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Arriving in a new country is always difficult. Realizing this, the University of Applied Sciences Offenburg initiated a program to help students settle in their chosen place of study. The Senior Service is a cooperation project between the Hochschule and the City of Offenburg and it fulfils a real need among students. The association works on a voluntary basis and is made up of retired citizens wanting to foster understanding between cultures. It organizes guided city tours and informal get-togethers to discuss topics of everyday life in Germany in general and Offenburg in particular.
You also get the chance to be invited at home or to attend cultural events in their company such as classical concerts, theatre or opera. Members of the Senior Service may be able to help you in locating internships or even in finding a job. Not to forget of course that practicing your German language skills while e.g. cooking together or exploring the Black Forest is a very real advantage ensuring that you will indeed feel at home and integrated in the German way of life.
The program was initiated in 2002 and has been going from strength to strength. A great number of students have benefited from the Senior Service, sometimes establishing enduring friendships across generations and cultures. The city of Offenburg has recognized the importance of this program especially in view of a globalized economy, and the Lord Mayor of Offenburg, Edith Schreiner, is the official patron of the Senior Service. Endowed by a grant from the "St. Andreas Stiftung", a foundation initiated by Citizens of Offenburg to foster community spirit, the service is the only one of its kind in Germany. In the year 2005 the Senior Service project has been awarded a respectable price for its volunteer commitment by the federal "Bundesnetzwerk Bürgerschaftliches Engagement".
Contact the program coordinator Ms. Marlies Pollet for more information.
News: In September 2006 a team of the television station ZDF (Landesstudio Stuttgart) has made reportage for the "ZDF-Morgenmagazin" about the Senior Service which can be viewed here . (QuickTime, 6 MB) (download player here)
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