Waldorf News

Finding a Way: My Year at the Multicultural Waldorf Kindergarten in Hamburg-Wilhemsburg

By Aliaksandra Petrusevich

Aliaksandra Petrusevich is from Belarus. She worked at the Intercultural Waldorf Kindergarten in Hamburg as part of a federal volunteer service organized by the Friends of Waldorf Education. The program is for young people from around the world who don’t live in Germany.

Never before have I experienced so much as during my voluntary service. However, I must confess that I did not like Hamburg initially, because I would rather have lived in a smaller town, with narrow streets, half-timbered houses and a cosy historical part of town. Hamburg, however, is big with plenty of water and a huge port… But as time passed I began to like Hamburg with its metropolitan feeling of freedom and boundlessness.

From the first day my host family was very helpful and I do not want to imagine how it would have worked out had they not supported me with good advice. I felt at home: every now and then they took me on a tour, or we would watch a movie or the series “Tatort”. Simply having dinner together every day gave me a sense of being part of the family.

The main focus of my volunteer service, however, was my work at the Waldorf kindergarten. My task was to take care of the children between the ages of twelve months and three years. It is a special feeling when a child makes its first step and says his first word when you are there. With the help of the children I learned German and now know many animal species and can distinguish between digger, tractor, truck and crane.

Furthermore, five seminars were part of my voluntary year. On these occasions we as volunteers from around the world have grown together as one large family. You and me from one world. We are family. There was much laughter, dancing, playing and singing, and we learned a lot about Anthroposophy and Waldorf education.

What was important to me was that I could talk to the team leaders and participate in various exercises of self-reflection. Sometimes I was desperate when I came to the seminar and was wondering if it had really been the right decision to volunteer. But thanks to the helpful discussions and exercises, I went back to work feeling energetic, full of ideas and motivated to keep going.

Finally, what comes to my mind is my letter that I wrote to myself during the first seminar about what I expect from the upcoming year. At the last seminar we got the letter back and it seemed to me as if a different person had written this letter. Not everything worked out perfectly, but I have always found a way to achieve my goals. So, it was worth it!

One month ago I left Hamburg to start a teacher-training course in Berlin. Staying in Germany after our voluntary service, some of us thought that everything would be the same as before. This is unfortunately not true, as one has to say good-bye to life as a volunteer.

Aliaksandra now lives in Berlin and studies Waldorf education at the Freie Fachschule fuer Sozialpaedogogik Berlin.

This article originally appeared in ‘Rundbrief.’ published twice a year in spring and autumn by the Friends of Waldorf education. With reports from multiple projects. it’s a lively insight into the world-wide diversity of Waldorf schools, kindergartens, curative educational facilities and other educational initiatives. Click here to see all of the the Friends publications, including ‘Rundbrief.’