A War Begins (English text)... Coming together as a community to create housing

A war begins... what to do?

A graffitied building in Berlin Mitte.

Living 7km from the Polish border, we knew that a large influx of refugees would be heading our direction. As owners of a guest house, albeit a non-functioning guest house in dire need of renovations, as well as, a recently-formed non-profit with a welcoming-project for refugees and international guests*, the best way to respond to the situation quickly became obvious. We would make our empty spaces, nearly 20 bare, dusty, cold rooms, as comfortable as possible and build in all other necessary facilities. With no plumbing in most of the house, no central heating, and possibly non-functioning electrical wires, there were many hurdels to overcome. I must give credit to my partner/husband, Manuel, for his determination to stride beyond every obstacle, and simply say, "YES!"

The response was immediate, and the next day people were at our door, tools and cleaning supplies in hand. A sandwhich board outside our house also drew in neighbors. Over a three-week period, our house was full and busy. I was accustomed to a large empty house, but now I was up early making coffee and greeting people. A whiteboard in our front entrance, which Manuel kept updated, listed all there was to be done. I spent most of my time coordinating work and workers, sending people in the right direction and connecting them to the right tools. Often, I had, Esther, my 13-month old daughter on one hip. Electricians and plumbers did show up, and worked pro bono, like all others. A friend and neighbor spent many long days building a new kitchen. A number of donations came in as well: furniture, clothes, drapes, towels, a boiler and water heater. Many asked what else they could bring, and what else they could do. A local artist, filled a number of our bedrooms with her uplifting illustrations. Selfless service became the name of the game and it was moving to see how many people showed up willing to do whatever needed to be done.

We are grateful to the dozens and dozens of people who came to help. It seemed a nearly impossible stretch to get the place in order in 3-weeks; without YOU it would have been impossible.

Here is a video showing some of the volunteers, the spaces and our guests. Further below are photos with descriptions. 

You can also watch the video via Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/702808983

*We founded our non-profit, Haus für Kunst, Natur und Kultur gGmbH at the end of 2020. In the last quarter of 2021, we founded a welcoming initiative, Wir Zusammen! (Us, together!), for refugees and internationals arriving in our region.

PHOTOS

Two lovely volunteers help with the plumbing. There were a total of six volunteers who spent ample time in this bathroom, re-plumbing, re-wiring and tiling.

Three volunteers help to move furniture from one of the industrial halls into the main house. Daniel, far right, speaks Russian fluently, and has also helped extensively with translation and communication.

Bijan hangs lamps in the bedrooms. An Electrician helped to rewire outlets in all 14 bedrooms on the 2nd floor.

Andreas also spent many long days in piecing together the new kitchen.

Volunteer, Lena. She spent many long days cleaning many rooms.

Fourteen bedrooms were cleaned, electric was rewired and put in functioning order again, walls were repaired and painted, and furniture was brought in. Paintings and illustrations were added at the end of the process.

Sasha, one of our Ukrainian guests, with two donated illustrations from local artist and illustrator, Gabi Erne, from Hohensaaten.

Free Shop: We prepared a corner of the front entrance of the house for clothing donations. Donations from dozens of people have passed through our doors. Our guests were especially thankful for extra layers of warm clothing. Germany is not the warmest place on Earth middle of March and April.