Multilingual team helps Berlin immigrants fight coronavirus

Three times a week, Aliye Türkyılmaz hits the markets and busy shopping streets of Neukoelln to hand out informational flyers on the coronavirus pandemic to residents of the German capital's crowded immigrant neighborhood that's studded with minarets, kebab stores and hookah lounges.

The 48-year-old Turkish immigrant who speaks four languages is part of a team of five street workers enlisted to explain the dangers of COVID-19 to people often not reached through traditional channels in an area where infection numbers have regularly been among the highest in the city.

"Especially the older immigrants don't understand German, some are illiterate, and some are still not aware of the health risks and regulations regarding the pandemic," Türkyılmaz says as she roams through a Turkish market along the Landwehr canal where many had come to pick up fresh vegetables, chicken and bread.

There are a combination of factors that have made Neukoelln a virus hotspot in Berlin, where low incomes mean that living quarters are often cramped, public transport is frequently the only option, and jobs are commonly in high-risk areas such as the food service industry.

But it was the lack of information making it to the residents that prompted the formation of Türkyılmaz's "intercultural educational team," or IKAT, in September by the Berlin NGO Chance BJS in coordination with district officials.

The hope is that they will be able to break through the lack of communication, which not only has to do with language barriers but also a deep distrust of German authorities fed by a sense of nonacceptance, says Kazım Erdoğan, a community leader with Turkish roots.

"If we can't create a sense of belonging together in normal times, if people are existing...