The “Berlin Action”Under the umbrella of “Action Week” The “Berlin Action”
Under the umbrella of “Action Week”, in mid-October, we - 8 DIs (Development Instructors) and 3 DI teachers - started our journey from Denmark to Berlin in order to get to know the activities of Humana Berlin branch and trying to involve new DIs to the program by promotion.
Our way to Berlin wasn’t the smoothest one since one of our buses wasn’t in its best shape. But our positive attitude helped us to meet these challenges, to prove our creativity and the hardships on our way to Berlin also created the possibility to do some unplanned sightseeing in the German rural area (we got lost) and to share some special moment among each others by enjoying the sunset on the middle of the German highway (the bus broke down).
After arriving to Berlin and occupying our wonderful apartments (double bedrooms with bathrooms) we took a quick rest and in the next morning, having a cold shower (there was no hot water) helped us to be fresh and charged up to do our job:
- Discovering the coffees of Berlin, and hanging out our posters about “wanting more volunteers for Africa”.
Indeed, it was a very nice combination of work and sightseeing. And the tougher DIs didn’t stop working in the evenings; they kept working the night shift too (by seeking for the most popular night coffees in Berlin where new potential DIs could be found).
During this week we also scheduled some time to explore how Humana operates in Berlin. They are special in 2 ways:
- Humana Berlin is dealing with the biggest amount of 2nd hand clothes in the world
- Friends Forever exhibition - supporting the African sculptors.
The world’s biggest 1st class second hand shop is in Berlin and it is managed by Humana. Here, you can find very good quality 2nd hand clothes & shoes from children’s shorts to women’s boots. All these clothes are collected in Berlin and the entire surplus gained from the clothes is used to finance Humana international development projects in the Third World.
To handle the tones of clothes they collect weekly in Berlin, Humana has a huge clothes and shoes sorting center in the suburb of Berlin. All the clothes from clothes-collecting containers are brought to this sorting center, where they are sorted and classified. The lower quality clothes are sent directly to Africa or sold to retailers in some of the eastern European countries, while the better qualities (especially the ones which are popular brands) are sold in Berlin – and the surplus generated by the sale is used for African (or other Third World) development projects.
Due to Berlin’s vivid cultural life, there is a permanent exhibition gallery in the Art Center: Friends Forever. Friends Forever is also part of Humana, which arranges sales exhibitions "Master Sculptors of Zimbabwe and their Works" worldwide. This exhibition gallery full of gorgeous African sculptures is also meant to support the African art, by promoting it and by helping in its sales. (You can read more about Friends Forever on its website: http://www.friendsforeverzimbabwe.com
After spending a week in Berlin, we experienced a lot about teamwork, challenges, planning and orientation, we got to know each others better therefore now we form a better team. And of course we met our main goal too: we spread our brochures and posters in more than 100 coffees in Berlin and now we are waiting for new applications from the potential DIs, from you too.
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