En del af mig
A part of me
FOR FORTÆLLING
For en ung kvinde, der har levet det meste af sit liv i Mjølnerparken, er stedet vævet ind i hendes historie. Her voksede hun op mellem gårdens bænke, latter og duften af grill, hvor naboer blev til familie, og sommeraftenerne synes endeløse. Selvom mange er blevet bort flyttet for en tid, banker hendes hjerte stadig for det sted, hun kalder hjem – Mjølnerparken.
PREFACE
For a young woman who has spent most of her life in Mjølnerparken, the place is woven into her story. She grew up among the courtyard benches, the laughter, and the scent of grilled food – where neighbours became family and summer evenings seemed endless. Even though many have been moved out for a period of time, her heart still beats for the place she calls home – Mjølnerparken.
Dansk
Jeg er opvokset her siden jeg var 4-5 år, og jeg kan ikke huske andet. Et dejligt sted, dejligt område, og jeg kan ikke se mit liv uden for Mjølnerparken. Så det er bare en del af mig. Jeg kan også godt lide at arbejde tæt på, fordi så jeg er hjemme. Jeg arbejder også kun 10 minutter væk herfra. Så du er hele tiden tæt på.
Og hvordan har det været som naboer dengang? Hvor ofte brugte i tid sammen?
Konstant. De bedste naboer var naboerne i hele Mjølnerparken. Mine veninder, de er genhuset nu, men dem bruger jeg stadig rigtig meget tid sammen med, selvom de bor lidt langt væk fra mig nu. Men jeg glæder mig til, at de kommer tilbage. Det er mig, der spørger håndværkere hernede, ‘hvornår mine veninder kommer hjem’.
Fællesskabet her er bare en stor familie, vil jeg kalde det. Alle kender hinanden, alle hilser på hinanden. Man er i sine trygge rammer. Man ved altid, at man har sine naboer. Så det er et virkelig godt fællesskab.
Når du tænker tilbage, hvad har der så været af hverdagsaktiviteter, både i din barndom og dine ungdomsår, som nabolaget samledes om?
Da jeg var barn, var jeg sammen med mine veninder nede i gården, ude på legepladsen. Måske spillede vi bold. Der var også mange aktiviteter for beboerne her. Fx i ferierne, var der en feriecamp, hvor der var der fyldt med børn, og så blev man også venner med dem. Man fik også lært de naboer, som man ikke kendte. Så der var altid en eller anden forsamling på en bænk i en gård, hvor man bare gik hen og sad. Og de lidt ældre damer, kom altid ned med kager, eller nogen kom ned og lavede henna til os.
For mig var det at ‘være ude’ bare sidde på en bænk i gården. Jeg tilbragte også corona på en bænk nede i min gård.
Ellers var jeg ret vild med fodbold, især mod mine naboer. Konkurrence, det er man altid frisk på. Ellers så var de også rigtig gode til at lave arrangementer, såsom Eid arrangement og Eid fest. Det blev også til en kæmpe fest. Grillfester, fællestur til Bonbonland og Bakken.
Og ja, hvis der er noget, man så frem til – virkelig så frem til faktisk – så var det den Eidfest, fordi der blev virkelig gjort noget stort ud af det. Altså, der var grill, der var hoppeborg, der var sanger, der kom, der var alt muligt. Det var en fest. Og så et par dage inden, der kan jeg huske, der var en dame der boede der, hun plejede at gå ned og lave henna til børn Og alle stod i kø. Fordi det var fedt at få det dengang.
På en helt almindelig dag, kan jeg kan huske det at stå op. Lad os nu sige, det var i en sommerferie. At stå op og så kigge ud af vinduet og se, om der er nogen, der sidder i gården, og så går du bare ned. Og så kan man virkelig sidde i lang tid på den bænk. Og så tog vi altid på en restaurant og henter noget shawarma. Men vi kan ikke lide at spise på restauranten, vi skal tilbage til gården og spise på vores bænk. Vi havde en bestemt bænk, som vi elskede, og hvor vi sad i mange timer, men tiden fløj, fordi man hele tiden var sammen med nye mennesker. Selvom vi sad det samme sted. Men alle kom bare forbi. Og så er der også de forbigående, som man lige skal hilse og snakke med. Sådan var det i min sommerferie. Der havde vi også basketballbaner og fodboldbaner. Nogle gange så havde vi også vores egne turneringer, rundbold, fodbold og basketball. Så ja, og så over og hente en slushice og så bare komme tilbage til bænken.
Hver tirsdag plejede vi at have noget, der hedder Klub Seje Tøser. Det plejede at foregå i en lejlighed, som ikke blev brugt. Så kom der nogle pædagoger og lavede en hel masse aktiviteter med os. Alt fra… Vi lærte at lave mad der… Og så var der også lektiehjælp. Der tilbragte jeg også en masse tid. Det havde vi mandag, onsdag, torsdag. Så der skulle jeg bare hen, fra 17 til 19. Det kan godt være, det var lektiehjælp, men det var også en lille klub, ikke? Der var også nogle lærere, der kom og hjalp os helt frivilligt. Det var… Altså, jeg kan godt se, at jeg var glad for det. Men den mulighed har min lillesøster på 18 for eksempel ikke. Det er der ikke længere. Hun kunne godt have brugt det.
Er der en historie eller noget, som du synes folk ude fra skal vide omkring hvordan livet har været i Mjølnerparken?
Altså, jeg bliver tit mødt af fordomme, når jeg siger at jeg er fra Mjølnerparken. Fordi ‘ih og åh’, det man hører fra medierne. Men jeg kan altså ikke genkende noget af det jeg hører fra medierne, må jeg ærligt indrømme. Det er det tryggeste sted, og jeg føler mig kun hjemme her.
English
I’ve grown up here since I was 4 or 5 years old, and I can’t remember anything else. A lovely place, a lovely area, and I can’t imagine my life outside of Mjølnerparken. So it’s just a part of me. I also like working nearby, because then I’m home. I only work 10 minutes from here. So you’re always close by.
And how was it with your neighbours back then? How often did you spend time together?
Constantly. The best neighbours were the neighbours all across Mjølnerparken. My girlfriends, they’ve been rehoused now, but I still spend a lot of time with them, even though they live a bit further away now. But I can’t wait for them to come back. I’m the one asking the construction workers down here, ‘when are my friends coming home?’
The community here is just one big family, I’d call it. Everyone knows each other, everyone greets each other. You’re within safe surroundings. You always know you have your neighbours. So it’s a really good community.
When you think back, what kind of everyday activities were there – both in your childhood and in your teenage years – that the neighbourhood gathered around?
When I was a child, I used to be with my girlfriends down in the courtyard, out on the playground. Maybe we played ball. There were also a lot of activities for the residents here. For example, during the holidays, there was a holiday camp filled with children, and that’s where you also made friends. You also got to know neighbours you hadn’t known before. So there was always some kind of gathering on a bench in one of the courtyards, where you’d just go and sit. And the older ladies always came down with cakes, or someone came and did henna for us.
For me, ‘being out and about’ just meant sitting on a bench in the courtyard. I even spent the lockdown during corona sitting on a bench in my courtyard.
Otherwise, I was really into football – especially against my neighbours. Competition, I was always up for that. And they were also really good at organising events, like Eid celebrations and Eid parties. Those turned into big events too. Barbecues, shared trips to Bonbonland and Bakken.
And yeah, if there was something you really looked forward to – really looked forward to – it was the Eid party, because they made such a big deal out of it. There was barbecue, there was a bouncy castle, there were singers who came, there was everything. It was a party. And a couple of days before, I remember there was a lady who lived here – she used to come down and do henna for the kids. And everyone stood in line, because it was so exciting to get it back then.
On a regular day, I remember waking up – let’s say it was summer vacation – waking up and looking out the window to see if anyone was sitting in the courtyard, and then you just went down. And you could sit for hours on that bench. Then we’d always go to a restaurant to get shawarma. But we didn’t like eating at the restaurant – we had to go back to the courtyard and eat on our bench.
We had a specific bench that we loved, where we sat for hours, but the time just flew by because we were always with new people. Even though we were sitting in the same spot. But everyone just came by. And then there were also passersby, people you’d greet and talk to. That’s what my summer holidays were like.
We also had basketball courts and football fields. Sometimes we’d have our own tournaments – rounders, football, basketball. And yeah, then we’d go get a slush ice and just come back to the bench.
Every Tuesday we used to have something called “Club Cool Girls.” It used to take place in an apartment that wasn’t being used. Then some youth workers would come and do all sorts of activities with us. Everything from… we learned to cook there… and there was also homework help. I spent a lot of time there too. We had it on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. So I’d just go there from 5 to 7 p.m. It might have been homework help, but it was also a little club, right? There were also some teachers who came and helped us completely voluntarily. And I can see now that I was really happy about that. But my little sister, who’s 18, doesn’t have that opportunity anymore. It’s gone. She could’ve really used it.
Is there a story or something you think people from outside should know about what life has been like in Mjølnerparken?
Well, I’m often met with prejudice when I say I’m from Mjølnerparken. Because of all the ‘oh’ and ‘ah’ reactions – you know, the stuff people hear in the media. But honestly, I can’t recognize any of what I hear in the media. It’s the safest place, and I only feel at home here.