I (Josh) spent the vast majority of my time at the refugee camp named Cooperstrasse 3. This former military housing compound was fenced and was manned by a handful of security guards who were instructed to keep weirdos (like me) out of the camp. The German social workers were especially hostile towards us. Seems to me, they were just trying to maintain peace and didn’t know what we were up to. I thanked them for doing such a great job and assured them I would cause no trouble. We were working extremely hard to talk our way into the compound (to no avail), when an Afghan man came from nowhere and invited us to tea in his apartment. This official invitation was exactly what we needed to get passed the guards. We were in!
Coming back day after day, I got to know the guards reasonably well. I also had a friendly and meaningful conversation with the head social worker. When we said our final goodbye on Friday evening, I received lots of hugs and well wishes. These guards and social workers have very difficult and thankless jobs.
A few random pics from inside cooperstrasse 3.
6daysjourney 