To coincide with Intercultural Week, which took place nationwide this year from September 22 to 29, the Wasenstraße Begegnungscafé celebrated its second birthday. Since September 2022, the café has been held every two weeks on Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m. in the parish hall of St. Walburga Catholic Church.
The Begegnungscafé gives people of all nationalities the opportunity to make new contacts over a cup of tea or coffee, to talk about life in Idar-Oberstein and, above all, to improve their German language skills. Children and young people can get to know each other while doing handicrafts or playing games. The Idar-Oberstein city council's youth welfare office provides support here as part of its decentralized youth work. The meeting café was initiated by the Caritasverband Rhein-Hunsrück-Nahe e.V., the parish of Obere Nahe St. Bonifatius and the Wasenstraße district management commissioned by the city of Idar-Oberstein.
The birthday was celebrated with cake and cultural delicacies. Andreas Esch from the Caritas Association began by welcoming all visitors and praised in particular the constructive cooperation between the individual institutions in the neighborhood. On behalf of all the institutions involved, a big thank you goes to the volunteers, without whom the café would not be possible.
District Administrator Miroslaw Kowalski, who spontaneously visited the café, also echoed this praise in his words of welcome. In his very personal speech, he also thanked the helpers and, against the background of his own migration history, encouraged all those present "to be able to achieve anything if you approach the matter with diligence and commitment". The city's Advisory Board for Migration and Integration
Idar-Oberstein also expressed its gratitude for the work of the Begegnungscafé and recognized this important commitment in the area of integration support.
In the run-up to the birthday, individual regular visitors had created information posters about their home countries. For example, they presented typical dishes from Syria, Africa and Afghanistan.
- The Begegnungscafé welcomes new visitors and is still looking for people who would like to volunteer at the Begegnungscafé. All information about the café is available from the Wasenstraße neighborhood management on 0170/3656992 or from Andreas Esch on 0151/65497803.