Report of our stay in Ulm 17.09. – 08.10.2011

 

Saturday 17.9.2011

We went by plane from Jyväskylä to Stuttgart. It was nice to fly together with our German friends Christa Glöggler and Udo Ullman. Their family members received us at the airport and took us to “Elisa” in Ulm, where we are staying three weeks. “Elisa” is a  home for elderly people. It is a very peaceful and beautiful place and the staff  is very polite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carmen Stadelhofer and her husband picked us up to enjoy the “Kulturnacht” in  the city    of Ulm. We saw a dancing performance and we ate a delicious soup on  the   “Münsterplatz”.

 

Sunday 18.9.2011

On sunday morning was rainy and cold. We walked with Bärbel and Rolf  König and we viewed the centre of the city and many old houses in the “Fischerviertel”.
We enjoyed a very impressive organ concert of contemporary french composers in the “Münster”. They told us much about the history of Ulm and its old houses and many other objects of interest. We had a delicious lunch in “Zunfthaus der  Schiffsleute” and after that coffee in “Cafe Tröglen”.

 

 Monday 19.9.2011

On monday we were the whole day long in Ulm University. It  was built from 1968 to 1969 and it will expand permanently. We learned many things about  ZAWiW s objects  and different projects such as ” Senior Volunteers Project”.  The most interesting project was the history group  where was then persons.  They  were highly  motivated and  they have worked  together for 13 years. They made many researches about Swabian people. In the 17th and 18th century a lot of people left their own homes in various parts of South- Germany and escaped by boat along the river Danube to other European countries. Many of them came back after the 2nd world war. The group published several books about this subject.

The EWA-project (  European woman portrait) consists of seven groups out of six European countries. Among of them there is also one woman from Finland  Minna Canth. These women fighted for women´s rights during their lives.

The other group collected lifestories  by interviewing  women aged between 50 and 80 years.  Women  were from different nationalities. They have had hard and manysided experienses in their lives. As seniors they have managed in spite of troubles and now their life was in balance and they have found new significant hobbies.

In Ulm there are 52 streets which are marked after the names of important women in the history of Ulm. The group has researched the backgrounds of these women.

 

Thuesday 20.9.2011

In the morning Hannelore Bürgers picked us up at “Elisa”. We joined an English language course for emigrants at the “Generationen Treff”. There were persons from many countries who lived in Ulm already for many years.

In the afternoon we prepared information kits for the Academy Week.

In the evening we had a welcoming-dinner at the “Spanische Weinstube” with Carmen, her husband and friends and our colleagues Eva and Olga from Bratislava.

 

Wednesday 21.9.2011

We got informations and a training in the PC-pool about how to write  a internet-blog.

After lunch we continued preparing information-kits and we made handicraft objects which are meaning to sell at the Academy Week.

 

Thursday 22.9.2011

On thursday we visited Heroldstatt. It is a small and beautiful town. In 1973 two small villages joined and there was built  a new town center and several important services such as a bank, shoping-centers, farmacy a.s.0. We visited the “Kindergarten”, “Jugendhaus”, “Rathaus”, the “Bergfriehof” with the mortuary and the library.

The buildings were planned flexible and they can easily be changed for different purposes.  The elderly (over 65) people come only to 20% of the whole population. There are new rented flats for seniors where they are looked after and if they are not able to stay any longer alone in their own flat  they can move to the nursing home next door.  The seniors in the “Seniorenzentrum” were offered different kinds of activities for example in the singing-, playing-, dancing- and cinema-group. They made excursions and it seems to be easy to work together  with all inhabitants of the village.

Near the town there is a big cave called “Sontheimer Höhle”. It was one of the most important caves on the Schwabian Alb. The cave is the place for about 400 bats to spend the winter and the path  is 192 long   and it was  nice lighted. We could imagine that there were curious figures  like bears, crocodiles  and so on at its walls. It was a very impressive and a little bit magic place to visit.

After that we visited  Bärbels and Rolfs home . They have a beautiful garden and we saw some photobooks from their jurneys to foreign countries

 

Friday 23.09.2011

We made an excursion to Günzburg with Udo and Waltraud. We visited the “Wärmestube”. It is a good place for persons  who hadn´t any shelter. The sponsor of the “Wärmestube” was a privat association. There were five rooms in the house and one person can stay there maximum three nights. They may have food services and the prices were low.There is one responsible person Petra who make also counselling. The other workers were volunteers. Our  guide Waltraud worked there as  a voluntary accountant.

After that visit we came to the Townhall where Professor Schremml told us  about the voluntary work at the ”Rafael Hospiz” . Vicemayor Herr Gollsmitzer told us some interesting details about the city and its services. They have a good situation enough workingplaces and a good cooperation between different services.

Herr Schretzemmayr  the former director of the highschool told us  about the colourful history of the city.  During the Napoleon´s time there was built a road from Paris to Vienna via Günzburg. It was an important way for marketing.

The time of the “Habsburg” family was a significant economical and educational period. Maria Theresia was a strong woman. She made important economical descisions in those times.

At the lunch we met the members of the Seniorcouncil. The chairman and his wife told us  about their planes and activities.

Last we had the opportunity to visit Gabrielas and Udos home. They have  an attractive garden with beautiful roses,  trees and cats.

 

Saturday 24.9.2011

We had a  day of and we walked around the city. There was a very lively Saturday-market with plenty of flowers, vegetables, cakes , “Zwiebelkuchen” and special sorts of bred.

  

On  the  marketplace there were many kind of artists.

The Münster Cathedral tower is the  highest Churchtower of the world. It is 161,5 m high and there are 768 steps to the top. We climbed up almost to the highest place. The weather was clear and the wiew was breathtaking.

In the evening we had a visit at Hannelores home. We met there her friends too. The evening was nice and unforgetable.

 

Sunday 25.9.2011

We had excursion to Munic by train early in the morning. Our  group was  ten persons and our quide was Sigrid. First we came to the “Oktoberfest” area. We walked across the astonishing enormous area and we were among the crowded mass of people. We admired the view over the whole city from the ferries wheel.

 

München is full of historical and beautiful old  churches. We visited five of  them. The weather was lovely  like our summer  the temperature was plus 25 C .

 

Monday 26.9.2011

The 40th Academy Week started with experimental music and speeches. We had an interpreter during the  first lesson. She was Tellervo Katke-Nieminen and she helped us to understand al lot of the German lesson.

Professor Dr. Manfred Spitzer is a very famous brainresearcher in Europe. His lecture focused on  people´s  lifelong learning. He researched  some four to ten years old children. The results were that children´s selfcontrol has a straigth effect to their life and healthy as an adult person. He recommend that children should have aims and therefor they must get support and have to work with persistance. It doesn`t come from outside, it must find it inside itself.

In the afternoon we took part in the intercultural training work group. Christiane Hadamitzky was our talented leader. The group consisted of twelve members. All of them were very interested in intercultural questions.

We had the Benefits-Event at Wiley-Club. We had nice evening  with 60th music and good food.

Tuesday 27.9.2011

We went in the morning to “Gruner Hof  5″ for a german language course. In the group  there were elderly foreign people  who has already been many years  in Germany. The persons were mainly from East-Europe. Dorothee Durka showed us the nice old house.  
In the afternoon we participated in our working group.

 

Wednesday 28.9.2011

We went in the morning to the “Cafe Aleman” . There was a German language course. The leader was Heike Reith. We had  an interpreter Susanne Hirsche. The participants were from nine countries mostly from Turkey. They have meeting twice a week. At that time they learned by singing and playing. There was one other volunteer  helping her.

Later we came to “Sieste-facility”$.  Ellen Beckler- Schweitzer was the  responsible person. In the past the region was in a very bad condition. The Streets and houses were ruined. Now the houses are renovated and they seem to be better. On the area there live emigrants  mostly Turkish and other poor people. The activities are focused on children and women. The children can come there after  the shcool and they can get support for their homeworks. Women can do handworks and meet one another.

Our program was changed in the afternoon and that`s why we participated in a video-group-meeting leaded by Carmen.

We visited in the evening the “Ulmer Theater” . The opera was “Madame Butterfly” composed by Puccini. The story was impressive but sad and the music was enjoyable.

 

Thursday 29.9.2011

We went to Wiblingen where Gitti Duong works as a volunteer. There live about 20 000 emigrants from many various countries. There are places for pupils where they can make their homeworks and they get help if needed.

The next visiting point was the “Erzähl-Café”.  It is the meeting place for women and men. One group was meant for persons which could tell their own life stories. They can get support from all the others in the group. They may also get help for working by computer. Voluntary workers keep regularly their own meetings  in the Cafe.

We had the last meeting in the afternoon in the intercultural group. Christiane Hadamitzky  the leader of our group was very motivated and she had interesting methods to handle the cultural issues.

 

Friday 30.9.2011

The Academy Week ended. We had a short presentation before the last lesson. 

In the afternoon we had an excursion to Seissen-Blaubeuren  with Ursula and Hannelore. We visited “Farmers- Women House” where they had many kinds of activities for example gymnastic, dancing, concerts and so on. The mayor is Barbara Rüd. She told us a lot about the villages and people´s life. The former farmhouses were rebuilt in a good style. In the centre of the villages there was an old public bakery and all people could use it.

 

We enjoyed the a coffeebreak in Ursulas home. We had the possibility to admire Ursulas art too.

Hannelore guided us in the old Benedict monastry in Blaubeuren. She told us many stories about its history. There was a small and  nice lake and statue  called “Blautopf”.

On the return we walked to a high sihgtseeing place. We could see the hole Blaubeuren in the sunset.

 

Saturday 1.10.2011

Karla Köhler had planned for us a  interesting sightsseeing tour to the “Bodensee”. At first we came Carlas home.

Her husband is a violinmaker. He presented us how to make violins and repaire the old ones. He also played different violins. He is a real master of handicraft.

 We stopped at a sigthseeing place nearby  and after that we continued to Wangen. There we ate in  the traditional restaurant “Fidelisbäck”.
After lunch we went to the “Pfänder” above the city of Bregenz in Austria.  The  height of the top is 1100 metres. The weather was nice and warm but the lake was covered with clouds. We could only imagine the “Bodensee”.

The last but  not least resort was the Lindau island. Our guide was a master of guiding. He acted, sang and told stories for us  about the history of the town in a dramatic and impressive manner. The day  was enjoyable with Bärbel and Rolf, Karla , Esti, Eva and Olga.

 

Sunday 2.10.2011

Udo picked us up for a trip with Eva and Olga to the “Allgäu” . Our mainpoint was the top of the “Nebelhorn” in Obertsdorf. It is 2224 metres high. We came by cabelcabin to the highest stop. The views were really breathtaking because of the sunny day. The sheer beauty of the mountains was memorable. We don´t have such kind of views in Finland.

                                     

 The next sigth was the Castle of Ludwig II. We saw it only from outside.

 

The UNESCO “Welterbe-Wieskirche” is a Catholic  baroc style built church. The cathedral was really colourful and unique .

 

 

Monday-Thuesday 3.-4.10.2011

 We had two days seminar in Bad Urah, “Haus af der Alb”. We had interesting program with the pupils and seniors. The new  project  is ” Bad Urah-liner” . The  main aim is  to find new ideas to guide people in the city. It was nice to see motivated young pupils who found new interesting ways to practise.

On thuesday we had evaluation of the results of previous experiences in the SVP-program.

 Wednesday 5.10.2011

We came with Dorothea, Eva and Olga to Bosnisches islamisches mosque ( culture-centre). We heard there about the most interesting principles of their religion. We got from there many new thougts.

 

We came in the afternoon “Tafelladen”. The German Red Cross has organized the marketing idea. Mrs Steinhauer told us the principles of the practice. That shop is the only one in Ulm. People who are poor   could have a certain card by witch they could buy goods by lower prices. There is also an intercultural-cafe.

We went to the Rehalibisation Hospital RKU.  Hannelore Fasskinder is there volunteer.  She told us principles about voluntary work in hospital. We visited in the department where she works.

At least we heard about Europe contacts in ZAWiW. The group of volunteers had a meeting with Carmen and we heard about new and old projects.

 

Thuersday 6.10.2011

We had sunny and relaxing excursion and picnic to “Generation Garden”. Our quide was Elisabeth Vogl and she told us about Gardens  and activities there. There is a responcible group ( seven members) who planes and organizes there happenings. They have activities with children and  all people . The place was earlier the empty field.  Four years ago they began to prepare the plan for gardening. They built small house for meeting together.  It is a big joy especially for children, to see how the plants are growing. There was the bee-unit for honey production. The garden is of course open for everyone. Sigrid had planed and made us the deligious  picnic. We baked “Brezeln” and ate lunch there. It was good and funny morning.

                                                    

We went Senior Citizen Centre ” Clarissenhof” in the afternoon. Mrs Kotsch told and showed us about the functioning of the house.  We met there other senior volunteers too.

We had very lovely consert in the evening in Elisa Seniorenstift. It was about twenty members in the SymphonyOrchestra with violin, mandolin, mandola and flute. 

Friday 7.10.2011

We visited at a Hospice facility “Hospice in Ulm” with Esti, Eva and Olga.

Ms Sass told us about the everyday work and ethical principles in their house. They have ten places  for guests (patients). Their relatives and friends could stay there if they want. In the same house  they have homecare services. They have  150 volunteers and personel of  twenty eight. The enviroment is peacefull and the staff has good education and strong ethical skills. The volunteers have four months training before starting their work.

We participated in Frauengruppe. Interviewers  presented the strories about  seniors. They will report their life stories in the end of October in Ferrara Italy. The participants discussed about presentations. 

We had Farwell-dinner in Rathaus restaurant with Carmen and all our frends. The evening was warm feeling but a little sad because it was our last evening together.

Summary

We had interesting and manysided program during three weeks. We got lot of knowledge of  ZAWiW and its activities. Academy Weeks program was high professional.

It was a joy to notice the big numbers of volunteers and their great committment to work. We admired their way to work with humanity and kindness.

Besides the official program we had an opportunity to become familiar with German history, culture and nature. We could see fantastics wievs from Schwabian Alb, beautifull landscapes and hundred of flowers. We are glad about the great, special helpfull and wonderfull persons  which we met.

German special dishes and delicates sweet cakes kept us in god “shape”.

 

Report  of exchance in Third Age University in Jyväskylä.

 

Warm thanks!

Liisa Kirveskangas                       Raili Oikarinen