DOING GOOD!

Fresh into the new year, you usually still have good resolutions. Finally taking on a voluntary position or doing something else good.
This makes sense, especially after Christmas and all the presents under the Christmas tree. Unfortunately, it’s not just children who still measure their world by the worldly things they receive as presents. We “adults” also forget that not everyone is doing so well because of all the things we can afford. And we often also forget that we should share and give something away – after all, as we all know, it’s better to give than to receive! Give it a try! It really does make you happy! So we can calm our guilty conscience and give a little back! There are so many projects that help around the world and are always in urgent need of support. We know many of them from the TV reports, but we don’t even have to turn to one of the big organizers, because the many smaller, less well-known ones work with just as much dedication and devotion and often even endless personal commitment and here, too, you can be sure: the help arrives! It is all the more moving if you perhaps even know one or two of the initiators personally, because Regensburg also has many people with a big heart and great projects that you can support:

Rengsburg hearts

The Rengschburger Herzen association is probably more emblematic of all Regensburg residents with a heart for those in need than any other. With the Herzen Imbiss – gemeinsam statt einsam, the Schenken und Verschenken campaign on Facebook, charity dinners in the Leerer Beutel and other events, they bring help to those who are less fortunate. Founding members Winfried and Gertraud Freisleben, Monika Hölzl and Arno Birkenfelder are the driving forces behind the busy association and are often in the press with their unusual campaigns. Everyone is welcome here. Whether as a member, as a sponsor or with a donation, actively on site or simply through financial support, the Rengschburg hearts are grateful for everything and open to everyone! So open your hearts, your pantries and maybe even your wallets!

KUNO – the clinic on two legs

When people talk about aid projects in Regensburg, Kuno, the clinic “on two legs”, certainly comes to mind. It is located at the St. Hedwig Clinic of the Brothers of Mercy Regensburg and the Regensburg University Hospital. In the newly constructed KUNO building, which is part of the University Hospital, infants, children and adolescents aged 0 – 18 years with a wide variety of illnesses and injuries are cared for. More information can be found on the University Hospital website. Now more than ever, we value our health and the health of our families. Kuno helps families who are not so fortunate. They can use all the support they can get.

Care packages for little money

Did your father or grandfather tell you about the care packages that helped many people here after the last world war or brought them joy? It was only a generation or two ago that we ourselves needed help from the better-off countries. Even if the economic situation in many sectors is currently very difficult, Germany is still one of the richest countries and it is time to give something back! Michael Buschheuer’s commitment to the aid organization Space-eye, which he founded, has just been in the news again. The likeable man from Regensburg is always coming up with new campaigns to ensure that the help for his protégés doesn’t stop. For example, it is very easy to book care packages at different prices on his website. Only 22 euros are needed to care for one person for a week, 90 euros would even be enough for a whole month. With 40 euros, you can provide a family with basic food for a week. You don’t even have to make a big effort for that, most of us can certainly spare that and thus ensure that others have enough to eat who otherwise lack the most basic necessities.
Find out more at https://space-eye.org/

Hospitality helps Regensburg

“Hospitality helps” is the idea of a number of committed Regensburg residents, including many restaurateurs. Together, the group thought about how they could support the needy and homeless during the coronavirus crisis. During the first lockdown, “Gastfreundschaft hilft” offered a free coronavirus lunch and food bags at Marple and Stringer (at Bismarckplatz 4) for people seeking help. They are now a registered association. The kitchens stood still during the first lockdown in 2020 – economically a disaster for all restaurateurs, as it was for almost everyone during this time. Nevertheless, many joined forces to help and put their skills and experience to good use. If they couldn’t cook for their guests, they could cook for those who needed it most, was the motto. Many campaigns followed, most recently “Street Wish” for neighbors without a home or the “Sharing helps” campaign. The next aid projects are already being planned, because the following applies to all helpers in the new year 2022: Let’s make Regensburg a little bit better together!

A smile for Africa

I was also able to meet Ute Winkler-Stumpf from Regensburg in person. This dedicated woman, who is now over 78 years old, has been fighting tirelessly for “her children” in ten African countries for 27 years now to stop the spread of noma. In Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo and Guinea-Bissau, Hilfsaktion Noma e.V. supports national Noma programs in cooperation with the World Health Organization. Its own aid activities are currently focused on the West African countries of Guinea-Bissau and Niger. The aid campaign now runs several children’s homes and hospitals here, providing development aid with vision. The aid, which has its origins in Regensburg, provides a little more justice for many children in Africa who have been affected by the terrible disease noma. Even with comparatively little financial support, their smiles can be restored. This is because the disease not only literally eats away at the face and jaw, depriving those affected of all facial expressions and ultimately even the ability to eat – but also any chance of a near-normal life. Ute Winkler-Stumpf has written an interesting book about this: The Gift of a Smile. And what could be better than giving a child back their smile (with our help)! ttps://www.noma.de/

Regensburg missionary in South Africa

Many people will also be familiar with the name Father Gerard Lagleder. Born in Regensburg, he was ordained as a priest here in the cathedral and has been working in South Africa for many years. Need can be found everywhere there, if you look beyond the backdrop of the beautiful coastal region and safari parks. With his South African aid organization of the Order of Malta, Brotherhood of Blessed Gérard, Father Lagleder tries to help the worst affected. Currently also to the people who have lost their daily bread here due to corona. The priest from Regensburg is personally grateful for any support.

Where others go on vacation…

Michael and Andrea Goldhahn also spent their vacation here and were shocked by the situation of the refugees. With their already founded voluntary association Flying help e.V., they supported the aid organization “Kos Solidarity” in providing the refugees with food, clothing, hygiene articles and more. Families with children were already rescued from catastrophic circumstances in 2015 and housed in simple guesthouses and apartments. The “flying aid” – fast, direct, straightforward, unbureaucratic, direct and immediate – has been helping thousands of refugees on the Greek island ever since. Primitive huts were made from cardboard and dead palm leaves. In view of the dramatic circumstances in 2020, flying help e.V. is preparing accommodation for families with children in consultation with the UNHCR and the hotspot administration. The conditions in the “Captain Elias” camp near the capital Kos were indescribable. Children, women, young people, around 1,200 people were living in inhumane conditions. In ruins without windows, no water, no electricity. Such conditions must not be tolerated in Europe – we must help! flying help e.V. is non-denominational and non-political and uses the donations carefully, without superfluous administrative costs. In Germany, flying help e.V. provides voluntary work in homework help for refugee children, language lessons, transportation services and more as a contribution to integration. In November, around 400 refugees arrived on Kos after a terrible odyssey. The flying help team on Kos is still working every day.

Hayag means light

I can recommend a project at the “end of the world” or the edge of our plate from my own experience: The Hayag Project in the Philippines. Founded by Siegfried Kreuzer, two young women, Judith Pomm and Tanja Kindl, now Staudinger, from the Regensburg area, had the idea for HAYAG in 2004 together with Philippine Sarah Prosia, Cebu, and implemented the project with support from Germany. For a better world: education against poverty is the motto. Three pillars of aid that sustainably improve the lives of the poorest children and young people: Holistic care and education for adolescent and young adult girls from the slums at Hayag House. The second pillar is the provision of schooling for boys and girls from the poor neighborhoods who live at home with their parents, and the third pillar is the provision of basic food for street children. You wouldn’t believe how little it takes to provide many children with a meal! Every donation, every membership fee is used 100% at HAYAG. All administrative and marketing costs are borne entirely by the board members! The impressions I gained during a visit to Hayag House in Cebu by my friend Tanja convinced me to become a sponsor. You can make a big difference here with individual donations or a membership – a small contribution that you hardly notice and that makes a big difference! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkz3oEVoUbk&feature=youtu.be

Thinking outside the box is one of the prerequisites for helping in other cultures and foreign countries. Let’s look beyond our regional horizons and mention two special projects from Munich:

Orientation help – don’t lose heart when helping

None other than Christian Springer, the Bavarian cabaret artist and author, has been committed for decades to a country that Karl May once brought closer to him, as he surely did to many of us. A region that has always been plagued by religious unrest, dictatorship and terror. Springer’s vision is also to improve future prospects in the Middle East through education and training, especially in crisis and refugee situations. In the Syrian crisis, the educational projects and training measures of Orienthelfer e.V. promote positive prospects of work, equality and peace for young people in a flexible, fast and sustainable manner and alleviate acute emergencies through additional support projects in the rescue sector, as is currently the case in Syrian refugee camps and most recently after the devastating explosion in Beirut. War and violence not only deprive people of their homes, but also of their dignity. It is therefore important to Orienthelfer to enable individual lives to develop in dignity despite war, especially for those in need of special protection. In other words, Christian charity, just as the Christmas Gospel tells us.

Making school makes school

The Tent School organization also aims to combat the neglect caused by a lack of schooling and to bring a certain meaningful routine into the everyday lives of children in the refugee camps. They build schools directly in the Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria. In Syria itself, several million internally displaced persons have been wandering through their own country like hunted people for years. For hundreds of thousands of children, this means a childhood in constant motion, without a home, without security – and without education. The generation that is supposed to rebuild their country after the war is growing up illiterate, without prospects and as easy victims for extremist groups. As a mother of two, Munich-based author and translator Jacqueline Flory was deeply shocked by this and founded the non-profit organization Zeltschulen e.V. in 2016. Markus Lanz and other talk shows took up the topic and reported on the courageous mother’s commitment. The association empowers mothers in women’s workshops and literacy courses and provides basic supplies for families so that the children do not have to work in the fields but can go to the tent schools. To do this, they need people and families who show solidarity with the people and families in the camps! Do you yourself have children who are in the fortunate position of receiving a school education? Perhaps this opportunity to help will touch your heart? #FamiliesHelpFamilies – become a family member for just 44 euros a year!

Bringing joy with old toys

Sometimes it’s the little things that bring joy to others and help them through the difficult phases of life: Regensburger Spielzeughilfe brings great joy to others with things that have long been forgotten and no longer loved in some corners. Used toys from private donors are passed on by the association to low-income and needy families with children, single parents and social institutions. So that children who were not born on the ‘sunny side’ of life can also develop their talents – develop a love of learning and enjoy life and social interaction! Toys in good condition are welcome here and will find a new owner who will enjoy them, learn with them or simply love the doll and teddy!

Of course, there are many other organizations, associations and projects by and with Regensburg residents who are committed to helping people who need help. The Regensburg Women’s Shelter and the Regensburg Women’s Emergency Hotline, Strohhalm Regensburg, the Donaustrudel bookshop, Caritas and the multi-generation house, for example. They all deserve support and help, if not actively, then at least with a monetary donation that can be used to do good again.

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Many thanks to our author Marion Lanzl for this article!

Marion Lanzl is a freelance writer and loves to stroll around her second home Regensburg and meet up with her friends in one of the wonderful cafés. Here on RegensburgNow she writes about her favorite city.

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