Why do people flee their home countries? And how can we treat refugees here with respect? These questions were at the heart of our education project “Coming Together Through Dialogue,” which ran in Berlin from July 2016 to June 2017.
What it was about
Our main goal was to clearly name the causes of flight in the countries of origin in public discourse and to expose misinterpretations. At the same time, we wanted to promote respectful treatment of refugees, especially among children and young people of the majority society.
Our partners in the project included Alkawakibi e.V., the Arresalah Mosque, and our sister organization NARUD e.V.
2016: Conversations and panels in Wedding
In the fall of 2016, we hosted events in Berlin’s Wedding district, for example:
- September 29, 2016 Discussion group “Fleeing Across the Mediterranean” with African food at “Kulturen im Kiez” on Utrechter Straße, with more than 30 participants
- October 3, 2016 Panel “Young People Caught Between Radicalization and Islamophobia” on Open Mosque Day at the Arresalah Mosque
More than 70% of the experts themselves came from migrant communities. Our 2016 results in numbers:
over 150
participants in total
60%
felt better informed afterward
over 70%
took an active part in the discussions
2017: Project days at schools
In 2017, we took the topic into schools. In welcome classes for newly arrived children and in regular classes, including at Leo Lionni Primary School, we organized project days and lessons on the causes of flight, human rights, and the right to education.
We developed our own materials for the schools.
Part of our dialogue work
During the same period, we set up the Wedding Network for Intercultural Dialogue. You can read more about our dialogue work in the section Interfaith and intercultural dialogue.
The project was funded by the Berlin State Office for Development Cooperation (Landesstelle für Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, LEZ) and administered by the Stiftung Nord-Süd-Brücken (North-South Bridges Foundation).
