We launched our search for a local Berlin charity that the club will support in 2021. The search began with our members, who nominated their favorite Berlin-based non-profit organization that focuses on women and/or children. Each organization was visited by the Philanthropy Chair and a Board member, who then made recommendations of the two finalists to the Board of Directors in October. Our membership will vote and make the final selection at the Annual General Meeting in December 2020.
TWO FINALISTS – FOR MEMBERSHIP VOTE at agm:
We are pleased to present ReDI Digital School and Papatya to the general membership for a vote. Click on the links to see full application, photos and further information on each organization. YOU, our members, will decide which organization the club will support financially and with volunteerism in 2021. The four organizations that are not selected for financial support, may be supported through volunteer efforts.
ReDi School of Digital Integration
Organization focus: Using technology to break down barriers and connect the leaders of tomorrow. The ReDi school program not only teaches digital skills so people can obtain jobs, but simultaneously teaches German, gives the participants confidence and supports them as they are making their transition due to forced migration.
Project: Train the trainers program. The ReDI School plans to create four computer labs in refugee homes in Berlin to give digital literacy skills to kids, adults and youth. Facebook and Rotary International have already funded the laptops and classroom furniture for the labs. The ReDi approach contains two modules to ensure a sustainable implementation. The first module is to provide digital literacy and computer skill to dedicated mothers. In the second module the trained mothers will become themselves trainers or digital education facilitators for their local communities inside the refugee centers.
Funding Request: Their grant request to us is funding the payroll needs to oversee the learning process in the four labs at a cost of 10,000 €. Their program costs about 1000 euros per student per semester to conduct. Most teachers are volunteers. Most laptops are donated and they have a low rent to make this work. They will touch about 300 students and 40 kids this year. They receive no government funds and rely solely on partnerships and donations.
Volunteer opportunities for AWC members: There are many, many volunteer opportunities with this organization. They need teachers that are willing to make a sustained, regular commitment, mentors that are willing to spend an average of two hours with a student reviewing their CV and ongoing mentors that are willing to meet once a month over a six month time period. They also need assistance with events, set-up of the labs, etc.
The Covid-19 pandemic has further isolated people living in refugee homes and slowed down integration. Most language classes have been cancelled and many refugee homes have neither internet nor sufficient access to hardware to continue learning online. Parents with forced backgrounds are often lacking the most basic digital skills and their children are not able to follow German school online. Thus there is a clear risk of further marginalization. The ReDi school’s mission is to empower underserved parents with digital skills so that they can better help their children to learn and to improve the chances for the children, and their parents, to successfully integrate and thrive in Germany.
Papatya
Organization Focus: Papatya offers help and protection to girls and young women of migrant backgrounds who have fled home because of cultural and domestic conflicts and are now threatened by their families. Coordination center against abduction and forced marriage for girls with migrant backgrounds from 13-21 years old.
Project and funding request: Renovation of shelter, trip with girls in the shelter during renovation and basic clothing needs. After more than 20 years the rooms of the shelter need a more than superficial renovation: the girls rooms need fresh paint, laminate or carpet and new furniture, the living room and the kitchen need fresh paint and laminate as well. The financial need is EUR 15 000.
To enable and facilitate the renovation, they would like to organize a trip during these days with the girls in the shelter for some days with two accompanying colleagues. For this we calculate EUR 2000.
Papatya was second runner up in the AWC 2019 charity selection process. They were requesting funding for renovation of their safe house in Berlin. They are submitting the 2019 application again as the project was not done and the repairs needed are two years older.
The girls and young women who come to Papatya are emotionally shaken and suffer from a feeling of insecurity. It is all the more important to offer them the most pleasant possible environment. In view of the situation in times of Corona, there is no financial scope for the urgently needed renovation.
Volunteer opportunities for AWC members: Due to the nature of their services, no volunteer opportunities are currently available.
This organization was founded through the Turkish German women’s association and has been operating for 32 years. They assist 20-30 girls annually to return to Germany that have been abducted/forced to another country for marriage. They shelter an average of 60 girls a year from migrant backgrounds that break all ties with their families. They assist 500 annually with online and phone counseling. The girls live in the shelter an average of 2 month with a maximum of three months per stay. They cannot use cell phones or go to school while they are residents. Papatya assists them with reentry into a community away from their current situation. Girls are welcomed to come back after they leave, but must never disclose the location of the shelter. Pregnant girls can come to the shelter until the have the child. All clients have been in severely abusive environments before they come to Papatya. They have assisted 2000 girls since opening. Papatya receives 80% of its’ funding for counseling and abduction assistance from public authorities and 90% of its’ funding for the crisis shelter from public authorities.
SUMMARY OF ALL NOMINATIONS:
Criteria for Selection
- LOCATION: Berlin-based non-profit organization.
- FOCUS: Helping women and/or girls in the Berlin metro area.
- SUSTAINABILITY: Organization needs to have enough funding to operationally sustain itself. This is to ensure that AWC Berlin does not give funding to an unstable charity organization that may not have a long term outlook.
- PROJECT: Ideally, AWC Funding should be used for a specific project or need that will be executed and completed one year from funding. Funding can also be used to support necessary expenses of the people in need that the organization serves, however, our donations should not be used to sustain the organization.
- IMPACT: Impact of the project should be broad. The more women and girls the project can benefit, the better.
- AWC VOLUNTEER: Ideally, volunteer opportunities should be available for AWC members.
Questions? please email philanthropy@awcberlin.org