The association
The same idea in mind since 1987: people helping people.
خانه فرهنگ افغانستان
The Afghan Communication and Cultural Centre is a self-help association. Founded in 1987 by Afghans in Berlin, and carried entirely by volunteers to this day. Almost four decades without interruption, without a paid post, without a project end date.
Founded
1987 in Berlin
Carried by
Volunteers, 100 %
Legal form
Registered association (e.V.)
The long breath
What duration means.
1987
The founding
Afghans in West Berlin found their own communication and cultural centre. Not as an aid project from outside, but as self-help: people who share the same history organise themselves — for advice, for language, for festivals, for a voice.
In between
Almost four decades of everyday work
Wars, waves of flight, changes of government in Kabul, a reunified Berlin, a neighbourhood that has changed completely. The association stayed — with official letters, Nauruz festivals, literary evenings and public statements.
30
The anniversary poster
„30 Jahre Ehrenamtliche Integration, Kultur und Menschenrechtsarbeit“ — thirty years of voluntary integration, culture and human rights work. That is how the association sums up its own work on its anniversary poster. Three words that still name the three fields today.
today
Reuterstraße 15
Three opening days a week in the Reuterkiez, bilingual throughout, still without a paid post. Whoever comes, comes without an appointment. Whoever calls reaches people, not a queue.
Self-help
Not a charity.
An us.
Self-help means: the people who advise have been through the same procedures themselves. Whoever explains here how a Jobcenter decision works has at some point sat at the kitchen table with such a decision. That is the difference from an authority with consultation hours.
And it means: the association belongs to its members. There is no management deciding from outside what is good for the community. There are people who meet and work it out.
The house is nevertheless open to everyone. Anyone who lives in the Reuterkiez, is a neighbour, wants to practise German or is simply curious about Afghan music — very welcome.
What the association is here for
Four tasks that have not changed since 1987.
Integration
Supporting people with an Afghan history in Berlin in practical terms — with authorities, school, training, work and housing.
Culture
Keeping Afghan language, music, literature and festivals alive in Berlin and making them accessible to everyone.
Human rights
Informing people about the situation in Afghanistan, defending the rights of women and girls, creating a public.
Meeting
Being a place where Afghans and Berliners actually meet — not just live next to one another.
Motif: archive shelf with boxes and papers · generated image
Our stance
Committed, and uncomfortable when it has to be.
Human rights work has been part of the cause since the association was founded. That means: we talk about the situation in Afghanistan, about the rights of women and girls, about what refugees experience here. Even when it would be easier to just hold festivals.
Contact person
Sabour Zamani
That is where enquiries come together — by phone, by email or simply in person during opening hours.