Chamila Alvis, Colombo, Sri Lanka

„The people in Cyprus should treat foreigners as they treat their own fellow citizens. All one has to do is go there to see what it’s really like there.“

Chamila (age 32) is trained to be a soldier and a children’s nurse. Her brother believes, however, that she should not work; he feels it is not fitting for a woman. Until the death of her husband it also wasn’t necessary. Chamila lives with her mother, her three children, and, what’s more, her sister and her husband and children, in a small cabin with a roof of corrugated tin, on the border of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In order to be able to give herself and her children more space, and them a better education, she is looking for work as a nanny or housemaid in Europe.

Volker Nebelung, Ballenstedt, Germany

„First it has to work out: First you have to survive the first four weeks.“

After his mandatory army duty, Volker Nebelung did assembly work in the Ukraine. Next he was employed as a construction worker and later as an overseer, both at the firm Bilfinger Berger. He lost his job after the intrusion of the construction industry in East Germany. He lives with his wife and son in their own house in Ballenstedt near Magdeburg.

Dirk Wagner, Wernigerode, Germany

„Maybe we will have another child. When I get home at three or four in the afternoon, it’s just boring.“

Dirk is a carpenter by trade and has worked for many years setting up construction molds. Then he opened his own gift shop. That enterprise didn’t bring in enough income, so he has been on unemployment for a while. He uses his time to work with his wife, renovating and modifying their house in Koenigshuette (Harz). However, he desperately needs money and therefore wants to move to England as soon as possible.

Paul Lockmiller, New York, USA

"A good resume typically has information on it that says Ì did something at company X, I did it well and we saved 20 mio dollars."

The Agents

Jay Gaines, Jay Gaines & Company Inc., New York, USA

“The problem with the boys on Wall Street is that when they are successful, they get spoiled.”

Jay Gaines studied psychology and has worked since 1972 as an executive search consultant. He opened his own company in 1982, in which he now employs about 20 people. He works predominantly in the areas of finance, banking, and information technology (IT). He is married, has two children, and enjoys fishing, boating, and dreaming about cars.

Reinhard Mandl, EDER Construction, Salzburg, Austria

“We don’t work with trucks, we work with human fates.”

Emmely Frenken, Northstar, Tilburg, Netherlands

“We can’t verify 100% whether you can do all that you say you can do. However, within a day you’ll mess up and then you can just go home.”

Pambos Papadamou, Papadamou Travel, Nicosia, Cyprus

„You’ve done this and that; God will reward you or punish you or whatever, depending on what you have done. Isn’t that true?”

Mohammed Hafeel, Al Rashid Private Limited, Colombo, Sri Lanka

„The people in Cyprus have a different culture; the country belongs to Europe. They have to get used to that.“