(Zaman Al Wasl)- In the inside of the courtyard of the German Disaster Agency, the sound of the sirens goes up announcing an emergency. The young Syrian refugee, Ahmed Al-Aqra, rushed to meet the call, wearing his plastic Helmet to join his comrades in the service vehicle waiting for the launch. He has joined this job eight months ago and he was the first Syrian to be accepted in the agency after having received intensive training in the work of rescue and fire and dealing with floods and mine explosions.
Ahmad, who came from the city of Raqqa, arrived in Germany exactly on 2/10/2015. Two weeks later he started learning German and reached the level of C1 in less than one year.
The young man in his thirties was given the opportunity to train professionally in the military hospital of the German army, but he wasn’t able to continue due to the Foreigners' Office disapproval for having found a trace of him in Bulgaria and his deportation back there was even suggested, as he reported to Zaman al-Wasl. Therefore, he enrolled in the Catholic Technical University in Paderborn, and after receiving his approval he started studying in the ninth month of 2017.
During the course of his studies he joined the “Jugendamt” Youth Office in the juvenile crimes department. During the course of his training, he realized that the level of his German is not advanced enough for him to be able to foresee a future job as a civil servant in that field.
Our commentator, who has worked before as a social counselor in the "Event Center" in Al-Raqqa before becoming a refugee, has pointed out that his love for relief work and his desire to be productive motivated him to volunteer in the German Agency for Disasters in Germany in parallel with his studies at the Catholic University. He sent an email to the headquarters without having any expectations. On the following day, he received a response, including links to the headquarters of the agency, in order for him to choose the nearest center to his residence. After an interview with the manager of the Paderborm city center, he was accepted and underwent a basic training for a year, after which he would be ready to start working within a year.
Ahmad noted that the main aim behind his joining the agency is to improve his language skills by making connections and his desire to learn valuable things that have to do with war.
The relief worker and refugee explained the nature of his work in the agency. In the case of a building collapse, for example, the nine-member team is scattered over the ruins in order to secure the place, assure the safety of civilians and to protect them from the consequences of landslides.
Ahmad, along with two of his colleagues, enters the scene of the accident and tries to open a road from which they can reach the victims under the rubble. Their health state is first consulted to see whether they are passed out, have any broken bones or if they are simply dead. The rest of the team, outside the scene is contacted to provide the necessary rescue equipments for the injured.
he German Federal Disaster Commission (THW), established on August 22, 1950, is "an independent federal institution with hundreds of volunteers and staff. The Technical Assistance Agency provides technical assistance under the Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance Act and provides rapid intervention in order to make a stop to disasters, public emergencies and major accidents.
Zaman Al Wasl
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