From Refugee to Hapag-Lloyd Trainee

 

The “Hapag-Lloyd Helps” project was launched in early 2015. Since then, company employees have been using a wide range of activities to assist some 7,000 refugees who have come to Germany from Syria, Iraq, Eritrea and Somalia. Among these activities have been German language instruction, the World Café, donation drives, sports and evenings spent preparing shared meals.

 

“After Imad told me that he is a cook, I had the idea to having Hapag-Lloyd employees cook together with refugees” said Sakib Mehanovic, who takes care of the refugee-project of Hapag-Lloyd. No sooner said that done. Since then, people have been preparing various dishes from their home regions together every other Wednesday under Iman’s guidance. And that’s how the idea emerged of having Imad do an apprenticeship at Hapag-Lloyd. “This traineeship has been my big chance to work on my future in Germany,” Imad says. “It was tough for me at the beginning: a new country, a new culture, a new language. But I push myself to learn something new every day – here at Hapag-Lloyd, too.

 

Imad was born in Aleppo, the second-largest city in Syria. After training at a school of hotel management, he worked as a cook for over ten years at various restaurants and hotels in Dubai. With the money he had saved, he then moved back to Aleppo and opened a restaurant with his wife in the heart of the city. “Our entire life revolved around that little restaurant,” Imad says. But then civil war broke out in Syria. Even today, there is still heavy fighting between government and rebel forces in the city.

 

Coming to Germany was no coincidence. The crucial factor in Imad’s decision to come here was his belief that Germany plays the role of “mother of Europe” and is therefore associated with being charitable and welcoming to outsiders. “We were taken in and accepted here rather than immediately turned away, as in other European countries,” Imad says.

 

Imad’s first encounters with Germans confirmed his positive impressions. When he and his family traveled to Germany and took a train from Munich to Hamburg, they were supported by a German family, which gave them provisions and help with planning the next stage of their journey. “At that point, I knew that now I had arrived and was in good hands,” Imad recalls.

 

The 35-year-old cook has high expectations and hopes for his apprenticeship at Hapag-Lloyd – and many of them have been already fulfilled. As a member of the kitchen staff, he learns a lot about German food and proves his ability to work as part of the team. He says that the highlight of the experience is working together with fellow members of the kitchen staff. And he says Martin Pollex, the head of the company canteen, has turned out to be a good career role model for him.

 

During his day-to-day work, Imad is able to contribute his own ideas. For example, in recent weeks, he has prepared tabbouleh, a light summer salad common in the Middle East made of bulgur, ripe tomatoes, shallots and lemon juice as well as a bit of mint and a lot of parsley. Imad’s other influences on the daily menu in Hamburg have been baba ghanoush, an appetizer made of roasted eggplants, and eggplant soup.

 

And one day he even slips in the role of the head cook and serves exclusively Middle Eastern dishes in the company canteen.