Exchanging ideas and sharing experiences: That was the focus of our alumni meeting in May. The Green Helmets were also the first to learn about a planned new project.
Gütersloh, June 2025 – “Oh, long time no see!” or “How nice to see you again” or even “And which project were you in?” were probably the most common phrases to be heard when almost 50 former and active Green Helmets came together on a farm in Gütersloh at the end of May.
It was the second big alumni reunion after the big reunion on the occasion of our 20th anniversary in 2023. At that time, many Green Helmets expressed the wish that there should be such a reunion more often!
And so a volunteer team was formed to organize this reunion! Green Helmets traveled from Oldenburg to Constance, from Münster to Dresden. Some of the participants traveled very long distances to be there. Some had been with us for over ten years, others only recently. What a variety!
To bring everyone up to date on our current projects, Chairman Simon Bethlehem and project managers Tobi Lange, Max Werlein, Annabella Ranft and Lennart zur Bonsen presented the latest news from the various countries. They were supported by volunteers who had recently been on site in the construction projects.
We talked about the reconstruction work in Syria, which we have been supporting since January, and about our work in Lebanon, which has come to an end. In Sierra Leone, Tobi and volunteer Johanna reported on the school in Yarawadu and the health station in Durokoro, our two most recent construction sites. Tobi also told us about our plan to set up a nurse training facility in Mongo, in the east of the country, from the fall.
Simon and Tobi had some very fresh impressions and news with them: they had recently been on a research trip to Chad. Many people fleeing the brutal war in Sudan have found refuge in Sudan’s neighboring country. We are planning to expand a school for refugees in Chad.
Malawi, where we are currently building a secondary school for around 360 pupils in the town of Kalanga, and Senegal, where we have successfully established a vehicle training workshop and handed it over to our local partner, were also discussed. The presentation by volunteers Steffen and Allyn on our short-term project in Malta was met with great interest: in December, a team of craftspeople helped to renovate a ship belonging to the sea rescue organization “Resqship”.
In addition to the presentations, the main focus was on sharing ideas and getting together. Over a barbecue in the evening, over coffee in between or at breakfast: sharing stories and experiences from the Green Helmets projects and discussing or laughing about them together – that’s what this weekend was all about! To be repeated!
