Mentoring programme for refugees and their families

The mentoring programme connects refugees and their families with volunteers who help them to find their way in a new culture and environment. Mentor and mentee meet for several hours once a week over the course of a year. 
 
Mentors help their mentees for example with learning German, resolving administrative tasks or finding a flat, or they just spend time with them as a local friend. For the mentors, being part of the program means meeting interesting people from other places, learning a lot about their culture, being part of a social project and showing solidarity with people in need. 
 
In order to ensure that volunteers meet the needs of the clients in as competent a manner as possible, XENION operates a selection process and accompanies the mentors in their work, providing regular training on issues such as asylum and residence law, finding a flat etc. Regular meetings and supervision workshops allow the mentors to exchange experience with each other. 
 
Personal contact with a mentor helps to break through the frequent isolation of refugees.  Such relationships also play a decisive role alongside therapy in supporting the psychological stabilization of traumatized refugees. 
 
In addition, the mentor offers a welcome example of social acceptance for people who are otherwise often met with discrimination and exclusion.  The contact between individuals encourages the growth of understanding and tolerance on both sides.