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.
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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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