On Tuesday, 11 May 2021, 34 interns from four different agricultural colleges in Ukraine arrived in Frankfurt am Main to complete a six-month internship in southern Germany.

The internship program with Ukraine has been implemented in cooperation between AKI and ADT Project Consulting GmbH since 2018.

The AKI team from Stuttgart welcomed the interns at the airport to take them by bus to the DEULA Baden-Württemberg GmbH in Kirchheim unter Teck. At DEULA they expected a quarantine period of 5 days, which could be shortened on the 5th day after entry by providing a negative test result.

During their time at DEULA, the interns attended a five-day introductory course, led by AKI staff members Anastasiia Fomina and Assel Tokperdinova. They were informed about daily life in Germany and the most important documents such as the record book. On 14 May, the introduction to German agricultural technology, including a safety briefing, was conducted by DEULA staff members. In addition, the participants had the opportunity to improve their German language skills during additional German classes and gaining a good insight into German agriculture.

On Sunday, 16 May, the handover of the interns to the host farms took place. Since it was not possible to combine the official handover with the information event for the host families due to the Corona Pandemic regulations, a digital introduction event for the host families took place on 18 May. Beside general information’s, all open questions about the AKI internship program could be clarified.