We say thank you!
Whether as a swimming instructor, a member of the volunteer fire department, working with children and young people in a club or student recruitment, as a choirmaster or in committee work at university - many people do voluntary work. Only very few volunteers receive proper recognition for the work they do. To mark International Volunteer Day on December 5, we would like to highlight the voluntary work of some of our employees and thank them for what they do.
My name is Carina Kröber.
I work at OVGU as a research assistant and lecturer at the Chair of Corporate Education.
I am involved in the "Swimming Culture" project, in which we give international students in particular the opportunity to learn to swim under guidance in English and with intensive pedagogical support. We are in close contact with the students and offer cultural exchange network meetings so that not only swimming skills, but also integration, mental and physical health and soft skills are promoted. Our project-based research supports this assumption.
That's why I'm involved: In May 2022, one of our Indian OVGU students drowned in the Elbe in Magdeburg. Subsequent research showed us that 61 percent of all annual drowning deaths worldwide occur in Asia, mainly because people there often don't know how to swim. 80 people a day drown in India alone. Deaths are very often unavoidable, but we can do something about drowning deaths. The ability to swim can save lives.
This is how I manage to balance my work, personal and voluntary commitments: It's not always easy, I admit. Sometimes it's easier to forget about yourself. However, I benefit from the fact that I love my work and also my voluntary work, that I am passionate, inquisitive and intrinsically motivated and that voluntary work and my personal life are therefore often not mutually exclusive, because I pursue matters close to my heart. I believe that if we want to do something well, we have to put our hearts into it.
That impressed me: The emotional reactions of the swimming course participants after they passed their seahorse test. One participant reported that we had helped to make Magdeburg feel like home. That will always touch me.
Why people should volunteer: Emily Dickinson once said that if you can keep a heart from breaking, your life is not in vain. I see it as the purpose of life to make the lives of others better (rather than more difficult) because we are all connected, we are all one. I am grateful for everything I have and would like to give something back.
Together with its readers, the Volksstimme is looking for the "Magdeburger of the Year 2023". Carina Kröber is also up for election. You can vote here until December 31, 2023, 11 p.m.
Photo: Viktoria Kühne
My name is Simone Reim.
At OVGU, I work as a secretary at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in the Institute of Logistics and Material Flow Technology.
I have been volunteering for more than 5 years as an active firefighter, as a youth fire brigade supervisor and recently also as the women's spokeswoman in the Wolmirstedt volunteer fire department.
That's why I'm involved: to help people, to recruit new recruits for the fire department and to strengthen the rights of women in the still male-dominated fire department.
This is how I manage to balance work, personal and voluntary commitments: Through good planning, working through tasks in a structured way and the possibility of flexible working hours through flexitime.
That impressed me: The great gratitude of the people when we were able to help them and the excitement of the children and young people when we hold our annual professional fire brigade weekend.
Why people should volunteer: Because it's good for you too, because you can give something back to society and because you look beyond your own nose.
Photo: privat
My name is Nance Kaemmerer.
I work in the Economics department at OVGU, a graduate of MKM
I am involved in the Kanu-Klub Börde e.V. - KKB for short
That's why I'm involved:
1. Because of the sense of community: the KKB is a great group of active athletes, parents and coaches, especially in racing, who have a great time together at regattas and training camps. This is only possible if everyone helps. We are a team that has already created some great projects together. For example, we were able to buy a kitchen trolley for canoe racing in 2023 thanks to donations. What else do WE do? Campsite warden, competition referee, accompaniment to competitions and sponsoring measures, catering for training camps and organizing festivals ...
2. Because of the contribution to the city, the club and especially the children in the canoe club: It is important to me to show not only my son that if you stand up for things that are important to you, you can make a difference and this is also appreciated.
3. About the passion for water sports: We live in such a beautiful city right on the river. It's an incredible feeling to experience it from the water.
This allows me to balance work, personal and voluntary commitments: My son is also actively involved in the club as an athlete. Incidentally, his training time is also mine and I paddle with other parents. We plan the next events during, before and after training.That impressed me:
Following an appeal for donations for our kitchen trolley at the beginning of the year, a 92-year-old canoe racer from Magdeburg contacted us and donated a large sum of money. We then visited him with the children and he visited us at the canoe club. Those were very moving moments.
Why people should volunteer: A clever person once said that if each of us gave something back to the world for just half an hour a week and volunteered, how much better the world would be ...
Photo: Nance Kaemmerer
My name is Célia Bernez.
At OVGU, I work in the Language Center as head of the French department.
I am involved in the Magdeburger Klinikclowns e.V. association and have been "Bibou", a clinic clown, for several years. I've worked in pediatrics at Magdeburg Municipal Hospital and in pediatric oncology at the University Children's Hospital and have also had the opportunity to play in a refugee camp.
That's why I'm involved: For me, it's important to do something for the children, but also for their parents in the hospital. Our visit distracts the children from their daily routine. When we enter the room, we try to assess the child's needs and then fulfill them: Sometimes we communicate in a playful way, but sometimes we just talk to the child. The clown is like a sponge that soaks up the mood and reacts to it.
This is how I manage to reconcile my work, personal and voluntary commitments: I believe that when you are involved as a clown, you are also a clown in spirit. It's a lifestyle. Even when I give lessons, my goal is to make the students feel comfortable and enrich themselves with the language. Fun is a necessary condition in this learning process.
Why people should volunteer: Volunteering alongside work allows you to discover other horizons, meet other people and thoughts, but above all it is a balance to everyday life. The different experiences are also very enriching. I live my work with passion because I also have something outside of it. And conversely, the experiences I gain through my work as a clown are always present in my courses. It's about sharing experiences, making a variety of social contacts and making people feel good.
I am also involved in telling fairy tales, bilingually or monolingually. That's why the Saxony-Anhalt State Association of the German Library Association has appointed me as an ambassador for the commitment to culture in Saxony-Anhalt in the area of multilingualism and reading promotion for the years 2023 to 2025.
Photo: privat
My name is Sarah Brasche.
I work at Magdeburg University Hospital as a ward assistant in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery.
I volunteer with the volunteer fire department in Magdeburg and am the youth warden at the site.
That's why I'm involved: I love doing something valuable for the public in my free time. There is the right job for everyone in the fire department - regardless of whether you like working with children or young people, are passionate about cooking, enjoy socializing or are a fan of the "action" in the field.
I really enjoy spending my free time with my comrades in the fire department, planning service evenings for the youth fire department, taking part in the services of the emergency services or simply sitting together with my comrades in a relaxed atmosphere.
Why people should volunteer: Every citizen should do voluntary work to help others, to make new contacts and get to know people themselves and to have a meaningful occupation alongside work.
Photo: privat
My name is Anna Siemens
At OVGU, I work as a research assistant in the Department of History, Ethics and Theory of Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine and as Managing Director of the Clinical Ethics Committee at Magdeburg University Hospital.
I am a member of the Magdeburger Klinikclowns e. V. association.
That's why I'm involved: Because it makes me happy to make others happy! And because you can do more together, you can surpass yourself and you have to deal with different people than usual.
This enables me to balance my work, personal and voluntary commitments: I have built my voluntary work around my professional and private life, which means that I act as a link between the association and the individual areas of the university hospital where the clinic clowns are deployed. For example, I worked hard to ensure that the clinic clowns were able to continue their work in the pediatric oncology department during the coronavirus pandemic temporarily in online format via tablet. I ensure that the association is regularly represented with a stand at various events, such as the University Medical Center's summer festival. I am happy to answer questions from employees, students and trainees when it comes to presenting the valuable work of the clinic clowns to accompany therapy. I also organize fundraising campaigns for the Magdeburger Klinikclowns e.V. in my private life.
That impressed me: One of my children had injured his finger and had to spend a few days in hospital. I was admitted to the ward as an accompanying person together with my child. We were able to experience a visit from the hospital clowns for ourselves. We experienced first-hand what it means to be able to experience a brief moment of self-empowerment in the middle of an externally controlled hospital routine - thanks to the clowns! Months later, my child asked me when we could finally go back to hospital, it would have been so nice.
Why people should volunteer: It's just another day for you and me in paradise!
Photo: privat