"Some houses still look like the day after the flood," says Mario Theiß. Together with Markus Herr, Julian Wagner and Claus Wagner, he was recently in the Ahr Valley for the second time to help after a first mission last year. So it came to a reunion with the families of Manuela and Chris as well as Isa and Thomas.
Manuela and Chris are still suffering from the consequences of the flood: their house is still uninhabitable and Chris has been in poor health since the flood. Help is arriving only gradually. "The local craftsmen are completely overworked and at their wits' end," reports Mario Theiß. "And from outside, unfortunately, often come black sheep who demand crazy prices or even cheat the affected people here." This is what happened in the case of Manuela and Chris, who had already made a down payment to a window manufacturer, only to never hear from him again. Aid money also arrives only hesitantly at the affected persons, according to Theiß.
Thanks to the help of Schunk employees, Manuela and Chris' house is now restored to the point where they can probably move in before Christmas. "Among other things, we installed and connected the electrical system in the kitchen, and Manuela cooked her first meal there for us as a thank you," says Theiß.
Things have gone better for Isa and Thomas: Their house has been largely restored. "Six other houses that were destroyed by the flood on their street are still uninhabitable, however," says Theiß.
The helpers were again supported in their second mission by Schunk, which provided the necessary building materials worth 1,600 euros.
Because there is still so much to do in the Ahr Valley, Klaus Rinn from the management of SKT and Mario Theiß had a new idea: Next year, a project group of Schunk trainees will help out for a week with families in need of help and make their houses habitable again.
