but not within the two-week period prescribed, and it would have had to be a form filled out by the employer. The result was that my friend’s work permit was revoked, they wanted to deport him. Long negations with the immigration office followed – partly through my husband, who has a very good way of dealing with authorities, and without him it wouldn’t have been possible. My friend had to find a new job, fast. He was extremely fortunate in finding a small family-run business with a strong record of really caring for their people, and the owner has been fighting alongside me like a lioness, because she wanted to secure a qualified and reliable worker for her firm. Thank you, Julia, for employing L. and thank you for joining in the fight!

There followed several setbacks when oral agreements weren’t kept by the authorities, they kept pressuring my friend to get a date to apply for a working visa from Senegal - he would have had to leave the country and re-enter in a new status. This is a favorite scheme of Bavarian authorities, who are adamant that former asylum seekers should not (easily, if at all) get a work permit and qualify for residency from within the country. Once an asylum seeker, always an asylum seeker, it seems. There were several weird instances which I won’t go into detail about, but which stressed me beyond all possible limits - and all of this happening as my father was ailing, finally passed away, my job problems, my husband’s decision to change to a different congregation, my son leaving for university, my mother’s accident and broken hip, my mother-in-law slowly fading and then, too, dieing – until, in January of this year, we finally found a lawyer who agreed to take L.’s case.

Her entry on the stage has made life easier again. She found out some more atrocities that we didn’t even know about – for example, the embassy in Senegal had at least twice asked the Immigration authority to please just make it possible that he receive his visa from within the country (which is a possibility, called a “discretionary decision”) because they don’t know their head from their toes due to the number of visa applications from within Senegal. The authorities’ last demand that he leave the country to apply for a visa from Senegal, which finally caused us to decide to get a lawyer, was issued a couple of days after they had received the second suggestion from the embassy in Senegal to just give him a visa and let him stay.

It's a long story, and certainly my attempt to describe all the shit that was happening can’t give full credit to just how shitty it all was. It’s a tale of bureaucracy and hostility towards foreigners, turning against employers who are desperately searching for well-trained workers – which he is, and the Bavarian state paid for his education. What’s the point of doing that and then shipping him back, or making life difficult for him?

As somebody who has been banging her head against the walls of immigration office doors trying to achieve some positive results based on human intelligence, pragmatic dealing with situations and just basically smart moves I have come to an understanding of asylum seekers who radicalize themselves, pick up a weapon and just go and shoot or stab some people. I don’t approve, but I understand.

In any case – the current situation is that L. has received a temporary work- and residence permit, then had to go to Paris and get his passport renewed (including a bribe of €550 to get an quickly enough appointment before the other one expired) and has been able to officially change his address and thus his immigration office. Perhaps that helps? He now needs yet another application for a longer-term work and residence permit, which would allow him to participate in schooling and training the employer wants to send him to. And to travel and visit his sister, who has had her share of personal tragedies alongside all of this. It’s been a very hard year for him, too.

The African proverb of the title clearly fits L’s situation. I have been fighting for him for almost eight years – and I couldn’t have done it alone. My family helped a lot with their patience, and by taking him into their hearts and including him in many family activities, my husband with the recent negotiations, my son by calling him a ‘big brother’. Mr. G., former mechanical engineer, spent many hours helping L. with his studies for the mechanical school he went to. Friends helped find him a job, other friends let him live in their basement apartment when he was finally allowed to move out of refugee dormitory. Friends gave him a temporary job while looking for a job as mechanical worker. And now his new employer, who has taken over for accompanying him to immigration office appointments which I can’t do any more after my move north. Thank you all for your help, you have been a wonderful village team, I could not have done it with out you.

My eagerness to help immigrants that was once abundant (and brought me many many interesting and wonderful experiences and friendships) has evaporated to just close over zero. I will make sure the L. gets settled, and I will always be there for any of his needs in that realm. But the Bavarian state has managed to break my momentum in this area. I know we need immigration, I think we could have achieved what Angela Merkel meant when she said “We can do this!” 

 

But too many people did not agree, and …

I won’t write about my involvement with refugees again, I think. It’s too frustrating.

 

75th Anniversary

 

Photo of the front page article from the daily
newspaper "Die Welt" from May 23, 2024

Last Thursday, May 23^rd, marked the 75th anniversary of Germany’s ‘Grundgesetz’, which translates as ‘Basic Law’ (you can find the English translation here) and is Germany’s constitution. Its name derives from the fact that it was passed by a legislative convention that included members from only three of the then occupied sections of Germany, the American Sector, the British Sector, and the French Sector. Representatives from the Russian Sector were not included as the Cold War was already in its beginning stages, a unified Germany was not in the interest of the Russian occupiers. The convention declared a continued interest in aiming for a unified Germany, therefore this linguistic specification.

The document included paragraphs that left open the option for the other parts of Germany to join the union, two different possibly ways to achieve reunification were outlined, and the Federal Republic of Germany with a clear West-orientation was on its way.

The Russian Sector passed a separate constitution a few months later, leading to a de facto separation of the two German states that would last forty years, until just a few months respectively weeks after the celebrations of the 40^th anniversaries of the two different documents, when dissatisfaction, demonstrations in the Eastern part of Germany and the dissolution of the Soviet Empire led to the opening of borders in November 1989 and political reunification in October 1990.

The Grundgesetz aimed to improve on deficiencies of the constitution of the Weimar Republic, learn from other democratic countries and their experiences and was worded explicitly to make it impossible to have developments such as the destabilisation of democracy as had happened during the Weimar years that then led to the dictatorship of Hitler and his Nazi regime.

We were taught to be proud about the Grundgesetz, and although I have always had an emotional difficulty with calling myself (and being) German because of the historic load that comes with it, I have indeed always been patriotic about the intentions expressed in that document. I must not be the only one with this condition as there exists a special term for this feeling, "Verfassungspatriotismus", i.e. patriotism for the constitution. As a political constitution I think it is really pretty darn good. Even if there are flaws in its execution in some areas, and I do not agree with some of the changes that were made in later years. (A two-thirds majority is needed in both chambers of parliament to enable a change in the wording, and there are a few articles that are not open to attempts at alteration.)

I made a quilt that runs the text of the first (unalterable) article, “Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar” (‘Human dignity is untouchable’). 

 

Part of the text messages series: Article 1

It was part of the SAQA Europe-Middle East exhibition “Made in Europe” a few years ago, and on display at FoQ, and it sold recently. So it got out there, and it’s maybe having some impact now.

These words were also one of the driving motivations behind my long and intensive involvement with refugees, which is still ongoing on a smaller level, even though I don’t talk about it much anymore. (I might, once the current bout of uncertainty is over, but only, if it turns into success.)

Likewise, my love and appreciation for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is grounded on these words, as they were drawn in part from that document. UDHR has been influential in several of my quilts, the words appear as the quilting and title of “Everyone has the Right” and “#UDHR” from a few years ago.

My strong feelings about justice, equality and human rights has made it rather difficult to live with a peaceful mind in the last years as more and more wars are erupting in so many different areas of the world, social justice seems to be eroding in developed countries and the countries that developed countries have been exploiting, climate and plastic crisis is increasing and so on and so on. I don’t know how to deal with all of this. And I don’t know whether making a quilt about that will help. So perhaps there won’t be any more ‘political’ quilts of mine? Who knows. I have no clue whether it makes sense to make quilts expressing a political opinion, what do you think?

Merry Christmas

 By now we have received a whole load of Christmas cards. And I usually just enjoy them, am grateful for people thinking of us, even though it would be nice to hear from some of them more often throughout the years as well. But this year I realized that two cards touched me more deeply than others. One came from a small local organisation called "Helping Sick Children" (Kranken Kindern Helfen) which runs a school for sick children in the children's hospital in Landshut. We are members in that organisation, although we haven't really done more than being paying members. Obviously the card was made by one of the children in that school.

The other card came from far away - the one letter I receive per year with stamps from Rwanda.

It was sent by Doctor Alfred Jahn, who used to be the Children's Hospital Director in Landshut and is now operating children in Rwanda who suffer from palatine cleft at birth, an organization I donated the money to when I tried my hands at hosting a knit-along several years ago. I have repeatedly donated smaller amounts of money to this organization, always grateful that my child was born healthy, and that we live in an area where universal healthcare and pretty good medical support is readily available. Through my Senegales friends I have learned close on what that means, when a sickness of a child (or an adult) that needs to be treated in hospital can be a life-threatening situation simply because the expenses cannot be paid, and yet treatment would be relatively easily possible. Somehow it all ties together. Recently I listened to an episode of the UNHCR podcast "Awake at night", where Chris Mburu tells about his life, and how it changed when a Swedish woman decided to support him through school in Kenia, although they had never met. This episode had me in tears - while driving to and from work - because it made me feel that my engagement for my Senegalese friends who have come here and were facing the terrible difficulties of German ways of dealing with illegal immigrants was a bit like that. I managed to have a bit of a positive impact on their lives, and there are still ways I can help. Which is wonderful. I received beautiful presents from my special protegee's relatives in Senegal when he went to visit in November, and it was wonderful to feel their gratefulness. Even if it made me a bit ashamed - it is relatively little money compared to what we have and spend. And it means all the difference in the world for them. So although I had to withdraw from my intensive involvement in refugee work to protect my own health, there are still ways I can, and do, and will continue to help. Which is a wonderful feeling.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Between Paris and Berlin

 After returning from the weekend in Paris with my son I had two days at home. These had been planned as a leisurely switch from one suitcase to another, preparing for a 10-day-trip to the North Sea with a return to the Yoga hotel I had spent a week at last year July, and an ensuing weekend meeting with some of the regional representatives of the German Guild for some sewing time and getting together ('team building' we called it in our post on Instagram).

The two days, however, turned out slightly more stressful than planned because they required some sudden action on behalf of my Senegalese friend and protégé, who had now indeed found a job, been given a contract, needed the work permit, which I had feared would take forever to get because German administrative offices with regard to foreigners and refugees tend to take their time. (I think they do that on purpose to discourage people, wear them down. But of course this is a very subjective and negative opinion about the issue, based only on six years of frustration, trying, keeping at it...) Luckily, a very insisting HR person in his new firm took matters into her hands, and although it did not go quite as fast as she had at first thought, within a week of signing the contract he could start work. Yet another step taken, we are getting even closer to the finish line.

So after these two days I took a train to the North Sea and spent a good week in the yoga hotel Kubatzki. Taking long walks on the beach, 

 

getting massages, going to yoga classes, once I took a bike tour to the lighthouse. 

 

It was very relaxing. I could have stayed a lot longer. When I had to leave I was wondering why on earth I had agreed to come to this meeting in Berlin... Not once did I take out my handstitching on the temperature quilt - that had to wait for the sewing time in Berlin, in fact. The first evening I went to the Brandenburg gate at night,

the next morning I did a bit of sight-seeing before everybody else arrived. For example, I checked out the newly opened Humboldt-Forum (which I didn't like at all!), went to an exhibit with photos by Robert Capa (in English, in German) in the New Synagogue (no photos allowed). And discovered a very dangerous yarn store right in the vicinity of the Synagogue, yarn over. This was - well, not necessary, but permitted because my friend Maike from Canada and I had met for 15 brief minutes at Hamburg main station, where she had given me two skeins of yarn from a 4-skein-order I'd had sent to her three months ago. For her birthday, she got to keep two of the skeins, and had the order to bring (and then send by mail) the other two the next time she came to Germany to visit her family. Which happened to be this particular week, and while she was going up north from Frankfurt, I was going south, and we would have had 40 precious minutes at the station together, each of us changing trains. Except for the fact that my train was delayed and it all narrowed down to 15 minutes - all of which was discovered while we were already on the train, thanks to social media. Due to this particular situation and because I knew I had one type of yarn at home which I wanted to combine with this new goodie,

 

 I allowed myself to get a third thread to combine them all together.

Acquired in Berlin...

and swatched with all three strands held together.

 

That's what happens to resolutions ("I will buy no more yarn until several options from the stash have been used!") when one is traveling...

As I said, I had not done any stitching on the temperature quilt, but did get around to it during our sewing time with the regional reps. Finished a whole month plus a week in two days, then the tip of my thumb was very sore.

Still a lot to go...

Putting myself back in normal life again...

 

 Two weeks with important dates have passed recently. Three days of written exams for me, and a few days later the oral examination. Only one more part of the exams and then a few weeks of waiting for the results, until the middle of September. Of course, that is a long wait, and several people have told me that that is not exactly according to German law - we should be given the results of the overall performance after the oral exam and then be considered a fully qualified employee. But the virus has influenced all this, normally we would have had to wait for the final oral exam until the middle of September, and then it would have been in accordance with the law. But I don't really care about that right now - I am not really worried that I might not have passed, so I can wait after that practical exam is over coming Thursday...

Another important date was last week's graduation 'ceremony' (very minimalistic) for my Senegalese friend and foster son which I got to attend on the sidelines.

The first African graduate of this school of
mechanical engineering, but that was not mentioned.

Much to my own surprise I did not start crying. I thought I probably would, but I kept my wits together. What a ride it has been - and a practicum is around the corner, which might be an entry into a well-established firm of mechanical engineering, thanks to connections, we will see...

My son finished 10th grade (he is one of the students who profited from the virus and digital home schooling, at least in terms of grades) and immediately entered a bus that took him and his basketball team to Berlin where they are playing a small tournament. The parents are a bit worried about the infection situation there, which is not exactly optimal, but he was safely two weeks after his 2nd shot. Although ... no, I just hope they will be cautious and nothing will happen.

After my own exams (well, two thirds of it) I can safely start clearing up my desk, don't need to do all that studying anymore. But it is taking time to get back into a state of mind of some kind of normalcy. I find myself sitting around a lot, doing nothing, and the urge to get creative is still mostly focussed on 'making' rather than being truly creative. So I am finishing knitting projects to fulfill the self-imposed rule that I need to finish at least a part of what used to be approximately 6 or 7 unfinished knitting projects all over the house. I can tick of 2 - a pair of socks using up remnants (the pair in the top of the picture):

 

A sweater made from handspun yarn, 3-ply.

 

And I am getting closer to the finish line with this sweater for me. I think after that I am allowed to swatch a bit and make up my mind which of the zillion combinations of yarn and designs I have been pondering I will actually start.

 And spinning a wonderful silk fibre, which turns into a meditative activity that is keeping me occupied. But because the thread is very fine indeed it is taking a long of time, too.

 

I have been adding some more to the weaving piece on my design wall which I started for the SAQA regional zoom meeting. It is growing, but it is also still brewing. Not quite happy with the size right now. It will come.

Of course, this weekend I am thinking about the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, which I couldn't go to first because of the exams, and secondly because  of the virus and quarantine restrictions. I am hoping it will be possible again next year.

Berry Meditation ...

It is that time of the year – berries in abundance. Despite the fact that I have been shamefully neglectant towards my garden (“I will start doing it all when my exams are over!”) it is offering me a bounty of berries harvest. 

 

I started working on it last week with white and black currants, gooseberries, the first, early red currants bush. 

 

I even had some helpers, one completely voluntary and eager, the other had to be enlisted but has been attentive about this since.

 

Now the other reds are very ready to be picked and although I would have preferred to be able to defer it for another ten days – which isn’t possible at all, and they are clearly later this year anyway – I got started on them yesterday. The abundance makes it necessary to spend hours, and I don’t really have that time right now... but at least I got started. And found myself meditating over the berries, the past year, developments, options.

This past Tuesday was a weird day. And a good day. I am not going to talk about the weird part. But I want to mention the good part. Over one year ago I posted about the Senegalese whom I have been fostering for almost five years, and who had won a seemingly small but very important victory in terms of his status of residence in this country. (One of the helpers above.) The story of course continued, because he had to procure a passport, which he then needed to hand over to the authorities. Several months later he did just that, and now, a few months later still, he has passed his final exams in the technical school that he is attending. This was not his first choice in terms of professional orientation, but the only option to take – a purely vocational school, for this he did not need a work permit to be allowed to attend. Germany typically has a dual combination of vocational school with a section of professional qualification in a business. For this, however, a work permit is required, and his status of residence prevented him from getting that permit. That was the reason why he was not allowed to start training as a hospital caretaker four years ago at the end of the one-year preparatory class in which I taught German, and where I first got to know him closer.

Imagine yourself, in a strange country, having to learn the language, and authorities are constantly trying to demonstrate to you that you are not really wanted here. Going to school under these circumstances is hard, going to school in a field that wasn’t your personal choice, is even harder. And it is a tough school, as it competes with the dual mode of training and has to prove that the students are equally qualified at the end of the course. I admit, there were times when I was afraid it might have been too difficult a school, but there were good times when I was confident he would pass. I enlisted another helper for the technical lessons, I covered tutoring for German, English, social sciences. The exams started at the end of June. And the results were given out on Tuesday. I am so proud to say that he passed all the written exams, it is not necessary to take an oral to make up for a bad result. He is in fact going to take a voluntary oral exam to try to improve one particular subject, but it will not be counted against him, he has passed his exams. Now we need is to get the written work permit, and then there are options for him to find work. These are almost five long years of ups and downs coming to a good conclusion. We are almost there.