Women and Girls with migration background

The origin of our Tandem-Project lies in Stuttgart. The project was carried out as a pilot project for the first time in 2016. This all happened purely on a voluntary basis, with passion and without financial support. This is the reason the Tandem-Project in Stuttgart is the project of our hearts.

With lots of love we were able to finance a 25% staff position for one year through crowdfunding in the summer of 2019.

#tandemstory – Yasna & Franziska

It is a quite cold October day when Jana and I meet up with Yasna and Franziska. Because it is too loud in the café, we decide to have the interview outside.

It’s already pretty cold, but thickly wrapped up and with tea and hot chocolate, Jana and I start getting to know one of our tandems better.

Franziska and Yasna tell me that their first meeting was very nice. They both went for a walk back then to get to know each other better.

 When I ask the two women how much has changed since the first time they met, they say that a lot has changed. Thoughts as to whether they would fit together, despite such different cultures, accompanied both of them. But as they got to know each other, these doubts quickly vanished.

Yasna originally comes from Afghanistan and now lives in Germany with her brother and parents. Her great passion is dancing, which she continues to pursue in Stuttgart. At first, she was very shy and reserved due to the different culture Germany offers a native Afghan woman.

Franziska only recently came back to Stuttgart, she tells us that she moved here for her job and she especially wants to get involved with other women. She then came across Female Fellows through the Internet.

When I ask Franziska what she likes about Yasna, she tells us that she admires Yasna for her strength and for what she has already achieved in her young life. Yasna smiles touched and then Yasna and Franziska give us an insight into their joint meetings and the problems they face.

Yasna and her parents lived in a shared shelter for a long time and had no place of retreat. Fortunately, something about that changed now – Yasna has her own apartment, which she is very happy about. However, she has no internet there because she lives in the basement and has no reception.

She would like to have a good internet connection at home, because it would make it easier for her to communicate with her friends and relatives from Afghanistan and of course with her parents.