Courses for refugee women – VIEROL and the VHS cooperate in good neighbourliness

In February, many people from Ukraine began fleeing the war in their homeland. To make it easier for the refugees to arrive in Germany, a language learning format funded by the federal government was expanded and has been implemented at Oldenburg Adult Education Centre since the beginning of May. The MiA programme stands for “Migrantinnen einfach stark im Alltag” (migrant women simply strong in everyday life) – these offers are aimed at women who learn the language and everyday life in Germany over a period of four weeks in a fixed learning group.

“We were able to organise this course very quickly because the staff were able to fall back on proven procedures and contacts from previous years,” says Andreas Gögel, Managing Director of the VHS. “However, we quickly realised that our room capacities were not sufficient for the strong interest in the new language learning courses.” A solution presented itself through the lived-in neighbourhood: The offer of space came from VIEROL AG. “For us, the principle is that challenges can only be solved together. Especially in times of crisis, cohesion and support are particularly important,” says the CEO of VIEROL AG, Mrs Mirja Viertelhaus-Koschig. “We are particularly pleased to be able to help the refugees and to be able to give them the greatest possible support here quickly and unbureaucratically within the framework of the language learning courses in our premises,” Viertelhaus-Koschig affirms further. In the meantime, the second round of several courses has begun; of the current three courses, two take place in the main building of VIEROL AG.

The MiA format will continue. “The funding for further courses has already been approved,” says Andreas Gögel. “As an education provider, we do what we can: to support the people arriving in Germany with language learning opportunities – the help from the neighbourhood is an important support in order to be able to run as many courses as possible.” The courses in the format “Migrantinnen einfach stark im Alltag” (migrant women simply strong in everyday life) are funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Construction and Home Affairs based on a resolution of the German Bundestag.