THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Horst Wenzel, dubbed ‘Germany’s number one love expert’, has been volunteering his services to teach new migrants how to flirt and approach women.
The 27-year-old, who makes his living teaching wealthy but shy German men, has recently decided to offer his advice to young Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Dortmund, most of them from Middle Eastern countries, such as Iraq and Syria.
“Some German women are a bit racist towards us,” said this Syrian refugee. “They don’t know how refugees think or how they are living. Some people are getting the wrong idea.”
“Don’t tell them you love them at least for the first three months of your relationship, or they’ll run away,” he explained patiently. “German women don’t like clinginess.”
“Finding a relationship is the best way to integrate, and that’s why I’m giving these classes,” Wenzel said.
Wenzel usually charges 1,400 euros for a private one-day class, or 4,000 euros for a group. According to him, flirting is a large part of the integration process and hopes that the migrants will “fall in love with Germany”.
While a part of the population is said to be against this project as it is conducted in a country where the migrant influx is already having deep political and social consequences, some German women seem receptive to the idea.
“Human touch, honesty, trust, that’s what matters,” insisted this local resident. “then I don’t care whether he is from Syria or not.”
According to reports, last year alone, around 890,000 people applied for asylum, with hundreds of thousands more applying this year.
Austin Ohaegbu
