Interview One - Stephie
Stephie is the volunteer organizer and activities organizer at Neopantera. She does part of the administrative work as well as finding activities for the residents that are free or low cost. When we spoke to her, the office was a bit tense, as there was a meeting with the residents taking place that was getting kind of argumentative. She explained to us that the residents were not all too happy about their situation. They complained that it feels like a jail, that they want more translators, and they complain about the rules. There have to be rules bough, as Stephie explains. The anger is understandable. There is a lot of frustration: some of these people have been living here for two years and still have not been able to get a job or move out into their own homes. Stephie explains that in Germany, you need papers in order to do anything, and you need to have an understanding of German in order to work. Even to get medical attention, one needs a medical ID card, which they have to wait for and may take a while to receive. The distance from own is also not very helpful, as children get bored and it makes it inconvenient anytime the people want to leave. Still the public transportation is helpful as a bus comes every half hour or so to take people into town, where they can find anything they may need as well as a train that can take them into Berlin. There is also a school they can get to where the children go. While some children, specifically the older ones are having a bit of a hard time adjusting they are picking up the language very well, and the adults are being offered German speaking classes so that they also can pick up the language. Everyone is trying to make the best out of the situation at hand. Interview Two - Jule Jule is one of the two people in charge of Neopantera. She is in charge of all major administrative activity along with Clarissa, another one of the major administrators. When we talked to her we had just left a community festival, in which the neighboring town was celebrating 100 years. We had left on a particularly tense note after a loss against the army in a tug of war. She seemed pretty upset with the events. It's frustrating that now people will take this moment of aggression as a confirmation of their prejudices, she had said. The community has been accepting for the most part. The children have friends within the schools and the people are kind to them, but it’s hard to negotiate the cultural differences, especially with the older children. There have definitely been some complaints, especially from the housing complex across the street to do with noise and rowdiness and other such complaints. Overall the people have been tolerant, but she was saying that, since Germany is kind of at the beginning of their race talks, and due to the nature of this rural area and the general homogeneity of the area (most were white from what we could see at the fair), there are some issues with how they are perceived and a lack of understanding of why the residents act the way they do which can make things difficult. Yet, they do not feel totally unwelcome as they still do go to events and people are friendly, which she appreciates. Research People in the community - The area directly surrounding the camp is less than 5% non German, but rises to about 10-20% non German as you head closer to Rathus-Spandau. The Religion is also mostly Christian. The only way to get from one place to another is by a bus that runs every 30 minutes, which can take you to surrounding towns or o parks and lakes. The most change that this population has experienced has been the influx of migrants in the past two years, and the new housing complex that is being built across the street from Neopanterra. Housing - Just within the direct vicinity of Neopanterra, the housing in generally brand new, and is still being built as I write this. They are higher income houses (as Clarissa and Manuela mentioned to us) and are mostly populated by Germans as of now. They are generally 3 or four bedroom houses and look pretty modern in the way they re constructed. Physical and Land Assets - It’s a pretty Rural Terrain. In order to get to Neopanterra we have to walk on a trail that goes through some of the surrounding forest. There are pieces of land owned by government agencies due to their historical nature, including the Army Barrack hat Neopanterra is using and a ballroom that also has historical significance. The ballroom is a vacant building owned by the government that can be used by Neoanterra, lthough they need to get insurance before they are able to use and convert it. It appears pretty safe although it is a bit old and rundown but definitely usable. It's not very dealt populated, Neighbors live kind of close to each other but each neighborhood s separated by woods. The public transportation is a great resource as it easily transports people where they need to go, and the old ballroom could be used as a gym or event center. This weekend was one of our busier weekends on this trip. We visited Hamburg, where we got to witness how graffiti and street art can be used as an act of civil disobedience, watched an amazing play which discussed refugees and migration and the intricacies of the experience, and visited a concentration camp called Sachsenhausen, where our plans for the day were derailed by a flash flood.
That's right, a flash flood. In June. That's not something we are used to on the west coast, especially not in California. The day started off pretty mild. It was cloudy outside and raining, but it's wasn't too bad. When we hopped on the train to get to Sachsenhausen it didn't seem like the rain would be getting worse. We were wrong. By the time our train ride was over it had started pouring outside. Everyone was huddled in the train station, taking shelter from the storm brewing outside as we waited for the bus that would take us to our destination. “Do you want to split the cost of an umbrella? I think we should get an umbrella.” Little did I know this suggestion was the best idea Sophia, another lovely UW Berliner, could have possibly made. “Yeah let's do it.” And then we were off. As the rain had let up a bit, and the bus seemed to be taking too long, we decided we would walk to Sachsenhausen. It wasn't too far: a 15 minute walk at the most, but as we got closed and closer the rain began to pick up again, along with some wind. At this point, I could feel my feet sloshing in my soggy converse. Those who did not have umbrellas were starting to feel the rain soak through their jackets, and yet we carried on. It seemed very fitting that the day we toured a concentration camp would be the day the weather was the most miserable. To hear the stories of what happened in these camps is one thing, but to actually be where it happened, to see these camps in person, is another thing entirely. Add the discomfort and unpleasantness we felt from the cold and our soaked clothing and the emotions were well matched to the atmosphere of Sachsenhausen. These rooms are haunted with memories of abuses so horrific that even our guide said she could not bring herself to be an expert on everything for the sake of her own sanity. One story stood out to me: the story of the Jewish children who were medically experimented on. They were seen as expendable, and therefore were often injected with diseases so that the doctors could later experiment with cures. I wonder how anyone can see another human being, specifically a child, and see something expendable. By the time we had left the camp, the mood was somber: a mixture of the the nature of our trip and the miserable feeling of having your clothes soaked all the way through. As we all huddled around each other, waiting for the bus to come, the storm became harsher. We had already given up on being dry, the task now was to get out before it got worse: an idea that was shared with everyone at the camp that day. There were at least 60 people huddled at that stop, and when the bus finally arrived, we packed it so full that I truly began to understand the expression “like a can of sardines.” The good news was that we made it on the bus. We were good to go. As we drove through the street we saw the water rise higher and higher. Cars were almost up to their windows in water, and there was a steady stream of water leaking into the bus through the cracks in the door. Then the bus stopped, the engine shut off, and the lights went out. A panicked murmur spread through the passengers, then people started getting nervous. “Hey! Open the door! We want to get out!” “Open the door” Bang! Someone slammed the emergency exit button and a flood of people streamed out of the bus, right into knee drop flood water. “Let's go!” We followed Niki’s lead and we slowly ran through the water. As cars slowly passed us, pushing the current higher. “This way!” There was a building! A school that was open! We ran inside and took shelter. A janitor ushered us into a classroom, none to happy about us tracking in water wherever we stepped, but understanding of the situation we were in. People began to peel off their layers and wrong out their clothing in the sink. We were all soaked, cold, and not too happy about our current situation. “The trains aren't running” “Are we staying here tonight?” “No way I'm gonna find a hotel nearby if we're sleeping here tonight” “Manuela says the trains are running” “It's gonna be fine!” “I say we head for the train station. I'd rather get stuck closer to town then here” And so, after an hour of waiting and discussion, we headed out. The water had gone down, but the rain and the wind were still going strong. We tracked our way to town, following some local Germans who had also taken to the school for shelter, and then, in the distance, the train station appeared. The trains were running, and before we knew it we would be back in our hostel with warm showers and dry clothing waiting to comfort us after our long day. |
An eye-opening tripI believe this trip truly gave me an opportunity to see how the stories that are told in political areans have (or don't have) an affect on ouublic perception and actions... this was something I was eager to expand on going forward Archives
August 2017
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