Freelancer by Passion:
During my social pedagogy studies, I wrote as a hobby for taz. After seven years in Egypt, working as a consultant for women’s advancement in the GTZ urban development project in Assuan, I returned to Germany and became a professional journalist.
I then moved into radio, capturing voices and stories for public broadcasters in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. After 25 years in my dream job, I now increasingly publish on my own platforms.
Adventure and Wanderlust:
Remember the “Marlboro Man”? I’m not a smoker, but my thirst for adventure is just as strong. As a teenager, I had pen pals all over the world, especially in the USA. Now, as a journalist, I combine these passions.
Since 2019, I’ve been commuting between Berlin and the USA, seeking adventure in “Small Town America” and the pristine nature that I miss in Germany. On the other side of the Atlantic, I keep up with German news. I see Germany from outside and the USA as an outsider.
Authentic Stories:
Unlike many foreign correspondents based in metropolises, I travel across the USA by bus, train, and rarely by plane. I stay longer, get to know people, and tell their stories firsthand. As a freelancer, I can tell my own stories with curiosity and interest in my subjects.
Since 2019, I have been commuting between Germany and the United States. After a few weeks in my apartment in Berlin, I’m turning my back on the capital – heading west, albeit no longer to the “Wild West”. My favorite destination: Small Town America. And the vast and pristine nature that the USA offers – and that I miss in Germany. Then, on the other side of the Atlantic, I read and hear German news. I see one country as an outsider and my country from outside.
Media Awards
- 2010 Children’s Emergency Aid (Kindernothilfe) Media Award for the report “Young Souls, Cheap Goods” about child sex tourism in the Philippines
Nominations:
- 2023 RIAS Media Award for the radio feature “Putting an end to victimhood” about the initiative Black Guns Matter in Philadelphia, USA
- 2018 Juliane-Bartel-Media Award for the radio feature “Education was more important to us than our lives” or “Do I have to wear an apron as a woman in Germany?” about three generations of German Turkish women
- 2014 Juliane-Bartel-Media Award for the radio feature “The shame that remains” about raped women and their children in Eastern Congo
Books:
- 2001 „Freiräume – Lebensträume. Arabische Filmemacherinnen” (Free Spaces – Life Dreams. Arab Women Filmmakers), arte Edition
- 2005 “Encyclopedia of Arab Women Filmmakers”, Cairo/New York
Conception and realization of events
- 1995 Film weeks “Frauen(t)räume – Filme arabischer Regisseurinnen” (Women’s spaces and dreams – films by Arab women directors at the Arsenal Cinema and Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of the Cultures of the World) in Berlin
- 1990-1992 Various educational campaigns, cultural weeks and an exhibition as part of the GTZ’s Aswan Urban Development Project
