District - When people from different countries meet, it is not only the language that makes communication difficult, but also different cultures.
Understanding the other can be the decisive bridge to a successful coexistence.
The Kreisbildungswerk and the Caritas Center Miesbach have set themselves the task of training bridge builders: the cultural interpreters.
A second course has now come to an end.
Cultural interpreters accompany migrants, for example, to offices, doctors or discussions in schools and day care centers.
"In contrast to professional interpreting, it is not just about translating the content of the conversation, but also about mediating between cultures and ultimately also about clearing up misunderstandings," explain the organizers.
The first cultural interpreters started their voluntary work as early as 2020 and have been on around forty “missions”.
Intercultural competence, migration and integration history
With the new course graduates, the district now has cultural interpreters from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Bulgaria, Syria and Palestine.
In the “Kulturdolmetscher Plus” course, the course participants deal intensively with intercultural competence, but also with their own migration and integration history.
“And the work has paid off,” reports course instructor Melanie Fersi.
"It's nice to see how the participants develop in terms of their personality during the course."
If institutions or migrants need the support of the cultural interpreters, they can request this from Lisa Richters, the volunteer coordinator for Asylum at the Caritas Center Miesbach - as early as possible and flexibly in terms of time, because the cultural interpreters work voluntarily and are not always available.
Christine Merk