This Sunday, after a two-week break, the RAW fleamarket is taking place at the former Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk near Warschauer Straße S-Bahn station in Friedrichshain. It’s a great, relatively new fleamarket, filled with all kinds of goodies and a crowd made up of students, locals and bargain hunters. This Sunday there will be a very special stall at the fleamarket, organised by friends of ours at Multitude.
Multitude is a Berlin-based NGO that focuses on refugee rights and their life in Berlin. It was founded in March 2011 and relies on the work of around 100 active volunteers. Once they arrive in Germany, refugees and other asylum seekers live in temporary accommodations, mostly on the outskirts of Berlin, as they wait for news on the asylum process, which can take months or even years. During this time they are unable to work and study, face restrictions on their freedom of movement, and need to get by on an income of around €40 a month.
Multitude’s idea is to visit and plan activities with the refugees, to help take their minds away from what can be an incredibly negative process that they have to deal with, and build a multicultural exchange between the refugees and the wider German society. The activities include German lessons, cooking and watching movies together, playing with the children, organising picnics in the park or games of basketball. To raise money to finance these activities Multitude will have their stall at the fleamarket on Sunday, which will be piled with clothes and other assorted goodies and curiosities that all come from the Circus lost and found. So if you ever stayed with us, left behind a pullover or a pair of flipflops, and never got in contact to claim them, then you can be happy that your contribution will be helping to make a small difference in the lives of people who find themselves in an extremely difficult situation.
The Multitude stall will be open from 10am to 6pm, will be staffed by Multitude volunteers, and they will be on hand not only to sell you a bargain or two, but answer any questions you might have about the organisation.
Spiegel International
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