Our Community
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“We are all looking for our own voice in this world”
An interview with Aziz from GSBTB Open Music School band Wulaba - Refugees voice.
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Syrian Women in Berlin: Mona’s Story
"I had to leave everything behind, including my home and relatives. There were no words to describe how much I missed my family, even to this day I have not found the words."
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Syrian Women in Berlin: Hala’s Thoughts on Friendship
"In Germany, I have a new definition of what it means to be Syrian. I think Syrian people are very strong because we try to be happy no matter what our circumstances are. We take life as it comes and accept the life God gave us."
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Syrian Women in Berlin: Rawda, the Mother
Danica Simonet volunteered with GSBTB Open Art Shelter for Women and Children throughout summer 2016. There she interviewed some women from Syria for Brother's Keeper International, where this post was first published.
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“I think it’s important to make sure every woman feels accepted”
Sinéad Walsh is the volunteer coordinator of GSBTB Open Art Shelter, which runs a weekly Frauenzimmer at Tempelhof, a safe space for women and children to enjoy art and craft projects, chat, and have access to professional therapy.
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The prize-winning pianist making a new life in Germany
At the GSBTB Christmas team-up event last year, we hosted a jam session for musicians in our community. The very next day we read the news that one of the performers, Aeham Ahmad, had just been awarded the International Beethoven Prize for Human Rights, Peace, Inclusion and the Fight Against Poverty.
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An American in Berlin: Moving beyond voluntourism
One of our most dedicated volunteers, Kurtis DeLozier, writes about how he sees the impact of his identity on his volunteer work.
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English lessons for refugees: Interview with Silke Georgi
Silke Georgi runs GSBTB's English lessons for refugees on Wednesday nights. Here's an English translation of an interview she did for ImmobilienScout 24, which kindly lends us their office space for the lessons every week.
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“I’m learning German by writing love poems”
Interviewer Shima Vezvaei met Kinan Harrouk on a rainy Berliner summer afternoon. "We took a long walk just before he went to join the German Sprachcafé with GSBTB at Sharehouse Refugio. We managed to have a German-Arabic-English fusion interview! He told me about his love for football, passion for poetry and his dream of becoming a writer."
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“It bridges so many gaps if you just see people in everyday life and talk to them”
Max Hoßfeld is one of the newest additions to the Give Something Back To Berlin team and a new Berliner as well. After having lived in Tanzania, Oman, Jordan, Israel and Turkey he decided to settle down for a while. What better place for a globetrotter than Berlin?
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“GSBTB is an example of how big & beautiful a simple idea can become”
Ricarda Bochat runs the GSBTB Open Kitchen, best known for its Refugee Cooking Group. When Ricarda isn’t organizing volunteers to shop for foreign ingredients and cook up international feasts, she’s plotting the Open Kitchen’s new streetfood market venture.
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Afghanistan’s first female rapper & GSBTBer speaking tomorrow
You might be surprised to hear that Afghanistan's first female rapper is counted among GSBTB's community members.