FROM THE FIELD: A new life beyond kneading bread

Who would imagine that the smell of fresh bread wafting through a bakery could change the life of a young Syrian refugee for a struggling young Syrian refugee?

But that is pretty much what happened to Mohamad Hamza Alemam, when the 23-year-old Syrian refugee sheltering in Germany entered the Privatbäckerei Wiese bäckerei.

Initially he started working there to learn German. But over time as his language skills improved, he began an assistant apprenticeship programme, mastering the basics of breadmaking and how to run the shop, broadening his vocational qualifications.

“When I go back to Syria one day, I hope to take a little bit of this German culture, this German bread, with me”, he says.

Read more here about Mohamad, and bakery owner Björn Wiese, who employs ten refugees and asylum-seekers – a sixth of his workforce.