Helper in the Cottbus Bicycle Friends Project

The Bicycle Friends Project is a women's encounter project. Dedicated helpers accompany migrant women to learn how to ride a bike.

This encounter project empowers women to support each other, even beyond cycling. The goal is to increase the social participation of migrant women through networking, skills acquisition and creative learning and to actively shape a more tolerant and diverse society in Cottbus.

The participants come from Islamic countries. Many of them did not have the opportunity to learn how to ride a bike in their home country. It is therefore important to us to create a pleasant, welcoming and respectful atmosphere. The desire to be able to ride a bike and thus be more independent in everyday life supports the social participation of women. Because cycling is not just about pedalling - it can give you energy for life, enable individual mobility, promote health, build self-confidence and increase independence! For this we are looking for helpers!

Your Tasks

As a dedicated helper your tasks can be:

• Accompany the women in cycling (warm-up training, explaining the bike and its functions, walking and supporting next to the learner, teaching theory, accompanying during outdoor training)
• stimulate and accompany the intercultural exchange (lead conversations, stimulate networking between the women)
• develop the project creatively (develop bad weather options, plan excursions, etc....)

What's needed

You don't really need much. Here are a few points that would be important:

• German as mother tongue or C1 level
• you are a woman*
• you have fun and enjoy intercultural encounters
• you are physically fit enough to accompany the women for a few rounds on foot as well as on your bike

Time required

2x a week there will be a training time for 2 hours each. It would be nice if you could accompany 1x per week one of the training times. If you even have time on both training days, that's even better!

Per training there are 3 learning women and at least 4 helpers.

Important notice

The project will start in March 2022 and you are welcome to contact the project coordinator before then.

Der Paritätische is committed to the idea of social justice, understood as the right of every human being to equal opportunities to realise his or her life in dignity and to develop his or her personality. Der Paritätische supports social commitment for others and the commitment to one's own social concerns.

The project "Begegnungen im Stadtteil", with its talk cafés, brings together old and new residents of Cottbus who call Cottbus home. Intercultural encounters, getting to know each other, asking questions, making friends - all this is important for peaceful and tolerant coexistence.