My name is Ella, I first got involved in English classes at Habibi.Works in February 2023, and have been teaching here full-time since the summer.

I love being able to get to know my students as I see them regularly every week. It is always such a proud feeling when I see them improving in their language skills, whether that’s learning how to write the alphabet for the first time or mastering the present perfect continuous!

One of my favourite moments this month was gaining new students in our pre-literacy “ABC” class and seeing the old and new classmates working together to support each other in reading their first words in English.

Another lovely moment was holding practice exams for the students preparing for a B2 speaking test later this year and seeing how confident they have become.

My name is Aurelie and I am a volunteer in the sports program. I originally arrived with 2 months of my year blocked out to invest in this project, however within the first week I was already making plans to extend my time here. When I have time, I love to run music and art workshops in the space and feel an overwhelming sense of community during these. One of my favourite moments this month was when we painted the beauty salon door with a bunch of women and their children. Another beautiful moment was when I was able to support a woman from Djibouti learn to ride a bicycle for the first time, after she had fixed it in the bike workshop in habibi.

My Name is Sergio, I arrived in April as a sports volunteer and then came back to do the bike workshop and procurement for Habibi.Works. As a climber my favourite moment was our last climbing competition. From the very beginning, seeing volunteers from the different organisations operating here, Habibi.Works, Yoga&SportwithRefugees and Maikai.Project, working together, cleaning, preparing the new routes and getting everything ready made it feel like it was going to be great. During the event, seeing people from our community, local climbers and volunteers making connections, talking, supporting each other, having fun and enjoying climbing together confirmed that sport connects and gives important values to the people and made this event one of my favourites here.

My name is Celine. I arrived at Habibi.Works in August and left at the end of October. As a supervisor of the sewing area, I worked with Bilal, our community supervisor, every day. My highlight of habibi.works was to see so many participants working and spending time together in the sewing area. Since we changed the opening hours and are also open in the evenings, there are so many more people coming to the makerspace - especially to the sewing area. I love to see people helping each other out, fixing each other’s clothes and working on projects together. There are so many very talented and motivated people. It’s amazing to share knowledge and also personal stories in our short time together.

My name is Annie and I arrived at Habibi.Works in July of this year to participate in the project alongside Fatemah, the kitchen supervisor, until late August. In these six short weeks ( if I could have stayed longer, believe me I would have), I had the privilege of learning countless new recipes from some amazing people; dishes from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey and more. A favourite moment of mine was on one of my first days; Drio, the former kitchen supervisor, taught me how to make falafels just like his mother once taught him. Safe to say Iraqi falafels are my new favourite.

My name is Val, I arrived at Habibi.Works in January, as a sport volunteer, and then came back to support with Fundraising and the Medialab. My highlight of this month was our participation in the African Dance Festival in Ioannina. We rented a bus for residents of the camp so they could join, and we were asked to participate in the fashion show as models for a designer. I loved the vibe of the festival, and seeing the Somali and the Afghan communities dancing together made me really happy.