Dear VISIONEERS Members and Friends,

Another month has passed and once again a lot has happened. Here’s a brief update of current projects, plans and developments.

For several weeks every Wednesday a Games and Arts & Crafts Afternoon has been taking place in Connections Cafe in Schöneberg for refugee women and children from a nearby centre. The women and children, who participated, came from Syria, Iran, and Afghanistan and were thrilled to have an afternoon away from the refugee centre. Special thanks to the organisers of this project the Blogger Julia and the Art teacher Julia, who run and come up with all the fabulous ideas for the craft afternoons. We also want to thank Larry and Teri who warmheartedly welcomed us into their cafe and finally thanks to Paul for the great photos.

Every Wednesday we will be doing arts and crafts and playing games in Connections Cafe from 14.00 – 16.00. Anyone interested in joining and helping at this location please feel free to contact us – we are always looking for assistance.

Starting in February we want to offer a regular sewing workshop. We need materials such as fabric, felt, fabric scissors, handicrafts, as well as bus tickets as the refugees will come from various centres and can only make the journey with a bus ticket. In addition the crafting room at the cafe needs new flooring so that we can more easily hold future projects there. We would welcome any financial aid to fund this!

At the Friday get-together in Wannsee in the Baptist chapel refugees and locals are invited refugees to cook and eat together and have a cultural exchange.

We welcome the participation of any volunteers who have time and interest to

contribute through organisational or musical activities. We also welcome support and contact from any companies seeking social engagement programmes. For example, recently a team from tour operator Trip.me organised and funded the get-together. Many thanks to the fantastic Trip.me Team!

The Philosphie AG of Dreilinden Secondary School initiated the dental care

campaign. In cooperation with a group of volunteers from Dreilinden we are offering dental hygiene courses at refugee centres to assist the refugees in their day to day life. Foremost is teaching children how to take care of their teeth and they also receive a basic dental care gift pack. To further develop this project we are looking for additional volunteers. If interested please get in touch!

Many refugees are arriving for the first time to Berlin. We are looking for anyone or organisations interested in taking small groups of refugees on a city tour. If

interested, get in touch. Lara and Jonas started already and took Lilyan and Carol from Syria on a sightseeing trip.

The Costa Rica Volunteer trip is approaching fast. The flights have been booked and we are looking forward to getting into action.

We are expanding: For several weeks Lina, Ellen and Radostina have been writing

and editing our blog, ensuring regular updates and articles. Thanks for your

assistance!

We welcome all feedback on our activities and please feel free to forward this email to friends, acquaintances and any other interested parties and spread the news about VISIONEERS.

Many thanks for your support and wishing everyone a great start to the Autumn!

Warmest regards,

Natascha