Germany welcomes refugees with helping hands

In Bonn, the Red Cross has clothes, toys and other donations piled to the rafters at the refugee processing center. Local Catholic and Lutheran parishes have reported that between 500 and 1,000 people are volunteering to help refugees.

Natalia, an art student, used to translate into Arabic and Russian at different counseling centers. Now, she is one of 100 volunteer interpreters at a reception center for refugees in Berlin. The young woman has escorted refugees to job centers, doctor’s appointments and apartment visits.

Some Germans are also taking refugees into their homes. Bundestag deputy Martin Patzelt (CDU) from the northeastern state of Brandenburg hosts two asylum seekers from Eritrea in his house. His wife is giving them German lessons, which she says is fun because they laugh a lot.

David Jacob and Philipp Kühn, two students from Berlin, have founded an online marketplace called "workeer." The platform connects asylum seekers with potential employers. Positions range from kitchen help to software developers.

Architect Günter Reichert does writing exercises with refugee children. He founded Germany's first library for asylum seekers in Nuremberg, where they can take free German lessons and borrow books. The "Asylothek" also strives to help traumatized children feel secure. "My goal is for there to be 50 Asylotheken in Germany by the end of the year," says Reichert.

Nedal Abbas, a refugee from Syria, is one of the many foreigners being forced to wait for the recognition of their credentials before they can begin studying in Germany. Berlin student Markus Kressler and his team have founded Wings University, a platform where refugees can acquire a tuition-free degree online. The first lectures will go online in the fall of 2015.

Hildegard Nies-Nachtsheim lives across from an asylum center in a small town in the state of Brandenburg. She founded the "Welcome Circle" with her husband, Horst, when the first group of 180 refugees arrived in 2013. The couple helps people wherever possible, from administrative procedures, to doctor’s visits, to running errands. The asylum seekers are also invited for coffee.

A project at the Karlsruhe State Art Gallery is giving young refugees the chance to create. The goal is to help asylum seekers learn more about German society through its art, including visits to galleries and different creative activities. One such task was taking selfies after analyzing portraits in the museum. The results will be exhibited as a show at the Karlsruhe gallery in late 2015.

Sven Borchert and his friends at the Freedom Radio initiative provide free Internet for asylum seekers in Dortmund. With the help of donations, they are able to finance wireless routers in refugee housing. More than 400 refugees in Dortmund can surf the web now thanks to this project.