Kommunales Integrationsmanagement NRW
Ministerium für Kinder, Jugend, Familie, Gleichstellung, Flucht und Integration des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen
Ministerium für Kinder, Jugend, Familie, Gleichstellung, Flucht und Integration des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen

Reached safe harbour: 
Alex Costache makes his childhood dream come true at Cologne harbour  

“As an EU citizen, I was able to take on an unskilled job straight away. However, the qualified training gives me the opportunity to shape my professional future in line with my own ideas and put my talents to good use. My Romanian mother tongue is a real advantage in many situations here at the container port in Cologne.” 

Ionut Alexandru Costache looks confidently into the camera - and into the future. For a long time, he didn’t have such confidence, neither in his native Romania nor in Germany. 

The serious illness of a family member who had been living in Germany for many years brought the young man to Cologne during the pandemic in 2020. He encountered precarious living conditions in both countries. He was initially unable to continue his German course beyond B1 - earning money working for a subcontractor in the mail order business seemed to be the only way for Alex Costache to keep his family afloat.  

Alex Costache built up the confidence to make it as an apprentice thanks to KIM (municipal integration management) and his employer

The case manager at the Begegnungs- und Fortbildungszentrum muslimischer Frauen (bFmF e.V.) in Cologne understood Alexandru Costache’s difficult housing and living situation. They jointly looked for options. The counselling was geared towards achieving personal stability and a professional perspective beyond an unqualified temporary job. This also included going through the process of having his school-leaving certificate acknowledged. With knowledge of the German language and a secondary school leaving certificate under his belt, the next step was taken: the search for an apprenticeship. 

Oliver Haas, authorised signatory (“Prokurist”) of CTS Container-Terminal GmbH as part of HGK Logistics and Intermodal in the port of Cologne, immediately recognised Alex Costache’s potential.  On 1 August 2023, he started his three-year vocational training as a warehouse logistics specialist at the company.  Quote from Oliver Haas: “Mr Costache has the personal and practical qualifications to work as a warehouse logistics specialist. The job is demanding: you make sure that lorries, barges and goods trains with containers and trailers are at all times loaded and unloaded at the right time in our terminal, and that containers and trailers are checked and stored. Mr Costache is conscientious and committed.” 

This opportunity not only boosted his self-esteem, his German language skills also improved at lightning speed. Alexandru Costache is now proud to be a qualified specialist. 

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