Text: Rosa Hauch · Photo: Yvonn Spauschus
Manja is very pragmatic. She likes to organise, plan, design, she is just as good at office administration with applications and forms as she is at talking to association members, course leaders and curious people who are just getting to know the neighbourhood association in Gorbitz.
About four years ago, Manja took over the association with 95 members. Now there are 171.
171 personalities, 171x worries and problems, 171x smiling and saying thank you.
That is Manja’s elixir of life. Networking, freelance work and the opportunity to bring in all her experience from the catering trade, the senior citizens’ sector, from her work as a practical instructor in a youth workshop and not knowing every morning what else is in store for her.
“I let myself be surprised every day and make the best of what happens.”
With this thought, Manja manages more than just her job. In the meantime, she has also learned to stay sane even while doing it and to develop a certain professional detachment. Not to be confused with detachment, because the next ideas are already coming up, which she definitely still wants to implement practically in the coming year. These include, for example, dealing with healthy, seasonal food. Not all cauliflowers are the same and you can conjure up interesting dishes from regional fruits in every season. This keeps you healthy and fit, even after retirement.
With this in mind, Manja manages more than just her job. In the meantime, she has also learned to stay healthy and to develop a certain professional distance. Not to be confused with detachment, because the next ideas are already coming up that she definitely wants to put into practice in the coming year. These include, for example, dealing with healthy, seasonal food. Not all cauliflowers are the same and you can conjure up interesting dishes from regional fruits in every season. This keeps you healthy and fit, even after retirement.
Speaking of which, the new yoga course is already a topical offer. Every Wednesday, people meet once for sitting yoga and once on the mat.
While we are on the phone, breakfast is being served in Gorbitz. It’s Friday morning and no one should chew their bread alone. Manja is betting on community and hitting the bull’s eye. Loneliness eats away at the joy of living and that doesn’t have to be.
“What I try to do here with my work is a small part of counteracting the loneliness in old age of many Gorbitzers and being there when children and family are not available.”
The NHV e.V. has been around since 2000, when ten founding members rolled up their sleeves to create a recreational meeting place and a contact point for neighbourly help, problems, worries and offers.
And thanks to people like Manja, there is now life in it, there are open ears, time to go to the authorities or even to have breakfast together.
More Information
Nachbarschaftshilfeverein e.V.
Leutewitzer Ring 45 · 01169 Dresden
Contact: Manja Schubert (Leiterin)
Mail: info@nhv-dresden.de · Phone: 0351 417 89 96 · Mobile: 0172 14 00 443
Dresdner Nachbarschaften – sichtbar, vernetzt, engagiert!
Neighbourhoods are everywhere – we are right in the middle of it. With district walks, conversations in the green, creative workshops, exhibitions and much more.
Period
05-12.2023
Project coordination
Yvonn Spauschus (project management)
Yulia Vishnichenko · Moussa Mbarek · Nadine Wölk · Nazanin Zandi (workshop leader)
Rosa Brockelt · Rosa Hauch · Falk Goernert (moderation and documentation)
Cooperation partners
Club Passage / JugendKunstschule Dresden · Omse e.V. · Chinesisch Deutsches Zentrum e.V. · Treffpunkt Prohlis / Malteser Hilfsdienst e.V. · Stadtteilverein Johannstadt e.V. · Neues Volkshaus Cotta / Konglomerat e.V. · Montagscafé / Staatsschauspiel Dresden · Freizeitclub / Lebenshilfe Dresden e.V. · Quartiersmanagement Prohlis, Johannstadt und Gorbitz
Supported by
The project is funded by the State Ministry for Social Affairs and Social Cohesion. This measure is co-financed with tax funds on the basis of the budget passed by the Saxon state parliament within the framework of the state programme Integrative Maßnahmen.
