Page 29: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2016)

mad Shanta followed a rather un- ber of the kitchen staff, he learns a lot has turned out to be a good career role eggplant soup.

usual path to Hapag-Lloyd: He and about German food and proves his abil- model for him. During his day-to-day And one day he even slips in the role his family ? ed the war in Syria and ity to work as part of the team. He says work, Imad is able to contribute his own of the head cook and serves exclusively

Iheaded to Germany. Thanks to the that the highlight of the experience is ideas. For example, recentlyhe has pre- Middle Eastern dishes in the company “Hapag-Lloyd Helps” project, Imad had working together with fellow members pared specialties from his home, includ- canteen.

an opportunity to complete a trainee- of the kitchen staff. And he says Martin ing tabbouleh and baba ghanoush, an (Excerpted in part from and with ship in the company. The “Hapag-Lloyd Pollex, the head of the company canteen, appetizer made of roasted eggplants, and thanks to Hapag-Lloyd Insight)

Helps” project was launched in early 2015. Since then, company employees have been using a wide range of activi- ties to assist some 7,000 refugees who have come to Germany from Syria,

Iraq, Eritrea and Somalia. Among these activities have been German language

The heart of a instruction, the World Café, donation drives, sports and evenings spent prepar- ing shared meals.

destroyer lies “After Imad told me that he is a cook,

I had the idea to having Hapag-Lloyd in every vessel employees cook together with refugees” said Sakib Mehanovic, who takes care of we touch.

the refugee-project of Hapag-Lloyd.

Since then, people have been prepar- ing various dishes from their home re- gions 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 begin- ning: a new country, a new culture, a new language. But I push myself to learn something new every day.”

Imad was born in Aleppo. After train- ing at a school of hotel management, he worked as a cook for more than 10 years at restaurants and hotels in Dubai. With the money he saved, he moved back to

Aleppo and opened a restaurant with his wife. “Our entire life revolved around that little restaurant,” Imad says. But then civil war broke out in Syria.

Coming to Germany was no coinci- dence. The crucial factor in Imad’s de- cision 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 out- siders. “We were taken in and accepted here rather than immediately turned away,” Imad says.

His ? rst encounters with Germans con- ul?o?u0o-|?b|_|_;v-l;ro?;u?v;70?|_;Cm;v|lb?b|-u?v_brvl ? rmed his positive impressions. When

Commercial vessels may face different challenges than combat ships, but he and his family traveled to Germany the best ones have equipment inside that’s built to last. That’s why many and took a train from Munich to Ham- burg, they were supported by a German commercial boat builders have turned to PEPCO – the foremost power family, which gave them provisions and distribution company for military boats and vehicles – to power their ships

PLAINVILLE ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS COMPANY help with planning the next stage of their

EW[IPP3YVIUYMTQIRXGER[MXLWXERHXLIWLSGOSJGSPPMWMSRWKYRcVIERH journey. “At that point, I knew that now ???lo?;u;7?;r1ol1ol underwater explosions during wartime. Can yours?

I had arrived and was in good hands,”

Imad recalls.

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The 35-year-old cook has high expec- &v;o=u;?;-v;7&?"?-??bl-];u?7o;vmo|1omv?|?|;ruo7?1|ouou]-mb?-?om-?;m7ouv;l;m|o=-m?hbm70?|_;&?"?-???

tations and hopes for his apprenticeship at Hapag-Lloyd – and many of them have been already ful? lled. As a mem- www.marinelink.com 29

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