The Café International in Nandlstadt is a popular contact point for refugees.
Ukrainian women have been meeting here since May - among other things, to learn some German.
Nandlstadt
– The Café International in Nandlstadt is an important address for the Ukrainian refugees: this is where they learn German, this is where they make contacts, this is where they get help.
The fact that the rooms on Marktstraße finally live up to their name is thanks to Ricarda Thaler and her colleagues from the Asylum Working Group: They painstakingly prepared the rooms of a former butcher's shop, which in the meantime served as a clothing store - and filled them with life.
When the first refugees from the Ukraine came to the market town in the spring, volunteers like Ricarda Thaler made it their task to support the women and children – just as they had previously done with refugees from Afghanistan or Syria, for example.
Errand trips, visits to authorities and many other tasks demand a lot from the helpers.
But it was and is also important for the refugees to learn German.
And so Ricarda Thaler has been offering German courses at Café International since May – two hours twice a week.
There were eight women at the beginning.
"It was about bridging the time until the integration course started," says Thaler.
Numbers, times and everyday words were practiced as well as mini dialogues that are needed in everyday life.
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Marina Samoilova is one of Ricarda Thaler's students.
The 38-year-old has been living in Nandlstadt with her daughter and her parents since May.
She comes to Café International every Tuesday and Wednesday to learn German.
"She is very diligent and does her homework very well," praises the teacher.
She already speaks a few sentences in German, but usually still uses the translator on her mobile phone or manages with English – the first foreign language in her home country.
While the women learn German, Miloslava Künzel and Ljiljana Stani'c take care of the children: In the neighboring rectory, the two women play with the children - the little ones like to build with Duplo bricks, and the play kitchen is also a hit.
The girls and boys between the ages of three and five are enthusiastic about painting.
Not many are left of the eight women who initially came to the course: Some are attending an integration course, others have found a new home in another community - such as Dazia Tepezik, who will soon be moving to Mainburg.
Thaler becomes a little wistful at the thought: "I'll miss you," she says.
"But that's life." At least: Marina Samoilova stays in Nandlstadt.
She found an apartment and a job.
And from September she will also attend an integration course.
Ricarda Thaler and her colleagues do not yet know exactly what the Café International will offer in the future.
In any case, the rooms on Marktstraße should continue to be a meeting point for all asylum seekers - a contact point where you can get help and support, where you can make contacts and speak German.
And where there is coffee - a special feature that the guests enjoy very much.
You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.
