"As I was looking for an internship in the field of intercultural cooperation last year, I saw the call for applications at the office of 14km e.V. in Berlin. I was directly interested in the projects of this young NGO and decided to apply. After my application in Berlin was accepted, Anja Gebel, the PR & Program manager, proposed me to apply for another internship in one of the partner organisations in the MENA region, since I had time for it. After this amazing experience in Lebanon, I started my internship at 14km in Berlin in the middle of April. Of course it was an asset for me to have been in Lebanon before starting my internship with 14km, as one of my first tasks in Berlin was to search for new partner organisations in Lebanon. It is easier to work in cooperation with the MENA region when you already have been there and acquired certain knowledge of the social and political situation. Since the beginning of my internship in Berlin, I was agreeably surprised to see that I could help in many different areas. I didn't expect to be involved in so many different and interesting projects and events. Indeed, I helped in the organisation of the first 14km network party, the Arabic film evening about Lebanon, the event on “The State of the media in Egypt”, the organisation of a study trip of young Libyans to Berlin and at last the symposium about migration and development. I was glad to see that I could help in different ways: I searched for experts for the migration symposium; I looked for, chose and contacted new potential partner organisations for the volunteer program; I wrote a report on the networking party; I translated some articles for the website; I updated the program for the study trip of the Libyans; I searched for hostels and conference rooms; I sent our call for interns to French universities; I created invitations for the event “The state of the media in Egypt”; I sent invitations to our contacts for two different events; and of course I helped during the events 14km held when I was there. During this internship, I learnt a lot in terms of public relations, communication, and editing content. I really appreciated the diversity of my tasks (research, translation, PR, update of the website, etc). In doing an internship with a small NGO, I wanted to learn more about the way it works and develops projects, the way to manage such a structure, how it functions. I could say that I discovered all those things during my internship. Since I really appreciated my time in Lebanon and wished I could have stayed there longer, it was also an opportunity for me to “stay in touch” with this country and with the MENA region and to continue the cooperation. As for my relation with the staff, I could say that the team of 14km is young, dynamic and professional. As the team is growing fast, we also spoke with Anja about the way 14km could (re)organise itself in the future, which was also relevant for me. The volunteers helping 14km are very motivated, committed and have a lot of good ideas for future projects. In conclusion, I really enjoyed my internship at 14km for a lot of reasons: I could assist to interesting events, develop my skills in a lot of fields, know the German actors of the Europe-MENA relations and cooperation, which made my internship at 14km a successful experience. As I already completed an internship in a bigger public structure, I could say that I appreciated more the work in a small NGO: we feel more useful, we have more responsibilities, we have the opportunity to carry out more tasks. One thing is certain: I will keep a very positive impression of my time by 14km, regarding all I learnt and did. I really want to thank Anja Gebel, who is doing an amazing work, for her patience, her trust and for all the opportunities she gave me. She took the time for each project to explain me the whole background and that she assigned me a lot of diverse tasks. I wish I could continue to help 14km in one way or another because this NGO really deserves all the best for all the work the team accomplishes!   Die von uns wiedergegebenen Berichte von durch uns vermittelte Praktikant/innen spiegeln nicht notwendigerweise die Sichtweise von 14km e.V. oder unseren Partnern wider. The published reports by interns/volunteers on their internships facilitated by 14km e.V. do not necessarily reflect the opinion of 14km e.V. or its partners. Photo credits: Berlin_Björn Giesenbauer_flickr_cc-by-nc-sa-2.0

“Voices After Revolution” ("Stimmen nach der Revolution", Dokumentarfilm) am Mittwoch, 25. Juni 2014 um 18:00 Uhr im Zille-Haus, Rathenower Straße 17, Berlin Moabit Wir freuen uns, im Rahmen unserer Arabischen Film- und Diskussionsreihe zum Filmabend zu Tunesien einzuladen. Am 25. Juni zeigen wir den Film „Voices After Revolution“ (Stimmen nach der Revolution) von Gisela Baumgratz, Alex Gangl und Nicolas Rolke (2013; 67 min; Französisch, Englisch, Arabisch, Deutsch - mit deutschen Untertiteln). Im Film schildern  tunesische Aktivistinnen und Aktivisten im Jahr 2012, nach dem Sturz der Diktatur und ersten freien Wahlen, ausführlich Ihre Erfahrungen. Der Prozess der Demokratisierung und die Ziele der Revolution scheinen weiterhin viel Engagement zu benötigen. Deshalb kämpfen sie weiter für Menschen- und Bürgerrechte, bessere wirtschaftliche und soziale Bedingungen und die Trennung von Staat und Religion. Auf den Film folgt ein offenes Podiums- und Publikumsgespräch mit einer Expertin und weiteren Gästen zur Situation in Tunesien 2010-2012 und zu aktuellen Entwicklungen sowie zu den Auswirkungen auf tunesische Migrant/innen in Moabit-Ost und Berlin. Die Teilnahme ist frei, um eine freiwillige Spende wird gebeten. Der Veranstaltungsort ist im Jugendbereich des Zille-Hauses in Berlin Moabit, Rathenower Straße 17. Dieser befindet sich im 1. Obergeschoss und ist über die Außentreppe zu erreichen. Die Lage des Zille-Hauses wird Ihnen hier angezeigt. In regelmäßigen Abständen zeigen wir Filme, die sich mit verschiedenen arabischen Ländern beschäftigen und diskutieren anschließend mit Gästen aus Moabit sowie mit Länderexpert/innen über das Thema des Films und die aktuelle soziale und politische Situation im jeweiligen Land, immer auch mit Bezug zu Nord-Süd-Verhältnissen. أمسيةالفيلمالعربي وجلسة حوارحول تونس 25 /ماي/2014، 6:00 مساءً في التزيلي هاوس شارع راتنوفر 17، 10559 موابيت برلين   ستقوم مؤسسة 14كم بعرض الفيلم الوثائقي "أصوات ما بعد الثورة" للمخرجين غيزيلا باومغراتز، وأليكس غانغل، ونيكولاس رولكه (67،2013 دقيقة، اللغة العربية والألمانية والفرنسية والإنجليزية مع ترجمة باللغة الألمانية). في الفيلم، يصف نشطاء تونس بوضوح تجاربهم في عام 2012، بعد سقوط الدكتاتورية وإجراء أول انتخابات حرة. سيعقب الفيلم نقاش مفتوح حول الوضع في تونس في ذلك الوقت من الثورة،فضلا عن تداعيات ذلك على المهاجرين التونسين في موابيت وبرلين. الحضورمجاني، والتبرعاتمرحببها. TunesienFlyer zum runter laden und verteilen! Facebook-Event Xing-Event   Das Projekt wird im Rahmen des Quartiersmanagements Moabit Ost aus Mitteln des Programms Soziale Stadt (EU, Bund und Land Berlin) gefördert. Einführung zum Film (Gisela Baumgratz, im Juni 2014) Der Film "Voices After Revolution" wird uns von den FilmemacherInnen um Gisela Baumgratz-Gangl von der Fachhochschule Fulda zur Verfügung gestellt. Wir bedanken uns bei Simone Döbbelin aus dem Referat Naher/Mittlerer Osten und Nordafrika, Abteilung Internationale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung für die Bereitstellung der Filmkopie.

"As I was interested in doing an internship in the MENA-Region, 14km proposed me at the beginning of January 2014 to work with MARCH in Beirut, an NGO which fights against censorship and encourages freedom of expression in Lebanon. I directly went to their website to see their activities and the team: they are young, dynamic, have a lot of cultural and political projects. The work seemed very interesting and, even if I was a little bit afraid of the political situation in this region (civil war in Syria, Hezbollah bomb attacks, affronts in Tripoli, etc.), I agreed to go there. After I spoke with Stephanie, the very kind Youth and Artists Networker at MARCH, about the details I booked my flight tickets.    Picture on the left: The team   Then I arrived in Lebanon and I spent more than one month in Beirut. MARCH has one office near the city-centre of Beirut, in a very pretty old traditional neighbourhood, just next to Saint-Joseph University. I was surprised to see that the office is a new, clean and big place. MARCH is sharing this big space with another organisation, but it doesn't represent any inconvenience.  Picture on the right: The office When I spoke to Stephanie on Skype before going to Lebanon, she told me that I would be integrated in a project which aims to create a theatre play with members and representatives of different religious communities. In fact, this project was not yet launching as I was in Beirut, so I worked on another main project of MARCH, the virtual museum of censorship. This untypical museum is actually a website which registers all that has been censored in Lebanon since the 1940's. This can be books, movies and TV-shows as well as music, theatre plays, press articles, radio shows, events or works of art. I was charged to reorganize and to update the data on the website. I looked for artists, theatre pieces, CD, movies, etc. which are or have been censored in Lebanon but which were not on the website and then I added them to the data base. To fulfil those updating und reorganization tasks I also wrote biographies, add information about some data for the website, corrected mistakes, called and interviewed directors of bookstores, interviewed persons in charge of movies' and music's command in Virgin, read reports on censorship and press articles about cultural life in Lebanon. My main task was to research whether the information on the website was still true, i.e. if that book or that movie is still censored or not anymore, and why, by whom, etc. I found this research task sometimes too repetitive, but at the end I realized that I learnt quite a lot about the censorship mechanisms and the political system in Lebanon. It helped me to better understand the geo-political situation in this area and the relationships between Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, the situation of the refugees, the religious conflicts, etc. I also discovered new books, movies or music that I didn't know before and finally it allowed me to discover the work in a small Lebanese association. I only worked with Lebanese people, who were speaking English, French and Arabic, often in the same sentence. I mostly worked with Linda, a volunteer at MARCH since one year, and Stephanie, the youth and artists networker. I was sometimes alone in the office because the two girls are still studying at the university. We didn't do things together out of the office but they were very nice with me. With MARCH, I also took part in a demonstration against the violence against women on March 8, 2014, the women's day. They created a campaign for this demonstration which was referring to the scandal of Jackie Chamoun, a Lebanese skier who posed naked for a calendar. The motto of MARCH campaign on this occasion was: “What shocks you more?” and was a real success. Pictures on the right: The demonstration on March 8th, 2014 and a BBC press article on the MARCH campaign Two weeks after that demonstration, we shot a video for an association that fights for women's rights. We were asked to represent MARCH as an NGO that fights for the freedom of expression, which includes the freedom of women. Picture on the left: MARCH team during the shooting of the campaign video (Sarah from Marcalea, Linda, Stephanie and me)   Linda from MARCH found me an accommodation. I found it expensive for what I got (I didn't have neither hot water nor internet every day), but the accommodations in Beirut are expensive anyway. However, it was a good location (Sodeco Square), near Saint-Joseph University, the French embassy and especially near MARCH office. Picture on the right: A street in Beirut, Achrafieh We can often read in tour guides that Lebanese people are hospitable and very kind; I must say that it is true. As I said above, they often speak Arabic, English and French - especially in the Christian communities. It is not hard to meet and speak with Lebanese people even if we don't speak Arabic. However, it is more convenient to speak at least a few words of Arabic for the everyday life. It is possible to take Arabic courses in Beirut, a lot of organisations or institutes are offering classes. Picture on the left: Raouché, la grotte aux Pigeons, Beirut  Picture on the right: Beit Mery, Lebanon I only have one regret: I wish I could have stayed more than one month because Lebanon is such a fascinating country. It is really worth visiting it. Since it is a small country, it is possible to travel in buses, in service (a van or a taxi shared with other people) or in taxi. Public transports don't really exist. To travel in Lebanon is not expensive but could be difficult, because everything is spontaneous, nothing is clearly defined. But this also means that everything is possible. I also went to Jordan, which is also worth it, it's very easy to go there and it is not very expensive. Unfortunately, it might be the only neighbouring country we could visit when we are in Lebanon: of course we can't really go to Syria and it is forbidden to re-enter the Lebanese territory if we have been in Israel... Picture on the left: Wadi Rum, Jordan The political situation in Lebanon is still very tense (there are for example 1 million Syrian refugees in April 2014, which represents 25% of the population) and there are some places where it is difficult to go alone as a European tourist, and furthermore as a European female tourist, such as Baalbeck, the boarder with Syria or the Beqaa valley, but it is still safer in the touristic places and in the other parts of the country. Picture on the right: A building destroyed during the Civil War (on the former “Green Line”, demarcation line separating the Christian and the Muslim factions)   Picture in the middle: Rafic Hariri mosque, Beirut Lebanon has a lot of Roman and Phoenician ruins and monuments but they are not very well preserved and just a few policies of conservation of the patrimony exist, so I think we have to enjoy the present time to go to Lebanon before the cultural heritage is replaced by modern constructions or worse, before the war bursts again. We can still see some scraps of the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990) on some monuments, neither the population nor the government have the money to restore those buildings. Near those falling houses, brand new buildings are built, mostly for rich business men from the Gulf States." Picture on the right: Sea Castle, Sidon, Lebanon                       Picture on the left: Byblos Castle (12th century), Byblos Lebanon is the country of great contrasts and Beirut is a city which is evolving every day. Those are also the reasons why I really loved my experience in Lebanon and why I warmly thank 14km to have given me the opportunity to go there." Die von uns wiedergegebenen Berichte von durch uns vermittelte Praktikant/innen spiegeln nicht notwendigerweise die Sichtweise von 14km e.V. oder unseren Partnern wider. The published reports by interns/volunteers on their internships facilitated by 14km e.V. do not necessarily reflect the opinion of 14km e.V. or its partners.

Möchtest du StreetArt-Techniken wie Schablonentechnik (Stencil) und Graffiti ausprobieren? Und dabei etwas über die Revolutionen in Ägypten und Tunesien erfahren, in denen Graffiti eine große Rolle spielte? Möchtest du lernen, wie man mit Graffiti die Gesellschaft verändern kann?   Dann bist du herzlich eingeladen! Was? StreetArt Workshop mit Infos zu arabischen Protestbewegungen Für wen? Jugendliche von 13 - 19 Jahren Wann? Am Wochenende 28./29. Juni (jeweils 12:00 bis 19 Uhr) Wo? Jugendclub Feuerwache (Friedrichshain) Du entwirfst deine eigene StreetArt, arbeitest zwei Tage lang mit anderen Jugendlichen und Profis zusammen und du lernst etwas über StreetArt als politisches Instrument. Abends grillen wir und tagsüber gibt es Snacks und Getränke. Preis? kostenlos! Wenn du dabeisein möchtest, melde dich bitte bald beim Jugendclub Feuerwache unter 030 / 293 479 440   - wir freuen uns auf Dich! flyer herunterladen und verteilen! StreetArt Facebook-Event   14 Kilometer e.V. veranstaltet diesen interkulturellen StreetArt-Workshop in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Jugendclub Feuerwache in Berlin-Friedrichshain und dem El-Takeiba Center for Artistic and Cultural Development in Ägypten. Weitere Partner sind Pjotr Obuchoff als StreetArtist und der KULT. Verein für Jugendkultur e.V., der das Yaam in Friedrichshain betreibt. Das Projekt wird im Rahmen des lokalen Aktionsplans Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg gefördert. Dies ist ein Projekt des Lokalen Aktionsplans Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

Liebe Praktikumswillige, unsere tunesische Partnerorganisation "Arab Institute for Democracy" sucht dringend Freiwillige für ein Praktikum ab Juli. Der Sitz der Organisation ist in Tunis, und hier findet ihr die Webseite sowie die Facebook-Seite der jungen und noch kleinen Organisation. Sie arbeitet in den Bereichen Demokratieförderung, Menschenrechte, Local Governance, und politischer Konsens. Im Folgenden findet ihr die Ausschreibung. Bei Interesse meldet euch bitte bei uns (14km) unter info@14km.org, wir werden euch dann weitere Unterlagen zukommen lassen. Bitte beachtet, dass das Praktikum unvergütet ist. Bei Zustandekommen fällt eine Vermittlungsgebühr von 40 Euro an.   Hello, we (Wafa and Emna from Arab Institute for Democracy) are looking for a volunteer to join our team! Here are the details: Period of time: 1 to 3 months (between July 2014 – February 2015) Tasks and duties Write and edit press release Help organize workshops and conferences Prepare correspondence as needed Help prepare bulk mailings Proofreading of brochure and website posts Other duties as assigned Preferable experience: Marketing Building strategic partnership Fundraising Study background: Political science, human rights, sociology, law school, other relevant areas Qualifications: Outstanding writing skills in English, and French if possible Basic knowledge of computer and data entry Basic knowledge of nonprofit organization policy Profile: Pleasant manner, patience, problem-solving ability, dependability and positive attitude Good at working within a team Support: Training for this position will be provided. In addition, the program manager and the program coordinator will be available for questions and assistance. Introduction to the culture, the country and the traditions Any help and advices needed about places to visit, safety etc. Age Requirement: Above 18 Time commitment: At least 4 days a week (from 4 to 6 hours a day) Flexibility of days and hours of working is required.