An impressive event was organized by the Ski and Hiking Friends Einöd e.V. in cooperation with the city of Homburg in mid-June: Together, they invited all newly arrived Ukrainian residents to a peace hike to the ski and hiking lodge. Many refugees gratefully accepted the offer. The main goal of this gathering was to give those heavily burdened by the war a carefree day – and this was achieved in many different ways.
After the welcome by Mayor Michael Forster, the 1st Chairman of the Ski and Hiking Friends, Klaus Rink, as well as the local mayor of Einöd, Dr. Karl Schuberth, also warmly welcomed all participants. The translation of the respective speeches was carried out by the volunteer Ukrainian interpreter Snezhana Bialucha. Tatjana Kert, who works as an interpreter for the city of Homburg and supports Ukrainians in coping with everyday life in Germany, was also on site and took the opportunity to listen to the concerns and needs of the refugees in this context.
Due to the high temperatures, the originally planned hiking route was shortened, but the Ukrainians were still impressed by the beautiful surroundings. After returning to the hut, the ensemble "Scheldeborn" from Mimbach welcomed the group with a colorful musical repertoire. Drinks, sausages, grilled meat, turkey steaks, salads, cakes, and ice cream were provided free of charge for everyone by invitation of the Ski and Hiking Friends, who had numerous dedicated helpers on hand.
The city of Homburg lent the AWO playmobile for this day. Equipped with many movement games and under the guidance of trainers from TSG Einöd-Ingweiler, first steps on the Pedalo could be taken, for example. Kirill Kert assisted the trainers, also volunteering to help overcome language barriers with the children and encourage them to participate.
The full-time deputy mayor of the city of Homburg, Christine Becker, who is responsible for the accommodation and integration of refugees, also attended the event and was impressed by the strong support this day received:
"Everyone was enthusiastic about this beautiful day, which focused on getting to know each other and community. We want to build on that and offer more activities for the people." In this context, she referred to the already planned welcome festival, which is to be celebrated as part of the family and children's festival on September 3, 2022, in the city park.
The interpreters Tatjana Kert and Snezhana Bialucha were able to convey one main message to the event organizers on Saturday with their translations: a big thank you for this wonderful day. All the guests felt a little like being at home, where sociability and hospitality also play a major role, the guests relayed to the organizers. A group of Ukrainian women spontaneously gave a thank-you speech and promised a reciprocal invitation as soon as normality returns to Ukraine. The contributions by Klaus Rink, the chairman of the Ski and Hiking Friends, were also very touching; he had adapted two song lyrics by Udo Jürgens to the Ukrainian situation and performed them with two Ukrainian children. The children then sang the Ukrainian national anthem following these performances.
The event was funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth as part of the federal program "Living Democracy!".
