"Hip is the knowledge. Hop is the movement. Hip and Hop is the intelligent Movement" (KRS-ONE and Marley Marl)             A new sunny and warm day started, which we took as a good sign for what's ahead on our final day in Berlin. We started with a quick reflection on the past days, before our special guest Amin Saleh, a German-Egyptian Rapper, was introduced. Because he has been through a lot of discrimination, as he was born to Egyptian parents, he now uses his art to promote respect and tolerance. He was our trainer for the Rap4Respect workshop, in which we recorded our own Rap-Song to express the experiences and insights we gained throughout the whole week. This was a perfect end for a perfect week. In the evening we had a farewell party to say goodbye, take pictures and exchange expectations for the week in Cairo. It was an emotional time of hugs and tears. Now we are all looking forward to seeing each other again for another interesting week, when we meet in Cairo in only 15 days. Adrian, Sarah, Joscha and Mina   A project as part of the German-Egyptian Transformation Partnership The ReliXchange project receives financial support by the German-Egyptian Transformation  Partnership through the German Foreign Office, by funds of the Ecclesiastical Development Services through Bread for the World - Protestant Church Development Service and by the “International Youth Work” Programme of the German Federal Child and Youth Plan through BKJ

The missing piece: Introducing Islam Jewish minority, Christian majority: How is the relation between these two groups in Germany? Our fifth day started out with a reflection about the experiences we made so far concerning these two religions. Two of our insights: While Christianity is taking a strong influence on the state level (e.g. church tax, churches as responsible bodies of kinder-gardens, homes for senior citizens etc.), Judaism takes on a passive role, rather being the object of politics than shaping them itself. Also, we figured that the way we are perceiving public sphere and religious symbols present in it is deeply influenced by our cultural background. Having already been able to gain lots of insights into Christianity and Judaism, we also got to know Islam a little bit by visiting the Sehitlik mosque today. An interesting side fact to all of us: This mosque belongs to the biggest Muslim community in Germany. Further elaborating on our morning discussion concerning the treatment of religious minority groups in Germany, we talked about the five pillars of Islam as well as about the history and current situation of Muslims in Germany. We appreciated a lot that although the focus of our project lies clearly on Christianity, Judaism and Islam, today we met some people of another religion, some Bahá'í people, as well. Only a few of us - both on the German and the Egyptian side - had heard about this religion before.   A project as part of the German-Egyptian Transformation Partnership The ReliXchange project receives financial support by the German-Egyptian Transformation  Partnership through the German Foreign Office, by funds of the Ecclesiastical Development Services through Bread for the World - Protestant Church Development Service and by the “International Youth Work” Programme of the German Federal Child and Youth Plan through BKJ

"Baruch Ata Adonai Elohainu Melekha Olam ..." "Blessed are You, LORD, our God, sovereign of the universe ... (common prayer in Judaism ) The fourth day of our interreligious and intercultural exchange started with cloudy weather and wet roads that led us to the Synagogue Fränkelufer in Kreuzberg. With open and interested minds we listened to a member of the local Jewish community in Berlin, who explained the history of their prayer house and answered patiently the questions of our curious group. After that we were heading to the Anne Frank Center. But before that we enjoyed lunch at a Hackescher Markt. At the centre we got to know the very touching story of Anne Frank through an audiovisual exhibition. Back at the hostel we discussed our impressions of the day since it caused a lot of emotions and opinions. Afterwards we started a very creative theatre exercise that wanted to illustrate power relations. We spent the evening together having fun, discussing and reflecting our exchange. Authors: Sandy Safwat Yanni, 21, Student of B.A. Tourism and Hotels/ Ahmed Muhammad Elsayed, 19, B.A. Business Administration/ Peter George Ayad, 20, Student of B.A. Mechanical Engineering/ Tim Friedrich, 22, Student of B.A. Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies   A project as part of the German-Egyptian Transformation Partnership The ReliXchange project receives financial support by the German-Egyptian Transformation  Partnership through the German Foreign Office, by funds of the Ecclesiastical Development Services through Bread for the World - Protestant Church Development Service and by the “International Youth Work” Programme of the German Federal Child and Youth Plan through BKJ