Squeegee. Wet cloth. Scraper. Dry cloth. The cleaning water leaves white streaks on the windows of the car dealership on Marzahner Chaussee. Water drips onto the floor. Hamidou Traore wears yellow rubber gloves and a belt with a bright green object attached. It looks like a holster for a pistol. It is called a “bucket on a belt,” a portable bucket worn at the waist. His tools are inside.

Traore has been cleaning windows in Marzahn-Hellersdorf since seven in the morning. Squeegee. Wet cloth. Scraper. Dry cloth. Together with Mamadou Mariko, the second trainee in the cleaning team, he bustles around the Koch car dealership, while the rest of the Gebäudeservice Wodara team cleans inside. An experienced colleague accompanies the two; he wipes away a few drops of water from the window that Traore overlooked.

Traore and Mariko have come a long way. They are from Mali, a country in West Africa. How did the two men end up in Marzahn from so far away? The story of their journey reveals a great deal––about an almost invisible industry employing nearly 900,000 people, about migration, and about Germany as a business location.

From Mali to Marzahn: almost 4,000 kilometers away

Gebäudeservice Wodara GmbH is based in a low-rise complex in Marzahn––almost 4,000 kilometers from Mali. The company’s roughly 160 employees clean offices, maintain green spaces, and shovel snow. The company was founded in 2003 by Mario Wodara and is now co-managed by his son.

Philipp Wodara speaks to the Morgenpost in his office. Without him and his team, Traore and Mariko would probably never have come to Marzahn. According to the Federal Employment Agency, 893,000 people work in cleaning professions, 47 percent of whom hold a non-German passport. Without migration, Wodara says, the business would have to “shut down.” Nevertheless, he had never seriously considered recruiting specifically from non-EU countries. “We deport and at the same time recruit skilled workers internationally,” he says—that is “absurd.” Then the company was approached by a firm that brings trainees to Germany––on a special visa.

Visa for completing vocational training––how the two Malians came to Berlin

The visa for completing vocational training allows people like Traore and Mariko to come to Germany, as long as they already have a training position secured. This also means their residence status is tied to the training. “That’s a lot of responsibility,” says Wodara. What if they have to drop out of training? What if it doesn’t work out? That was in 2023, when Gebäudeservice Wodara GmbH was desperately looking for trainees.

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At that time, Traore and Mariko were already working as cleaners in Mali. Through TikTok, Traore found training positions in Germany combining theoretical and practical learning. “That’s why I really wanted to train as a building cleaner in Germany,” he says. In Germany there are “so many opportunities,” says Mariko.

A “common good economy”

The common good economy sees itself as a “counter-model to a profit-oriented market economy,” as Philipp Wodara writes on the company website. This means that the company’s success is also measured by non-monetary values, such as human dignity in the supply chain or climate protection. These are recorded in a common good balance sheet that examines all areas of the company. Gebäudeservice Wodara GmbH is a member of the “Network for Common Good Economy Companies Berlin-Brandenburg” (German acronym: GWU).

Philipp Wodara gets to know applicants via video call––among them Mariko and Traore. The two stood out. “The decision wasn’t that difficult.” Traore even asked him about the company’s “common good balance sheet,” a central part of Wodara’s corporate philosophy. Traore immediately made a good impression, says Wodara. He hired both men.

In recent years, entrepreneurs have increasingly used visas for vocational training to recruit trainees for their companies. According to the Federal Foreign Office, around 14,200 such visas were issued in 2023, and by 2025 it was already about 32,100. Most of these visas were issued in Vietnam, followed by India, Morocco, Cameroon, and Indonesia. Mali ranks 51st. The story of Hamidou Traore and Mamadou Mariko is a special one.

Cleaner from Mali: “I love my job”

Before Traore and Mariko can begin their training at Wodara, there is still a lot to be done. The men need their visa. Wodara speaks of authorities misplacing documents and tight deadlines. He looks for an apartment in Berlin for the two men from Mali. Traore and Mariko have to learn German. They spend their first months in Germany between work, vocational school, and language courses. “Arriving was no small matter,” says Wodara. Neither for the trainees nor, it seems, for the trainer.

Quite a lot of effort. Is it worth it? “We train in order to recruit new people for our company,” says Wodara. Whether it is worth it, he will only be able to answer in a few years. What already pleases him is the perspective the two bring to the profession. In Mali, he reports, the profession enjoys more social recognition than in Germany. This is also evident when Traore and Mariko talk about their job. “I love my job,” says Mariko. “The good atmosphere at work is very enjoyable for me,” says Traore.

They lead a modest life in Marzahn. Work, cook, sleep. Mariko likes watching football; he is a Chelsea fan. Traore enjoys walking or reading. The Morgenpost meets the two Muslims during Ramadan. They work stoically, the empty stomach does not bother them. “My greatest respect to you,” says a colleague. Another calls out: “Then they do Iftar,” and pats Mariko on the shoulder. After their training, both want to work in Germany and perhaps one day start their own business.

“Visa for vocational training”: what an entrepreneur advises

Since 2023, Wodara has not recruited trainees from abroad again. The company is currently training fewer people and has seen a recent increase in applicants––possibly because artificial intelligence is changing the labor market. At least that’s what Wodara believes. He mentions one applicant who studied marketing but did not find a job.

Nevertheless, he says of the vocational training visa: “I can only recommend that companies give it a try.” But one should be prepared for it to be exhausting. “And if you still need motivation: it can be very well subsidized. There is really a lot of money for it.” Unfortunately, he says, they did not know that at Wodara in 2023. Maybe next time.

This article was originally written and published on the 14th of April in German. It was translated in English with the use of Artificial Intelligence.