Who Cares? Care work in all areas of life - making the invisible visible

Heidi Flassak and Maximilian Hesslein report on an event organised by Care Revolution Rhein Neckar in Heidelberg. Thank you very much!

On the second evening of our dialogue series "Who cares?!", Hassan Albatran was our guest and told us his story in a vivid, impressive, open and cheerful way.

This story not only led him from Iraq to Heidelberg after many difficulties and hardships. Here, too, it took months to years before he was given the chance to attend language courses, do an apprenticeship and work. The legal and bureaucratic hurdles and obstacles were enormous, unsettling and humiliating. People like Hassan are lucky to receive support from individuals who work tirelessly to help them regain confidence in themselves.

Being perceived as a burden as a refugee, being banished to waiting positions for no reason, is demoralising and makes you hopeless. Hassan succeeded impressively in making it palpable.

Hassan was eventually able to gain a professional foothold and works in home nursing as a qualified carer. His profession of caring for and looking after people in need and enriching their everyday lives with joy and humour fulfils him. This was impressively confirmed by one of his "patients" and his spouse among the participants.

In his private life, Hassan lives out his talents and needs in movement, dance and language together with other young people in the amateur theatre company "Too much Jamal". In collectively developed plays, he can bring in his life themes and experiences and enjoy the performances (most recently in France) and successes with great fun and joy.

Having received and utilised a lot of support himself, Hassan is now involved in some of the same initiatives (including Chancen Gestalten, Über den Tellerrand). Giving something back, getting involved, making an impact and being effective are his motives.

The intensive discussion that followed centred on how to open up prospects for young people like Hassan and bring about improvements.

It is and remains an enormous and forward-looking task for the individual lives of the people who come here, as well as for the life of our entire society.

The next "Who cares?!" evening will take place on 21 October.