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ePaper created 2015-12-01, 11:33:23 | version 1.43.00
33akzente 3/15 S he arrives every morning at 6:30 am wearing black leggings, a red anorak and a small rucksack slung across her shoul- der. At just 1.60 m tall, you might easily mis- take her for a schoolgirl, though in some ways that is exactly what she is. For Thi Thuy Ngan Kieu has come from Viet Nam to learn. The 25-year-old is training to become a geriatric nurse at Leonhard Henninger Haus, a resi- dential nursing home in the Munich suburb of Schwanthalerhöhe. She is one of 100 young men and women taking part in a pilot project geared to secur- ing skilled workers. The project is organised by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) in cooperation with the Interna- tional Placement Services (ZAV) of the Ger- man Federal Employment Agency. Germany already has a shortage of geriatric nurses: in 2014 there were just 39 unemployed nurses for every 100 vacant positions. By 2030, there could be as many as half a million unfilled posts. The southern and eastern EU member states are experiencing a similar demographic trend to Germany. At the same time, however, many people in Viet Nam have no jobs. So one obvious solution is to provide training and offer rights of residency in Germany. In September 2013, Ngan and her colleagues – mostly women, but also a few men – began their new lives in Germany. Training courses were held in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin and Lower Saxony. A second group ar- rived in Germany in summer 2015. In future it is anticipated that the nursing homes them- selves will play an active role. Ever since the first generation of ‘guest workers’ arrived in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s, however, the country has grappled with the problems of migration. So those re- sponsible for the project – including the Min- istry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) in Hanoi – are paying close atten- tion to ensure that all stakeholders benefit, both now and in the long term. ‘What excites me most is that they have the same starting conditions as Germans in professional terms,’ says Reinhild Renée Ernst from GIZ. The Vietnamese taking part in the project are not engaged as cheap auxiliary workers. They learn the job from scratch and earn in line with the going rate. And contrary to popular perception, the pay is not at all bad: on completion of training, a qualified nurse can expect to take home around EUR 1,800 per month. The Vietnamese also have the same opportunities for promotion. Fur- thermore, after five years’ work – including the training period – they will be eligible for permanent residency status. Direct entry into the second year of training Ngan quickly takes the lift to the third floor of the Leonhard Henninger Haus care home and disappears into the changing room. She reappears wearing the uniform of a nursing assistant: a purple smock and trousers with white pumps. Her long straight hair is tied back in a ponytail. Her first task: the wake-up call. ‘Good morning, ready to get up?’ she calls softly into the first dimly lit room. She helps her charge get out of bed, puts her feet into her slippers, brings over the walking frame, accompanies her first to the bathroom and then to the breakfast room. Then it’s off to the next bedroom. She has grown used to the routine now. Nevertheless, ‘Nani’, as she is known to the residents and colleagues, will never forget the difficult first few months. Her biggest prob- lem was the language. ‘It’s so complicated,’ she says, ‘a different melody.’ Like all partici- pants in the project, she was required to com- plete a six-month German course before her arrival in the country – but that was nowhere near enough to prepare her for everyday life. Especially as the Vietnamese go straight into the second year of the course on account of the professional experience they already have. Applications are accepted only from trained nurses and care assistants. The purpose of this is to ensure that participants have a clear idea of what lies ahead. For in Viet Nam, where grandparents and great-grandparents are tra- ditionally looked after in the family, the career of geriatric nursing is not yet fully established. As the youngest of six children, Ngan grew up in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Sai- gon and Viet Nam’s largest city. She read about the project ‘on the internet’, she says. By that time she had already completed her training as a nurse. But she knew little about Germany: ‘Somewhere in Europe, possibili- ties for travel, and, well, famous for beer.’ She tells how she was invited to a Bavar- ian restaurant when she first arrived and there was roast pork on the menu: ‘This big’ is how she remembers it, her hands making a circle the size of a waggon wheel, and it tasted salty. ‘I didn’t like it.’ That sentence alone shows how well she has adapted to her new life. In Viet Nam it would be considered impolite to say such a thing, but not in Germany, she has learned. ‘Germans are always very direct.’ ‘At the beginning, whenever we met in the corridor she would look down and walk by nervously,’ says care home manager Frank Chylek. Respect for superiors is much stronger in Asia than in Germany. On the other hand, there is also a greater sense of community in the workplace. Ngan was lucky to have Zuhra Iljkic as her ward manager. Like many of the nurses, Iljkic comes from Bosnia, and she leads her team of 14 nurses with maternal affection. ‘I just integrated Nani into the team,’ she says simply. Part of her approach was to insist that everyone com- municated only in German – to ensure no one felt excluded. Everyone says how friendly the Vietnamese are The Vietnamese nurses also had to adapt to European customs in terms of greetings and personal space. Physical contact in Viet Nam is only common between family members and very close friends. Ngan has adjusted well. ‘She greets us all with a kiss, just like the Bosnian girls,’ says Iljkic. » ‘A wonderful nurse’: 91-year-old Liselotte K. is full of praise for Ngan’s friendly and caring nature.