Patenprogramm - Welcome Family Programme
The support family program is not currently taking place.
New country, new city, unfamiliar university and no family and friends nearby. What does it feel like?
The aim of the Welcome Familiy Programme is to offer international under- and postgraduate students an insight into everyday life in a German family and to offer them help and advice. The central idea is to introduce welcome families ("Patenfamilien") from the surrounding area to international students.
The Welome Family Programme has been expanded to also provide refugess who will be studying in Kassel in the future with the opportunity to get in contact with local families.
If you too are interested and enjoy engaging in intercultural exchange with people from othe countries and cultures, please contact us!
The dropout rate among international students at German universities is at 50 per cent alarmingly high. The reasons can only be surmised, but one of them could be the lack of a sufficient social network. For this reason, the Welcome Family Programme at the University of Kassel is all about bringing local families and international students together. The programme offers Welcome Famililes the opportunity to improve their personal foreign language skills, make friends and expand their intercultural competence.
Contact and exchange between international students and people outside the campus is usually very low or even non-existent. This is a major disadvantage for the international students who, due to the lack of a social network, do not find sufficient support when they are experiencing problems with their studies or in everyday life. Many international students have little contact with the people of Kassel and lead a kind of satellite existence.
This is a wonderful opportunity for you to acquaint an international student with everyday life in Germany and help him/her to feel at home in Kassel.