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Refugees being taught German by a volunteer at Strothoff International School
They’re not ‘refugees’, they’re people Matthew Baganz reports on a school’s initiatives toward integration: a two-way street Strothoff International School is located in Dreieich, Germany, just 12 km from Frankfurt Airport. When families from Syria and Afghanistan began moving to Dreieich, and then into a temporary housing facility 200 metres from the school’s front doors, the call for support was clear. Although there was some concern about safety and health implications, the larger part of the Strothoff community agreed that this was both an opportunity and an obligation. The natural place to start seemed to be monetary donations that could be used for whatever was needed. Parents contributed to bake sales and packed their children’s school bags with old books to be sold at book swaps. At Strothoff’s International Fair, community members sold regional German dishes and other international cuisine. After their unit of inquiry about businesses, International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) 4 and 5 students donated the profits from their Business Fair. As the specific needs became clearer to the school community, collections became more focused and meaningful, such Autumn
Spring |
| 2017
as a winter clothing drive and a specific request for men’s professional attire. A game-changing activity, however, was one that finally put a face to the fundraising. An initiative led by students as young as Pre-primary organised a toy drive. Through the local Integration Office teachers received the names and interests of a group of refugee children. Students then stocked care bags with toys, books, and treats, and painted rainbows and refugee children’s names – Yousef, Ali or Umar – on the sides. Students were no longer blindly sending money to an imaginary person named ‘Refugee’; now Strothoff children were seeing and ‘meeting’ refugee children, if only through photographs at this point. The smiles reflected on either side of the action were one and the same. Education and Raising Awareness Along a path paved by Pre-primary children toward the development of new friendships, adults established educational initiatives with the goal of alleviating the hardship
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