this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023
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Why don't they take non-German people? Maybe in the countryside there are a lot of prejudices, you have to go through that, but I would give it a try. They generally lack (young) people, I could imagine that they would be happy if someone came?
Otherwise, search in your region using the keywords "Ehrenamt" + region, and you should be able to find quite a lot.
Well in my countryside village they didn’t want me cause I was a girl. It’s 15 years ago now, and they struggled for a while to find new kids that want to join. So I’m not surprised that there are Freiwillige Feuerwehren that would reject others based on their prejudices.
I sent an email to the freiwilliges Feuerwehr in Köln and they told me that they would put me in a waiting list. A couple of weeks later a german friend sent the exact same email and they replied to call them for an interview. The only difference in the email was my very non-german name vs his Max Mustermann name (not his actual name). I also asked a german colleague of mine that is in the freiwilliges Feuerwehr in his town and he told me he finds very strange that they put me in the waiting list because they are always in need of people.
That's sad, unfortunately there are racists everywhere, but you shouldn't let that discourage you. There are also organisations that are happy when you come. And then you wonder why integration doesn't work in Germany. Something like a community, like the voluntary fire brigade, could be a place to achieve good integration.
In the end, the people who always talk about failed integration don't really want integration, I think sometimes.
Or is there an association of volunteer fire brigades? Maybe one should report it?
Edit: https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/freiwillige-feuerwehr-ehrenamtlerin-mit-100.html "Basak Aslan würde es gut finden, wenn sich viel mehr Migranten für ein Ehrenamt bei der Feuerwehr entscheiden würden – ein Leben ohne den Dienst in der Freiwilligen Feuerwehr kann sie sich jedenfalls nicht mehr vorstellen. Und mittlerweile ist auch ihr Vater stolz auf sie."
It's kind of ironic when you read that.
https://koeln-muelheim.de/nachrichten.php?ID=24204
this here too
Im not discouraged at all. I mean it sucks because i was really looking forward to work as a fire fighter (or at least close to it), but if they dont want me, I wilö give my time and help somewhere else. I just need to find the right thing :)
From my personal experience of more than 20 years in that field, waiting lists for new members are indeed a very odd thing. Usually it's the opposite, volunteer fire brigades will pester anyone who looks only remotely interested to please join right now, basically, in most places, you'll be handed a form and told where to sign faster than you can say out loud "I'd like to join" 3 times.
Unequal treatment of applicants, if done on purpose, would be very much illegal.
The things new members might have to wait for is getting fitted with personal equipment, delivery times have been a sad joke since the pandemic, I've seen people wait for more than half a year for a pair of new boots.