How Refugees will join the Berlin Startup Scene

The movement of refugees to Europe especially Germany has been a key topic amongst our society. Bloomberg reported that Germany will have taken in nearly 1 million refugees by the end of 2015. A significant number is and will be looking for work and this is where Refugees on Rails comes in - creating a community to build a brighter future for these refugees.

Refugees on Rails is providing refugees with a strong skill set to position themselves in today’s job market. The not for profit emerged within the Berlin startup space, developing a program for young individuals to learn software development skills. And anyone living in Berlin and working for a startup knows how coveted and sought after those skillsets are.

Within a short period of time, old laptops were collected and refurbished and the word was spread to the refugee community with the help of other refugee organizations. And last Sunday, December 6 the first coding class launched, hosted in space by us at Setting!

How did it go?

We saw a room full of driven, excited and ambitious people. Students were divided into 2 groups of 5-6 to allow for maximal interaction and among those participating most but not all had some previous knowledge of coding. The classes are specifically designed to further develop coding fundamentals and teach additional concepts like coding for mobile. As a whole, it was amazing to see such a small team put a valuable initiative together, connecting refugees further in Berlin startup scene.

You can help!

With the rapid growth of startups, the opportunities for employment particularly in the IT sector are enormous. Refugee on Rails can use more help and it is easy to do so, especially if you have a work space. Classes take place once a week for 2 hours and more hosts are needed. Get in touch with nadine@setting.io to find out more and be part of the experience to create a brighter future for refugees and Germany.