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

We started the first day of the second ReliXchange week in Cairo. After having started the day with traditional Egyptian breakfast, we were introduced to our new teamer who later on showed us the importance of different perceptions. We then had a debate about crucial topics of Christian, Islam and atheism. The debate was focusing on moderate and fundamental religious perceptions and how these views are implemented in the context of our everyday life in regard to evolution/creationism. The main challenge of this debate was to step into the shoes of other persons, as we were supposed to argue in favor of a position we were not sharing.             In the afternoon we were discussing aspects of religion and different beliefs as well as rather philosophical concepts as monism. The movie “Life of Pi” dealt as a basis for this discussion.             Finally we were supposed to see the Pyramids in the evening, but unfortunately we couldn’t enter the area due to the Cairo film festival. Instead we had a cool and refreshing boat trip in the Nile, where we could reflect our new impressions and knowledge we gained during the first day.   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

"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