Who are we?
A Peace Corps of young Germans – Muslims and Christians: For years there has been dialog and discussion between the religions. There is no shortage of such conferences of professors and theologians, of papers, resolutions and good intentions. We want to put joint action in place of paper, studies, expert opinions and intentions. We will build houses and villages, schools and roads, hospitals and clinics and places of worship. Our goal: Christians and Muslims (and other people of good will) will build together what others have illegally destroyed. With the strength of our own hands and the intelligence of civil engineers and bricklayers, carpenters and architects, mechanical engineers and electricians, logisticians and plumbers, we will help to build on site with the locals. In this work, young Christian and young Muslim Germans are expressly joining forces.
Why this name?
We want to revive John F. Kennedy’s Peace Corps idea, which spread as a movement across the world of have-nots and poor wretches. Over the past 40 years, this idea has sunk into the swamp of self-interest and luxury. We want to revive the spirit of the Peace Corps – under the name Green Helmets.
How do we finance ourselves?
The Green Helmets are a politically neutral, cross-national and cross-religious charitable organization. We are financed by private donations from German citizens and donations from foundations. We want to make the coexistence of young and old, West and East Germans, Muslims and Christians more interesting and exciting – with joint projects and work.
How can I get involved?
We are looking for people who preferably have a practical profession – such as builders, carpenters, bricklayers, civil engineers (and others) who are willing to work for three months. We recruit Muslims, Christians and all people of good will for our construction teams. They need to know one thing for sure: The creation must not simply be destroyed by us. Our volunteers commit to work with us for three months, with extensions possible.
The Green Helmets always live and work where they build houses, clinics or schools with the villagers. The living conditions are often harsh, but adequate. The Green Helmets, i.e. the organization, pays for the flight, travel and accommodation, for the volunteers there is only pocket money. Anyone who feels committed to Christianity, Islam or another humanistic way of life in addition to their conscience and is open-minded enough to cope with the tasks assigned to them can take part.
The Green Helmets are supported in their work by a broad board of trustees, including former President of Parliament in Germany, Wolfgang Thierse, the german writer and orientalist Navid Kermani, the former member of the german parliament Ruprecht Polenz, former Federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and the german musician Konstantin Wecker.
Do you feel addressed? Are you prepared to work outside any collective bargaining agreement and spit in your hands so that other people are better off? Then get in touch with us! For example, via this online application form.
Green Helmets
c/o Yvonne Neudeck
Verweyenstraße 3
53121 Bonn
Germany
Phone: +49 228 240 354 56
You can reach us by e-mail at: peace@gruenhelme.de
Board of directors
Chairman of the board:
Simon Bethlehem (born 1986) is a trained carpenter. He also studied social sciences and economics in Cologne and peace and conflict research in Frankfurt am Main. First working for the Green Helmets in the DR Congo in 2011, Simon joined the project coordination team in 2013 and has since taken on project management roles in Mauritania, Kenya, Turkey/Syria and Iraq, as well as currently in Lebanon.
Deputy Chairman:
Max Werlein (born in 1982) is the son of two employees of the “Cap Anamur Committee” who met during an assignment in Uganda in 1980. Max Werlein studied energy and environmental engineering in Hamburg and has lived and worked in Leipzig since 2012. Max Werlein’s first assignment for the Green Helmets was in 2009 as part of a school construction project in the DR Congo, South Kivu province. Since summer 2013, Max Werlein has reduced his professional workload and taken on more tasks for the Green Helmets.
Member of the board:
Thomas Just (born 1975) is carpenter and also completed atraining as a state-certified timber construction technician. Thomas has been active with the Green Helmets since 2005. For several years, he worked as a project manager for the Green Helmets in various countries and regions and helped shape the organization. He later took over the position of treasurer on the board. Thomas now lives with his family in Zanzibar and works there as a production manager for a timber construction company, but this does not prevent him from continuing to support the Green Helmets.
Coordination and Management:
Yvonne Neudeck (born 1972) has been helping to issue donation receipts since she was a schoolgirl, as the Cap Anamur Committee’s head office was located in her living room for many years: she is the daughter of Christel and Rupert Neudeck. After studying political science and African studies, she worked in Kosovo for three years, rebuilding houses that had been destroyed in the war and educating the population about the dangers of landmines. She then went to Zimbabwe for six years, where she managed emergency aid projects for AIDS patients and orphans and implemented income-generating measures for small farmers. Yvonne Neudeck took over the administrative management of the Green Helmets in 2016 and works from Bonn on our projects in Nigeria and Syria, where we work with local partners.
Honorary Chairman:
Rupert Neudeck was born in Gdańsk on May 14, 1939. In February 1979, he founded the Cap Anamur Committee together with Heinrich Böll. From 1979 to 1986, the aid ships rescued 11,488 Vietnamese refugees in the South China Sea. Numerous, mainly medical, projects are still taking place in many countries today. In 2003, Rupert Neudeck founded the Green Helmets aid organization with Aiman Mazyek. He wrote his doctorate in philosophy on “Political ethics in Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus”. Until his retirement, he worked as a journalist for Deutschlandfunk in Cologne. Rupert Neudeck received the following honors, among others: the Theodor Heuss Medallie, the Erich Kästner Preis, the Marion Dönhoff Preis, an honorary doctorate from the Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster and the University of Prizren in Kosovo, the Bürgerpreis der deutschen Zeitungsverleger, the Erich Fromm Preis and the Bornheimer of the Bornheim European School.
Rupert Neudeck died on May 31, 2016 in Siegburg.