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Language classes
German classes ended in the middle of June after the students completed 60
hours of instruction. Four teachers taught two groups of 10 students, that
always included Saturday morning sessions and ended with a two-hour written
examination. These classes - supplemented with various lectures in German both
in the classroom and on field trips and, of course, the host families - provide
the student with a background in German to begin the second half of the
semester, the "service learning" experience.
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Frau Dr. Rosi Schmitt teaching a class on adjective endings! |
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Class posing with Frau Schmitt. |
Off to service assignments
After an orientation to their service assignments on Friday, most of the
students left town by train with their luggage in hand Saturday afternoon.
Most have been placed in social and educational institutions, many
of them church related institutions. The actual work involved may vary
greatly, as will be seen from upcoming features on the various locations.
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Danielle and Merlin had the farthest to go and were the first to
leave. Their trip will involve several train changes. They are going to
Bad Pyrmont, the only location outside of the former GDR. |
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Chris Meyer and Dan King heading out for Erfurt, where they will
serve at the Christliches Jugenddorf, a home for handicapped young people. |
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Matt, Emily, Troy and Brett in the center of the picture, with
Emily's host mother, Frau Stimper, seeing them off. Frau Stimper is the
only host parent who was already involved with Goshen students before
the Wende. |
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Leipzig
Angie, Lisa, Ben and John are in Leipzig serving with the Heilsarmee/Salvation Army.
Angie has a variety of tasks including working in the clothing center and
secretarial and promotional work for the café, while Lisa works in the youth
café and its accompanying recreation program for young people from a low income
neighborhood with high unemployment. Ben and John are busy in a government home
for people looking for asylum in Germany, with residents from over 30 different
countries and cultures. The Heilsarmee has the contract for operating this home
and Ben and John's work includes anything from distributing food to the families,
doing their laundry and playing soccer with the residents. The four share a large
apartment with German workers in a building of the Heilsarmee. John and Ben have
an hour-long streetcar ride across Leipzig, a city of some 600,000 inhabitants,
on their way back and forth to work.
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Leipzig is recently in the news because of its candidacy for the
2012 Olympic games. Throughout the city lions, painted by various artists,
promote the games. |
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Downtown Leipzig offers many charming and interesting visual perspectives.
This street serves as the location for a block-long set of kinetic sculptures,
a beautiful sight in a breeze. |
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John with Kapitän David and his wife Marcia at a staff breakfast and
devotions before the guys head off to work at Grünau. |
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The "Leipzig 4" posing behind the billiard table in the youth café. |
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Reiner, the director of the Asylbewerberheim in Grünau, where John
and Ben spend their days. Reiner demonstrates an amazing flexibility and ability
in dealing with all the issues arising in a community of so many different cultures
living in one building. |
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Ben and John in front of the Asylbewerberheim, one of the numerous
buildings from socialist times in this part of Leipzig. |
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John having his truly cross-cultural experiences - an American enjoying
a Mexican sundae in the shadow of the Church of St. Thomas, famous for Bach
serving there as cantor. |
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Halle
Jaclyn Stoltzfus and Dan Stutzman are in Halle for their service experience.
Halle is a city of about 250,000. At the time of the Wende there were over
325,000 inhabitants. Most of those who left went to western Germany, trying
to escape the bleak employment possibilities in Halle, with the closing of so
much of its industry. The downtown, which suffered great damage during the war,
has been beautifully rebuilt, but many sections of Halle still have decaying
buildings and a very high unemployment rate. Historically Halle is famous as the
birthplace of Handel and for the Franckische Stiftungen, a charitable foundation
begun by August Hermann Francke in 1698. This institution, founded in the Pietist
tradition, is unique in Germany. It was inoperative in GDR days but is now again
active even while it's buildings are still being restored. The two SSTers are
involved in a project that attempts to reintegrate people who had missed the
opportunity to successfully complete an apprenticeship. Projects for these people
include cabinetry, bookbinding, etc.
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Historical downtown Halle with the Marktkirche. |
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A section of the old buildings of the Frankische Stiftungen as seen from
the street side. |
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Part of the Bauhof staff with whom Jaclyn and Dan work. Alexander, third
from left, an immigrant from the Ukraine, who is the SSTers supervisor when they
work with the furniture restoring group, is taking them on a 20 km Wanderung next
weekend. The staff includes counselors and craftsmen. |
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A few blocks from the Stiftungen Dan and Jaclyn found a Mennonite church,
Soli Deo, sponsored by the German Mennonites and a mission board of the Mennonite
Church USA. The pastor is Steve Norton, a Goshen graduate. The photo shows Steve and
his wife Sharon, also a Goshen grad, with Dan and Jaclyn. |
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