Gönül Sen-Menzel: Two Hands Balance the World

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Mauenheim. You can see a globe carried by two hands, people of all ages and, of course, the rooster, the symbol of the facility: the youth center of the “Arbeitskreis für das ausländische Kind” (AAK, Working Group for the Foreign Child) presented the new exterior facade of the Etzelstraße youth center.

The containers, which previously stood out only for their gray dreariness, are now brightened up by a colorful mix of different motifs. What makes it special: the youth center was painted by the facility’s children themselves, under the guidance of the Cologne artist Gönül Sen-Menzel. “With the motifs we wanted to show that we all live together on one world – with one another, not side by side,” says Sen-Menzel.

15 young people used 100 liters of paint, 50 brushes and 40 paint trays over two weekends before the artwork was finished. “But it wasn’t always easy. Our work was constantly interrupted by annoying, persistent rain,” the artist recalled of the adverse conditions under which they had to prove their creativity.

“And the young people and children first had to agree on the motifs: besides the globe, there is also a huge rainbow, and some children painted themselves on the wall,” says Sen-Menzel. In addition to the facade makeover, there is also a new streetball court that the 35 to 40 children who visit the facility every day can use. Other services at the AAK youth center include homework help, game afternoons and soccer training. What mattered most to Mohammad Scherien Gerdeawal, head of the youth center, was “that the young people themselves are responsible for the improvements. That way they develop a much stronger sense of responsibility for the facility and also build self-confidence.”

This is important because some of them are in socially difficult situations. “The young people should experience that you can achieve a lot with little effort,” added Magnus Ringhandt, managing director of the AAK. The association has been working for foreign children throughout Cologne since 1978: “The work is especially important here in Mauenheim. About 6,000 people live here, 18 percent of whom are foreigners. On Etzelstraße the percentage is much higher. It is a ghetto-like, isolated location between the railway line and the Nibelungen housing estate. With our youth center we therefore also offer the children a place of retreat. A place where they can find peace and help, for example with homework or simply when they feel like talking,” says the current members’ newsletter of the AAK.

But above all, fun and play come first at Etzelstraße 250 – and the fact that director Mohammad Scherien is especially popular with the children can be seen from the fact that the children have also immortalized his likeness on the facade of the youth center.

Original caption: There was a little pride too. The young artists presented their work to the public.