Cologne-Ehrenfeld –
Lina Orrego grew up in Colombia, more precisely in Manizales, a big city in the Andes. She was just ten years old when the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted and the town of Armero, just a few kilometers away, was buried in an avalanche of lava, mud and water. Over 20,000 people lost their lives and Armero was completely destroyed. That was in 1985.
Orrego now lives and works in Cologne, but the experiences of her childhood and youth, the “images from the end of the world”, have shaped her: “Back then, every child had an emergency bag next to their bed and also at school, in case the volcano was still there would break out once,” says the 47-year-old, “we also practiced for emergencies.”
War on drug lords
But the active volcano was not the only danger – after all, an armed conflict was raging in Colombia between the army and guerrillas, in which the powerful drug cartels of the Latin American country are also involved. According to Orrego, this civil war and the ‘violencia’, the violence, were also a constant threat and present in public life. For example in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, at whose university Orrego studied marketing and advertising: “On the street you saw people being shot, there were explosions,” says Orrego, “that was normal, you didn’t know anything else.”
Slums – Elendsviertel in Bogotà
Added to this was the suffering and poverty of the civilian population – children who were wrapped in newspaper instead of diapers, garbage and the barrio bajos, slums made up of improvised dwellings in which people have to live together in a very small space.
Lina Orrego believes that everyone should do some voluntary work.
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In 2002, Lina Orrego turned her back on all this and came to Germany to study again in Münster and Berlin. This time, international business was on the curriculum, and Orrego also completed the subject with a master’s degree. After that, she first moved to Italy, but soon returned to Germany: “I couldn’t find a decent job in Italy and my boyfriend at the time persuaded me to come back to Germany,” says the mother of two today.
exit from marketing
Orrego then went to Cologne, where she found a job in a marketing agency for which she worked for many years – until she wanted to do something else with her life: “I didn’t want to work anymore so that others could get rich, while there is so much need and misery in the world,” she explains. That also had something to do with her past: “All my life I’ve been grateful that I was lucky and privileged. I wanted to give something back,” explains Orrego, who actually wanted to go back to Colombia to contribute to the hoped-for changes on the spot.
Helper in the refugee crisis
Instead, she continued to get involved in Cologne – with the refugee crisis in 2015, she found her true calling: Orrego began to coordinate voluntary projects and aid campaigns and, as a Zumba teacher, gave dance courses for girls in the accommodations. A year later, the Archdiocese of Cologne founded its volunteer coordination program “Commitment, Volunteering and Esprit”. Engagement promoter in the pastoral care area of Ehrenfeld.
As such, Orrego supports volunteer projects, provides help with implementing ideas and advises volunteers on which activities are suitable for them: “My job is basically to make people happy,” she explains, “either because I can help them or the opportunity to help. Many people want to get involved, but often don’t know where and for what.”
Guide in the helper jungle
A good example of this is the current refugee situation in the wake of the Ukraine war: Many Ehrenfelder want to help the refugees, Lina Orrego shows them where and how this is possible. As a volunteer promoter, she is not only active in refugee aid, but also supports very specific projects in Veedel, helps with the integration of foreign fellow citizens and helps shape the future of the local Catholic Church: “But I don’t just work with people from the Church together, but with everyone who wants to get involved and get involved,” explains Orrego, “in this way we can move big things in the neighborhood and implement projects effectively.” Of course, this also requires volunteers, whose number would decrease according to Orrego – which she very much regrets: “Every person should do volunteer work once in their life. Then people would see how important that is for society and for individuals.”
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