5 Questions for … VbFF

With the action programme “Perspectives for Women“, Rajapack GmbH is committed to three organisations that work throughout Germany on the topics of training and equal opportunities at work, integration of women and girls, and protection of women from violence. We fully support the work of each organisation and would like to give them the opportunity here to introduce themselves and their commitment in a little more detail.

Interview with Ms. Einecke, Managing Director of VbFF for more than 10 years

Here you can find the interview with the VbFF, the association for the professional advancement of women eV in Frankfurt. Thank you very much, Ms. Einecke, Managing Director of VbFF for more than 10 years , for answering our questions!

Can you describe the idea behind the project supported by Rajapack (“preparatory course”) and its contents?

“The preparatory courses are an essential part of our work. Among others, mothers come to us whose schooling dates back many years or who do not have a good degree to show for it. Women with a migration background or a history of flight who have great difficulties with the German language. Without good preparation, these women cannot easily be placed in training or work. In the worst case, they have to drop out of training after some time. Parallel to our concept of “part-time training for mothers”, we then also developed the first preparatory course and, over the years, expanded the offers to include nursing professions. In addition to refresher courses in maths and nursing, many women also need intensive language support. Important training content is also taught via integrated, job-specific German lessons. In our creative workshops, the women learn to present themselves, to speak freely and to appear more confident overall. These are all important prerequisites later in their careers.

Which institutions are involved in the project? Where and how do you recruit the partners? (for language courses, dance or theatre workshops).

“The language support courses are run by lecturers and staff who regularly attend further training courses in this field. When implementing our various creative offers, we work together with experienced artists or dance and theatre teachers. It is important to us that there is a premiere of the theatre performance in front of an audience, if possible in a real theatre. The different theatres in Frankfurt are really very cooperative here. After the theatre project, we often get feedback on how happy the actresses were to be on stage in front of their families and friends and especially in front of their children. Especially the children are visibly proud of their mothers. So far we haven’t had a performance where we didn’t hear loud cries of “Mama, Mama”.”

How do the women find their way to VbFF e.V.?

“The majority of our participants actually come to us through “word of mouth”. Most of the time, a friend, sister or neighbour has already taken a course or even training with us. Especially among mothers – with and without a migration background – the VbFF is very well known because most of our courses are part-time, which makes it possible to combine family and education. In the second step, however, the women usually still need an “agreement” from the responsible job centre – the so-called assignment. Most women still receive Hartz IV benefits until then. Of course, we also advertise our different services. For example, we put flyers out in kindergartens, at doctors’ offices and in counselling centres.

How do you find apprenticeships for the women after the preparatory course?

“When looking for apprenticeship positions, our many years of expertise and our good networking come into play. Over the years, we have been able to build up a good pool of companies. Close cooperation with chambers and nursing schools is also important. In order for the women to get a realistic picture of the profession, many of them complete a work placement during the preparatory course. If the internship goes well, it can happen that the company keeps the woman on as an apprentice.

We then prepare the participants for the job interviews in the best possible way with job application and presentation training. Here, the exercises from the creative workshops come in handy. Armed with all this, they then regularly go to the companies and submit their documents on their own initiative. This takes a lot of effort, especially in the beginning, but the method has proven itself. The women can also score points with their personality and commitment. Less good references sometimes don’t carry as much weight this way. But we do a lot of the work with our acquisition teams. They look for job advertisements, explain our work in more detail and send out the application documents.

Can you describe the life of a person involved in the project that has particularly touched you? Can you describe the life of a person involved in the project who has particularly touched you?

“Over the years, I have heard many stories and seen fates that have touched me and made me sad or even angry. But our work also has a lot to do with perseverance and staying power. For this reason, I would like to tell you about a participant who is currently on a very good path. The young woman grew up in Ethiopia and always wanted to become a nurse. Since the cost of education was too high, she decided to study business. When she had to leave her home country and flee to Germany due to the political unrest, it was naturally an enormous burden. Without sufficient knowledge of German, even an education remained a distant goal. Last year, she started our orientation course for young refugee women “Ankommen-Weiterkommen”. Her German language skills made incredibly rapid progress. When, after a while, she heard about our preparatory course for training as a health care and nursing assistant, she was, of course, totally over the moon. In the meantime, she is successfully attending the course and we are sure that she will be able to start her training next year. This has brought her a lot closer to her dream of becoming a nurse.