Ich habe im Juli und August 2017 mein Pflichtpraktikum bei Acting for Change in Jordanien absolviert. Acting for Change ist eine sehr kleine NGO die im Flüchtlingsdorf Zaatari in der Nähe der syrischen Grenze  arbeitet.    Besonders  fokussiert  ist  sie  auf  die  Bildung  von  Kindern  und  community development. Ich habe nach einem Praktikum gesucht um Erfahrung in der administrativen Arbeit einer NGO zu bekommen. Deswegen habe ich viel Büroarbeit gemacht. Also viele legale Dokumente, Projektbeschreibungen,  Blogposts  und  E-Mails  geschrieben.  Da  ich  bereits  Social  Media  Erfahrung habe, habe ich auch den Facebook und den Instagram Account betreut. Außerdem habe ich meine eigene Fundraising Kampagne gestartet um Geld für Eid- Geschenke für die Kinder zu sammeln. Da meine Arbeit ziemlich online fokussiert war und Acting for Change kein richtiges Büro hat, habe ich die meisten Tage von Cafes aus gearbeitet. Gründer Kotaiba war aber immer bei Fragen erreichbar und ich war jederzeit willkommen auch bei ihm Wohnzimmer zu arbeiten. Für mich war das super, weil ich meine Arbeit flexibel einteilen konnte. Eine typische Woche bestand darin, dass ich 3-4 Tage zuhause gearbeitet habe, 1-2 Tage bei Kotaiba war um neue Projekte oder Aufgaben zu besprechen und wir 1- 2 mal nach Zaatari zu Workshops oder Projekten gefahren sind. Mir hat sehr gut gefallen wie viel Vertrauen und Verantwortung ich gleich am Anfang  bekommen habe. Der Gründer und ein anderer Mitarbeiter haben sich am ersten Tag viel Zeit genommen mich gründlich einzuarbeiten und alle Fragen zu beantworten. Auch hat es mich sehr motiviert zu sehen, wie schnell meine Arbeit genutzt wird. Ich hatte nie das Gefühl, dass ich etwas ohne Mehrwert mache. Meine Posts  konnte  ich  direkt  veröffentlichen  und  andere  Dokumente  wurden  schnell  abgesegnet  und verschickt, benutzt oder veröffentlicht Auch habe ich die Freiheiten, die mir gelassen wurden, sehr geschätzt. Natürlich sind mir auch mal Fehler in E-Mails oder Social media posts unterlaufen. Aber Kotaiba war immer sehr verständnisvoll und dankbar für meine Arbeit. Das Arbeitsklima war sehr gut, und alle Mitarbeitenden waren mit Herz bei ihrer Sache. Wir haben auch unabhängig von der Arbeit etwas unternommen und sogar eine Geburtstagsparty für Kotaiba organisiert.                             Die Organisation ist von internationalen Freiwlligen abhängig. Die meisten anderen Freiwilligen die dort gearbeitet haben, waren dort, um eigene Projekte zu verwirklichen. Es gab während der Zeit, in der ich dort war, zum Beispiel einen Fotographieworkshop und das Young Journalists Projekt. Wer also gern direkt mit syrischen Flüchtlingskindern arbeiten will und eine eigene Projektidee hat, dem kann ich Acting for Change wärmstens empfehlen. Und wer Lust auf administrative oder Marketing-Arbeit hat, sollte eigenständig arbeiten können und ebenso eigene Ideen mitbringen. Kotaiba ist bei Projekten sehr offen und jede Hilfe ist willkommen. Da die NGO aber wirklich sehr klein ist, und sich fast alle Mitarbeiter noch im Studium befinden, sollte man beachten, dass die Arbeit eher nach dem „Trial-and- error“ Prinzip funktioniert. Konkrete Anleitungen für etwas habe ich eigentlich nie bekommen. Wer also von Experten lernen will, ist wohl bei einer internationalen NGO besser aufgehoben. Alles in allem, habe ich viel bei Acting for Change gelernt, tolle Freunde getroffen und in Jordanien eine großartige Zeit verbracht. Es ist beeindruckend wie viel Acting for Change trotz geringer Mittel auf die Beine stellt. Arbeit und Finanzen werden extrem effektiv genutzt. Wer während seines Praktikums wirklich einen Unterschied machen will und sich für lokale Basisarbeit begeistern kann ist bei Acting for Change gut aufgehoben. *** 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 last day: “Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened”, Dr.Seuss             After a fun warm up, we had an  introduction to our next task which comprised  a public space tour. We were divided into four groups each invited to reflect and document their impressions about one of the following aspects in public space: gender, religion, art and appropriation of space. Back from the free roaming tour, we first presented the photo essay from Berlin’s public space tour (and though this was not directly discussed, this provided us with an opportunity to juxtapose in our minds Berlin and Cairo’s public spaces). Then, each group shared their impressions and adventures about their morning tours in Cairo.           Later, we proceeded to our last formal session of the program which was a mix of emotional and intellectual reflection. This is since, through a variety of tools and activities, members had the chance to express their thoughts and emotions about the experience not only from a general perspective but also a personal one. All along the activities, we could assume that significant ties have been developed within the group transcending the cultural and religious differences. At the end of the day, we all proceeded for special surprise outing offered and arranged by NHASD which revealed to be a Nile dinner cruise and show. Only few hours were left before the German group would fly back to Berlin. Most of the participants opted to ditch sleep to catch a last chat or laugh with other fellow participants/“friends”. Many accepted the hospitable invitation of “Islam”, one of the Egyptian teamers, to spend a rooftop after-party at his place. Later, back at the hostel there was a scene of packing, chatting, catching some sleep and playing cards/ fun games. Finally, arrived the most emotionally challenging and charged scene: the farewell. After two intense life-changing weeks of discovery and interaction, words fall short to express it, but there were hugs, tears, friendship, intensity, sadness and hope…   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

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a (wo)man healthy, wealthy and wise. (Benjamin Franklin) A few participants of our group met at 5.30 am in the morning and went  on a spontaneous trip to the Al-Alzhar mosque, which was unfortunately closed. Instead they walked around the area and were invited to see the  making of a Misbaḥa - which is a string of prayer beads for Muslims to memorize the 99 names of Allah. Afterwards they by metro to the al-Qurba quarter of Cairo - a quarter with a lot of buildings with French architecture. After a refreshing and awakening breakfast the official program of the day started. A documentary about Jews in Egypt was shown and passionately discussed afterwards. Since Judaism is not represented by a group member everyone showed genuine interest in the topic. After lunch we started to discuss and develop our own ideas about how to share our exchange experience and how to promote interfaith dialogue in society. These ideas were further evolved and discussed through concrete project ideas and they also received helpful feedback from the teamers and the other participants. Since we were not able to see the Pyramids on Tuesday we postponed it to Friday. A light show at the pyramids told us about the sight's history and its treasures. Some people split up and went to a concert of the Egyptian band Maktoub.   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

Today started with a very creative exercise . After a quick introduction to the definition of interreligious relationships we shared our personal experiences about this topic. In groups we came up with drawings, a photo story and theaters to present our ideas. The results were very interesting because we heard about problems with interreligious marriage but also about harmony and cooperation between religious communities. In the afternoon we explored Christianity in Egypt. We did so by visiting a Coptic Church, a Greek Orthodox Church and also the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Coptic Cairo. Afterwards we had a discussion with a Coptic Priest about the role of Christianity in the Egyptian state and it's status as a minority. Our day ended with a traditional Egyptian dinner on a Faluka on the River Nile. We were joined by Ramesh de Silva, the cultural attachè of the German embassy in Cairo. Authors: Adrian, Carol, Diva and Svenja     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

Discovering Cairo’s religious treasures… Our second day in Egypt included plenty of activities, encounters and impressions. In the morning, we took a look at some contemporary religious music from Egypt. We tried to analyze how it pictures women in religion. After our group discussion scholar Omaima Abou-Bakr provided us with some more information about the position of women in Islam – also pointing out controversies among Muslim scholars in nowadays society. Later in the day we visited the NHASD headquarter where we got to know more about the two most important institutions  for Islamic faith in Egypt – the al Azhar and the Ministery of Endowment.               Apart from all these discussions and encounters, we got to see some of the city today. Namely, the Citadel and the 18th century Muhammed Ali Ottoman mosque, which’s architecture has been considerably inspired by the Hagia Sofia in Turkey. From the Mokattom Hill we had a beautiful view over the ancient quarters of Cairo. Just like in Berlin, where we met up with some Bahaii people, in Cairo we also learned about a religious minority: the Sufi communities in Egypt. We visited a Sufi dance and music performance. Afterwards, most of us took a  stroll over the nearby market.                 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