Description of organisation

JRS Germany is part of the worldwide active Jesuit Refugee Service, a non-governmental organisation currently present in over 50 countries, founded in 1980 by the umbrella organisation JRS Europe. We aim to give refugees a voice and take a position on developments in refugee policy. Our main office is located in Berlin. Here we offer a free of charge legal service in hardship cases as well as procedural advice for residency to refugees threatened with deportation.
Many refugees lack German language skills. At our language café refugees are able to learn German in a playful manner and participate in discussions about how German society works. The volunteer will participate in the activities at the café, help to create a welcoming atmosphere and develop the café into a meeting place refugees come to regularly to enhance their language skills.
Some work has been done in 2020 to get our project ‘Cooking with refugees’ started. This had to be stopped temporarily due to COVID regulations. The volunteer will assist in restarting the project, inviting interested refugees via E-Mail and documenting recipes in writing and on video.
We also provide social and pastoral care twice a week at the reception facility for asylum seekers in Eisenhüttenstadt (1,5 hours from Berlin by train). A sister, a supporting member of staff and the volunteer travel to Eisenhüttenstadt. The volunteer will assist in the welcoming service over a cup of coffee by taking notes of concerns raised and passing them on to social workers and other contact persons. Knowledge of foreign languages is helpful such as French, English, Russian, Arabic and Farsi. An open and compassionate attitude is important.
Accommodation:
Male volunteers will stay in their own room with WiFi, own bathroom and a small cooking facility located on our premises. A shared kitchen area in the community of the Jesuits can also be used.
Female volunteers will stay either with a host family or at a community of the sisters in their own rooms. Bathrooms might have to be shared. The sisters also work for the Jesuit refugee service.
Every volunteer will have his / her own key to the premises. Participating in the life of the community is not mandatory but can be arranged if desired. This also applies to the meals, prayers and church services.
Male and female visitors for the volunteers can stay overnight in the community of the Jesuits in separate guest rooms. These rooms need to be booked in advance and are free of charge. The volunteers may not share their own rooms with their visitors.
We accept volunteers irrespective of their religious beliefs. The JRS is based on the following values and we expect that a volunteer shares them: compassion, hope, dignity, solidarity, hospitality, justice and participation.

Inclusion topics

This organisation is willing to involve volunteers who face situations which make their participation in activities more difficult, from the following categories for different types of project:

• Cultural differences
• Social obstacles
• Refugees