Working group committed to helping international students in need

For over 30 years, AKIS has been committed to helping people who come to Germany to study. "Our offers of help are diverse and always depend on the individual case. For example, it is often sufficient to provide advice on whom the student can contact with his or her request. Furthermore, we provide support by applying for aid money or granting free rooms in the Studierendenwerk for a short period of time. In our offers, we deliberately prioritize those who come from the least developed countries," explains Anna-Maria Plischke, student pastor and member of AKIS. "We can't create long-term aid with this, but we do offer bridging assistance."

Antonia Uhrmeister from the Protestant student community in Kassel adds, "Many of these people come to Germany without financial reserves. It is not uncommon for them to have even gone into debt in order to be able to study here. Once here, they keep their heads above water with a part-time job. If they then fall ill, for example, this source of income is lost again. This is where we come in. A social network that could support these international students often does not exist because of certain residence titles. Proper health insurance is also not always available. Students often forego the statutory health insurance at the beginning of their studies out of ignorance. Medical and medication costs are then not covered by other health insurance companies if necessary." After only online counseling was possible for a long time due to Corona, AKIS is now expanding its offering to include individual face-to-face formats again.

"However, even AKIS cannot always help," confirms Anna-Marie Plischke. "It sometimes happens that a person's problems are so big that our resources are not enough. For example, if someone is too heavily in debt, we can only refer them to a debt counselor. However, in over 95% of cases, we can find a solution."

AKIS is made up of members from the University of Kassel, the Studierendenwerk, the Protestant student congregations in Kassel and Witzenhausen, and the Catholic university congregation Kassel/Witzenhausen. "We meet every two weeks in order to be able to react quickly to students' problems. By ensuring maximum transparency at our meetings, we thereby ensure that there is no duplication of funding," comments Mike Pillardy from Studierendenwerk Kassel. In this form, as a concerted group of different players, it is unique at German universities, according to the findings of those involved.

Contact:

Anna-Marie Plischke
Student pastor of the Protestant student community in Kassel
Phone: 0561 872075
E-mail: sekretariat.esg-kassel[at]ekkw[dot]de

Sebastian Mense
University of Kassel
Press and Public Relations
Phone: +49 561 804 -1961
E-mail: presse[at]uni-kassel[dot]de