Book & bake sale
I finally found a (Ukrainian-owned!) location in Vienna to host a charity used book & bake sale with all proceeds going to Cards for Ukraine. May 7, save the date! A few thoughts on "education".
I received some really good news yesterday. Do you know when you try to do something, over and over, for days, weeks, and nothing works? And then you kind of give up and think ok, well, maybe it’s just not meant to be. And then a bit of time passes, and you think, how hard can it be, and you try again, except this time, fate helps you out? I had been searching off and on for weeks for a suitable “event” space in Vienna near public transportation where we could host a fundraising used book & bake sale on an upcoming Sunday. I opened Google and sent a few messages to the first spaces which popped up. One of them wrote me back immediately (also highly unusual). Turns out it is Ukrainian-owned and the young owners promised me the space at cost (reasonable cleaning fee) if we assured them 100% of the funds raised are going to charity (they are). So this morning I checked out Zi8 a co-working and event space a stone’s throw from a subway/tram station. I am thrilled to announce we will hold a Cards for Ukraine fundraising donated book & bake sale on Sunday May 7!
I really hope we will attract donations of books in good condition in English, German, Ukrainian and Russian. I will try to gather from categories which should sell well: children’s, fiction, cooking, travel, self-help. We will price them VERY reasonably, so that they sell and that Ukrainians can also come and buy books for themselves. I am optimistic they too might value the chance to buy some German books at an affordable price, for those attending language courses and trying to reach a certain level. Same for kids’ books. If you are in Vienna, would like to donate books, but cannot make it in person on May 7, by all means, please reach out and I will find a way to pick them up from you before then. We would also welcome baked goods donations (individual portions please) and volunteers for the day. I will work this weekend on putting together a volunteer schedule, so it will be possible to help out even if you only have a few hours free. I truly hope this can also serve as a nice social event for a variety of nationalities to come together. At least that is how I envision it. I am absolutely thrilled we found a suitable space (only downside is it is basement and cannot accommodate wheelchairs — there is an indoor space to park baby buggies but it is a walk down spiral stairs to get to the hall).
Such an event is really timely as I am down to my last handful of Hofer cards, and that always makes me feel nervous. But I have learned to be “zen” about it, as refills usually arrive just when we need them.
I wish I could share better news in general from Vienna. I get the impression that housing has slowed and things are not really moving, and that is by design. As far as I know Artem is still in the arrival center. The not really subtle message I am hearing is we are sort of more or less full but trying our best. Interpret that however you like. I do not know what will happen in a month’s time when the arrival center stops (apparently this is the plan) accepting new arrivals. Will Austria make an official announcement to say do not come here from Ukraine unless you have private housing? Your guess is as good as mine.
Yesterday, the head of the AMS (Austria’s state-run job board) proudly announced Austria had voted to remove the requirement (extra step) for employers to ask for permission to hire Ukrainians in Austria. Reader, Russia invaded Ukraine 422 days ago. They announced this yesterday. Some people even more cynical than me commented this was anyway “fast” by Austrian standards. Thankfully, many of us on this planet do not measure our own performance by “Austrian standards” for speed.
I also would like to comment briefly on education:
After I wrote these tweets early this morning, I then saw this which cites this radio report about a teacher in a Vienna middle school teaching one of the so-called “integration” classes who is said to have told her Turkish students they should “go home to Turkey” and have reportedly called the Ukrainian kids “parasites.” Yes, fucking hell, that bad. And the same people who have been in charge of education in Vienna for forever make their same plain vanilla comments about there being no place for racism in Vienna schools when we all know exactly how things work in practice. Here is a novel idea: if a group of bureaucrats have not managed in over a decade to fix anything, and the situation has only gotten worse (as has the structure — integration classes, MIKA-D tests), perhaps get rid of all the bureaucrats (city and federal) and start from scratch. Cannot imagine it could get worse (although that is something I have learned not to say casually in Austria).
One of the Ukrainian moms in my Telegram group asked me to share this online petition against the discriminatory MIKA-D language tests Ukrainian (and other foreign) kids are required to pass before they can be switched to “normal” classes with native speakers of German. I oblige, although I think the petition is old, and an open letter may be more productive.
Here is also a very good long article on the challenges many Ukrainian kids face when trying to do both “Austrian” and “Ukrainian” school at the same time. Some will manage. And many others will give up or fall through the cracks. As I tweeted this morning, this rigid, un-flexible approach which has no problem to tell a child he/she should repeat third grade for the third time (yes, really), will surely result in more children moving back to Ukraine this summer than would otherwise happen if school had been an easier transition. I am sure some cynical authorities know this and this is in part why so little is done to help make school life easier.
I can give a simple example from my own life. I volunteered (not thinking it fully through, as is often the case with me) to arrange a social project morning for a class of 12-13 year olds (including my own) with “Ukrainians” in June, last week of school. I was thinking about offering German language conversation practice, maybe a joint field trip, and so naturally I thought to find a class of similar aged kids. A mom in my Telegram group gave me the contact of an “integration” class of Ukrainian kids aged 10-15 (mixed age) in a working-class Vienna district. I was given two phone numbers: Austrian class teacher and Ukrainian assistant teacher. I thought it was weird to have phone numbers instead of email, but I took what I had and sent a message. That was more than two days ago. No response. I was offering an entire morning with a class of German native speakers during the last week of the school year. We would have found a budget to do other fun activities as well. The mom told me she unfortunately has the impression the Austrian teacher does not like the class and does not take them anywhere on any field trips. She isn’t sure if it is the children’s behaviour or something else. I didn’t dare share what I suspect.
So I will keep trying. Maybe I will be able to find a class with whom we can do something. Maybe I will have to find a group of pensioners or adults with time on their hands during the mornings and we offer them some German practice. I will keep thinking. I have time, thankfully.
The lovely grocery photos keep coming in. Thank you all so much.
I'm so happy you finally found a (Ukrainian-owned!) location in Vienna to host a charity used book & bake sale with all proceeds going to Cards for Ukraine.
You can count on me! :-) Regina