The whole February, I was back in my home town Tehran, Iran. The main reason I went back to Tehran, was my study project for the Alice Salomon University. Since we’re at the end of the first Semester, we’re supposed to write an academic paper on a subject of our choice. My topic is child labor in Tehran and how social work can help these children.
Therefore, I had to be there in order to collect more information from the NGO I used to work with and to see and assess the situation of the street children. A great help in this was to skype with my professor, who was in Stockholm at the time. The era of technology, right?
Visiting my passionate social worker friends was one of the biggest joys of this trip. I was impressed by their effort for these helpless children and how they fought against all the financial, social and political difficulties (especially nowadays).
They’re trying their best to learn and use the most practical and also modern methods of social work to improve child labor in poor neighborhoods in the south of Tehran. I was quite excited, when they asked me to share my knowledge of social work with them, since I am studying social work in one of the most important capital cities in Europe.
Besides work and research, it was very enjoyable being back in the town, where I can speak with people in my mother language, eat my favorite Iranian food, drive and enjoy the amazing view of mountains everywhere. Back in Teheran, where each smell and taste is familiar, I can play with my dog and where my friends know who I am.
Missing Berlin Yes, Tehran is a city full of contradictions. Although I did enjoy the time with all its nostalgia, the thought of not living there anymore was ponderous for me. In the last week of my stay there, I started missing the German punctuality, my room and my roommates in Berlin, biking along the river, not having any kind of “plans” for weekend and letting the city lead me to the best events. I started missing university and my colleagues, being independent again. I missed my new life And maybe, it is not a bad thing to be unknown in a city!
On the plane, on my way back to Berlin, I was kept awake by one question. And to be honest, I am still struggling to find an answer to this question. Maybe, like all the other migrants, I have two homes? Or maybe, I have no home at all? Maybe, I am like a sponge, simply absorbing all the good things I can find anywhere in the world :-)
Elahehs report no. 1
Elahehs report no. 2
Elahehs report no. 3
Elahehs report no. 4
Elahehs report no. 5
Elahehs report no. 6
Elahehs report no. 7
Elahehs report no. 8: Social contacts in Corona times
Elahehs report no. 9: Black Lives Matter demonstrations
Elahehs report no. 10: Trip to Munich
Elahehs report no. 11: Review of an exciting half-year
Elahehs report no. 12: My last report