Resilience and starting fresh

Juli 2024

Resilience and starting fresh

As someone whose family story predestined me to detest hierarchies, i encounter everyone as eqal and see the intrinsic value in every person regardless of their status. As someone who appreciates stories, i am rich, as the people i meet in a professional setting as a Job Coach in a government-financed project, by chance unwrap the most precious gifts by telling me stories about their lives:

How they came here, whom they miss, values with which they grew up and what goals they want to reach.

I get tiny glimpses into the lives of people who have gone through drastic changes. Many people who are sent to our project have foreign citizenship and went through the Asylum procedure.

In many cases, war caused them to leave their country of origin and sometimes a shift in career perspective makes them change their job-goals.

Having some sort of obstacle in their way is nothing they are not accustomed to.

I work on Cvs of people who have years of professional experience, without having a certificate of employment to prove it, because they were self employed or the employer doesn‘t exist anymore.

I see Cvs of people with academic qualifications working odd jobs after coming to Vienna.

I meet people after the asylum procedure is finished. But because of the fact that you are only allowed to work after, a gap of many years occur in Cvs regularly.

My clients show amazing resilience and strength dealing with sometimes unbearable circumstances.

After receiving the refugee status, they start fresh.

Their „To-do-List“ comprises of learning the local language, finding affordable housing, building a new social network and securing sufficient income, so they can relocate their family to Vienna.

I heard stories about sinking boats, losing family members, Afghanistans beautiful mountains, family ties, food shortage and about waiting.

Waiting is one of those things you learn to be good at.

But it takes a toll on some, as the speed they move towards their goal slows down over time. Most of my work comprises of reminding people of their potential, which is a result of their inner resilience.

I will not share those stories, as they were told in confidence, in a safe space, not meant for more ears than the four that shared that moment of openness. Data secrecy is a thing i am obliged to and take very seriously.

As someone with a professional background in cultural and social anthropology and work experience in this field, i can cive some insights into situations, people moving here might face. I want them to know, that they are not the only ones experiencing it.

Which speaks, to be honest, for itself.

In general, we do offer some support regarding the basic
needs, but so often the emotional part is forgotten. Being pushed through an asylyum procedure built for masses, where emotions are not regarded, makes people feel unseen, unheard and alienated. We as a society could do so much better with this.

Here i will give some insights into situations people might experience when they start fresh and will outline existing projects and contact points to get needed information and support. There are many helpful places people can go to. But going further, thinking about improvement as individuals and as a society will also be part of the deal here, because our words and actions as individuals matter and have their share of creating our future together.