Bethel - The guardian angel of the Martin pupils

It is early in the morning and still dark when Matthias Burkhard turns the corner. He is wearing a high-visibility jacket with reflectors and is holding a traffic trowel in his right hand. Matthias Burkhard approaches at a brisk pace and shortly afterwards arrives at the narrowing of the road at Hoffnungstaler Weg in the village of Bethel. It is now 7.20 am. Start of duty.

Matthias Burkhard is a lollipop man. He makes the route to school safer for the primary school pupils at Martinschule. "I enjoy accompanying the children, helping them and protecting them," he says. The 52-year-old has been doing this job since March 2007. His main job is in the print shop of the Bethel Foundation's proWerk division. The workshops for people with disabilities enable employees to participate in working life and socialise. Matthias Burkhard came there because a stress-related metabolic disorder meant he was no longer able to work in the jobs he had learnt as an energy electronics technician specialising in industrial engineering and as an office administrator. He had previously completed his A-levels; in the meantime, he studied psychology at the University of Hagen.

"Switch on the trowel first," says Matthias Burkhard now. The lamp on the tool lights up in orange. It is particularly important in the dark season: being clearly visible can save lives. His own and that of the girls and boys. But there has never been an accident in all these years, he says.

A group of primary school children are already standing next to him. Even as he kindly asks them to stop, Matthias Burkhard is looking for the right moment. Overview, patience and determination are now required. When a gap opens up, he seizes the opportunity. The guardian angel boldly steps onto the road, stands in the middle of the carriageway, spreads out his arms and calls out to the waiting children: "You can go now!" The girls and boys start to move, approaching cars slow down. As they roll on and past again, some drivers wave. Matthias Burkhard greets them back. After many encounters in rush-hour traffic, they know each other.