European-Muslim Cultural Dialogue

European-Muslim Cultural Dialogue
Impressions of the First Year
2005
Cross
Culture
Internships
documentation
with an Annex in German
CrossCulture
Internships
European-Muslim Cultural Dialogue
Impressions of the First Year
2005
Cross
Culture
Internships
documentation
with an Annex in German
Preface
As part of its endeavour to promote cooperative solutions to the problems of our times, the Federal Government has for years pursued a policy
of dialogue with the Muslim world. The terrorist attacks of 11 September
2001 brought home to people everywhere the need for such dialogue as an
alternative to confrontation or a clash of civilizations. The Federal Foreign
Office thereupon established the Task Force for the Dialogue with the
Islamic World, which coordinates a network of desk officers in the German
embassies of the relevant countries. It is our aim to counter negative
stereotypes and promote mutual understanding. The concrete projects
to implement this goal represent not only a welcome addition to the classic instruments of cultural relations policy; they also emphasize the role
played by cultural relations in the field of political conflict prevention.
Media round-ups show that there is an interest in the other side, in
both Western and Muslim societies. However, this interest is often overlaid
by stereotypes that determine how the others are perceived. What is missing is personal contact and a better knowledge of people from other cultures – both of which are prerequisites for mutual understanding.
Trust is required if dialogue is to be fruitful. Our call for dialogue will
only be accepted if it is perceived by people in the Muslim world as an offer
of partnership between equals, rather than as an example of opportunistic
paternalism. One prevalent stereotype finds expression in the suspicion
that “the West” seeks to use the dialogue to justify a policy of domination
that imposes Western values on the Muslim world. These concerns must be
taken seriously by following through on our declarations of good faith and
drawing greater attention to commonality, without however leaving critical issues unaddressed. Various meetings between top politicians and thinkers have shown that there is considerable overlap in the basic ethical convictions of the two societies. The challenge is to communicate this to the
people on the street, above all the younger generation.
5
This is precisely where the CrossCulture Internships come to bear.
These internships are funded through the European-Muslim Cultural
Dialogue programme and organised by the Institute for Foreign Cultural
Relations (ifa). The inclusion in our dialogue of young professionals from
various fields complements the long tradition of university and cultural
exchange and also provides a tool for responding appropriately to the
social and political situation in the various countries of the Muslim world.
These internships thus go beyond the classic forms of dialogue, since they
offer young people from Germany and the Muslim world the opportunity
to talk to each other and to work together as partners by setting common
objectives and pursuing joint projects.
Hans-G. Gnodtke
Commissioner for Dialogue with the Islamic World
in the Federal Foreign Office
6
Introduction
In this brochure we have documented the pioneer phase of the CrossCulture Internship programme in order to present the history of the origin
of the concept, the experience gathered in its actual implementation and,
in particular, the people involved in the successful execution of this new
project.
The CrossCulture Internships are part of the ifa-Forum Dialogue and
Understanding – a project within the »European-Muslim Cultural Dialogue« initiated by the German Foreign Office. Following the attacks of
11 September 2001, the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) endeavoured with this new dialogue project to avoid some of the weaknesses of
previous dialogue initiatives through – according to the basic idea – the
West first listening to what the Muslim world has to say to us; the reason
being that if real dialogue presupposes listening to each other, it would
appear reasonable to start doing so oneself. Proceeding from this premise,
ifa asked six intellectuals from Muslim countries to formulate their assessment of the status and problems relating to relations between the West
and the Muslim world. The result of this type of inventory has been available since 2003 in the form of the report entitled »The West and the Muslim
world – a Muslim Position«. One of the recommendations was to promote
the networks of civil societies to a greater extent. The CrossCulture Internship programme was born out of this suggestion.
Dialogues with the Muslim world have been a permanent part of ifa’s
programme work for some years now. ifa commenced the series of German-Arab media dialogues back in 1997, thereby setting a regional emphasis. These were followed by media dialogues in Central Asia, Iran, Israel and
Turkey. This focus was extended from 2002 on with the help of additional
resources provided by the German Foreign Office and combined with a
number of project elements in the ifa-Forum Dialogue and Understanding.
All the initiatives and programmes are based on getting to know and
understand each other through working together on specific issues rather
than conducting the dialogue in an abstract and self-centred manner. This
approach forms the basis for the media dialogues as well as the Cross-Culture Internships.
7
The CrossCulture Internships also offer the possibility to gain a deeper
insight into the joint work of partners from a different culture than would
be the case in selective dialogue events as well as the opportunity to become immersed in the day-to-day life of the host country during a six to
twelve-week stay.
The target group comprises young professionals and volunteers from
civil society organisations and institutions both in the Muslim world and in
Germany. In the first year, 2005, ifa was able to invite 14 candidates from
the Muslim world to take up internships in Germany, with places also arranged for 6 young Germans in Muslim countries.
The interns gathered important experience at two levels. Firstly, they
were able to gain an overview of the structures and people in the partner
country which they can make use of in their future work after returning
home – an important contribution towards the forming of networks between organisations/institutions in Germany and the Muslim countries.
Secondly, the interns were able – beyond their practical work – to familiarise themselves with the everyday life of their partner countries with the
respective cultural characteristics and behavioural patterns. After their
return, the intercultural experience gained by the interns is then incorporated into the work of the home organisation as a »net benefit«, thus multiplying the idea of dialogue and understanding in their home countries.
To ensure the multiplier effect, great importance is attached in the
selection process for CrossCulture interns on their motivation and qualifications as well as, to a decisive extent, their integration in an organisation/institution, the status of such organisation/institution in the
respective civil society and their interest in building networks between
Germany and the Muslim world.
When marking out the topic areas that form the points of emphasis
of the CrossCulture Internship concept, we have oriented ourselves to the
results of the 2002 and 2003 Arab Human Development Reports (AHDR).
The CrossCulture Internships are thus directed primarily at candidates and
organisations/institutions active in the following domains:
• Knowledge society and education
• Judicial dialogue and human rights
8
• Media
• Youth exchange
• Political education
In the announcements for applications, we have paid particular attention to those working in organisations and institutions which play an important role in the field of education and in the development of knowledge
societies in the Arab/Muslim world in general. The aim was also to address
multipliers from institutions and organisations active in other reform-related domains, especially in the areas of judicial dialogue and human
rights, media, youth exchange and political education.
Target groups on the German side include persons working in the corresponding partner organisations as well as young employees and volunteers
involved with organisations and institutions in which intercultural experience is a prerequisite for the success of the work. In regional terms, the
exchange is concentrated on Germany and the 22 member countries of the
Arab League, as well as Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Arab population in Israel.
Once we had sent out the first announcement with the outline specifications referred to above, we waited for the response with great anticipation. We could not predict whether applications would be submitted from
all the desired subject areas, in what countries there would be a particularly great demand or whether we would reach the target groups we wanted
to address at all. With the help of the German Missions abroad, we received numerous applications from the most varied work backgrounds.
Applications came from virtually all the countries included, with Egypt,
Pakistan and Sudan very strongly represented in terms of numbers while
we did not receive any applications from Iraq or Libya. As far as the priority
areas are concerned, there was a high demand from the media sector compared with a particularly low level of interest in the knowledge society and
educational domains.
There was likewise a predominance of applications from the media sector on the German side. Furthermore, the level of interest was particularly
high among candidates and organisations that can already be regarded as
»professionals« in the field of intercultural contact with the Muslim world.
9
In contrast, there were very few candidates from organisations/institutions
that wanted to take advantage of the CrossCulture Internships to make up
for an acknowledged deficiency in intercultural and regional competence
for the Muslim world. The quality of the majority of applications was gratifyingly high, with the number of excellent applications received far higher
than the number of internship places we could offer. The selection of the
candidates together with representatives of the German Foreign Office
was therefore not easy and, in the end, the decisive factor was to achieve
a balance in terms of regional and specialist area criteria.
Our principle has always been to select the internship positions for the
individual interns in a very deliberate and specific manner. The selection
process produced the first of many insights which could not be foreseen
beforehand: even though we had obtained a declaration of willingness in
advance from a large number of organisations, we still had to address
other organisations on an individual basis for most of the interns.
With regard to the positive response in looking for internship positions,
we are also particularly grateful to those organisations and institutions
for which there were no candidates during the first call for applications.
We would also like to extend our special thanks to the organisations
and institutions that acted as pioneers, as it were, taking care of the first
group of CrossCulture interns. You can get to know some of the interns
and their home and host organisations in the documentation presented
here. This will give you an impression of the variety of experience gained
by all those involved in the start-up phase of the CrossCulture Internship
programme.
Part of the experience also includes acknowledging that, in the case of
an individualised scheme like the CrossCulture Internship programme, a
fixed time schedule can only be a rough guide line. A number of internships from the first announcement had not yet been completed at the time
of preparing this documentation on account of having to adapt flexibly to
individual situations at short notice. For this reason, we can only present
those interns here who have now returned home and from whom we have
been able to obtain impressions of their completed internships.
10
An article on working experience in different cultures and dealing with
the so-called cultural shock is also included as a way of presenting our
partner organisation, cifa, which organised the accompanying intercultural
training for the CrossCulture interns.
The start-up phase of a new project requires patience and sometimes
perhaps also restraint on the part of all those involved since there is no
concerted experience to fall back on. We would therefore like to thank the
German Federal Foreign Office, the German diplomatic representations
abroad and the organisations involved for their kind assistance and positive cooperation.
Taking care of such different candidates from so many different countries has provided us with many interesting insights and new contacts and
has also been a very enjoyable experience. We do hope you enjoy reading
this brochure, which is designed to convey a general impression of experience with the CrossCulture Internship programme so far.
Barbara Kuhnert
Head of the Dialogue Forums Department
and
Katharina Kilian-Yasin
Project Leader with her team
Manuela Höglmeier and Sonja Ibrahim
11
12
Hamza Alamoosh
Hamza Alamoosh, born 1982, is from Jordan. His home organisation is the Princess Basma Youth
Resource Center in Amman, where he works on a voluntary basis as a coordinator of youth
programmes and trainer. He represents his home organisation at the worldwide Earth Charter
Initiative. His hosting organisation for his internship was the Herbert Quandt Foundation in
Bad Homburg.
»I got the chance to explore many of the
Herbert Quandt Foundation programmes and initiatives.
This has widened my perspective and
added more to the quality of my work.
It has provided me with ideas of
how things are here (Bad Homburg)
and how they might work
there (Jordan).«
»It is an exposure to a new business environment,
where roles and tasks are managed
in a different manner with maybe
less hierarchy.«
»The Herbert Quandt Foundation does not have
many people on its staff,
meaning more responsibility,
and you – as a staff member there – have
to address even the small details
of your work«.
13
Home Organisation
The Princess Basma Youth Resource Centre (PBYRC; formerly known
as the Princess Basma Women’s Resource Centre, est. 1996) is part of the
Queen Zein Al-Sharaf Institute for Development. It was established in 2002
in response to the demands and needs of young Jordanians.
The Centre works with young people aged 14 to 24 from different backgrounds and from all regions in Jordan. PBYRC’s mission is to promote the
active role of youth in society as well as enhance their participation in the
development process and in the emerging global society.
The areas of PBYRC’s work include communication skills, conflict resolution, gender, environment, information technology, media and communication, youth-led initiatives, adolescent health, human rights, community
activism, working with children with special needs, intercultural exchange
and training of trainers and facilitators.
Through PBYRC, Hamza Alamoosh joined the Youth Committee, which
is based on the Jordanian National Youth Strategy launched by His Majesty
King Abdallah II and co-funded by the Jordanian Government in coope-
In 2003, Hamza Alamoosh was appointed Youth Ambassador (representative) of the Earth Charter Initiative for Jordan and neighbouring countries. The Earth Charter Initiative is a worldwide network aimed at establishing a sound ethical foundation for the emerging global society and building a sustainable world based on respect for nature, universal human
rights, economic justice and a culture of peace.
14
Hamza Alamoosh
ration with UNDP and UNICEF.
The Princess Basma
Youth Resource Centre (PBYRC)
P.O. Box: 230511
Amman, Jordan
www.zenid.org.jo/PBYRC.htm
»The atmosphere at the Herbert Quandt Foundation
is friendly and reminds me of the time of PBYRC.
Now that I am about to complete my three-month
full-time internship of tasks and assignments,
I hope this will add to my network and enhance
my strengths and qualities.«
15
Herbert-Quandt-Stiftung
(Herbert Quandt Foundation)
Herbert-Quandt-Haus
Am Pilgerrain 15
61352 Bad Homburg
Germany
www.h-quandt-foundation.de
»It was the first time the foundation had ever worked
together with a trainee from the Arab World. The work gave
all the members of the foundation a very deep – and positive
– insight into how teamwork and respect are regarded as
important and essential in another culture. The meetings and
lively discussions with Hamza Alamoosh helped to broaden
the horizon of some German colleagues in the foundation
and the company and helped to set aside prejudices.«
»Hamza Alamoosh provided the foundation with useful
details on how to involve Royal Jordanian institutions in the
projects organised by the Herbert Quandt Foundation.«
Nils Warner, Herbert Quandt Foundation
16
Hamza Alamoosh
Nils Warner, Herbert Quandt Foundation
Hosting Organisation
The Herbert Quandt Foundation organises its own projects to promote
national and international dialogue, as well as science, research and education in Germany.
The two focal subjects dealt with are »Society and Politics« and the
»Trialogue of Cultures«. In relation to the first, the Herbert Quandt Foundation has become well-known through the Sinclair House Debates, during
which the major social and political issues of our future are discussed at an
interdisciplinary and exclusive level. The second topic comprises colloquia
and conferences supporting the trialogue between the three monotheistic
religions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity, as well as exchange and cooperation projects in the fields of education and journalism between
Germany and the Near East.
Hamza Alamoosh took part in the preparation and realisation of the
international conference organised by the Herbert Quandt Foundation
under the title »Mediterranean Sea – Gap or Bridge? Perspectives on Cooperation in Education and Scholarship between Germany and the Arab
World«. In addition to helping with the logistic works for the conference,
he was also able to advise on sensitive aspects of intercultural relations
between Arab and German participants.
Furthermore, Hamza Alamoosh contributed his regional and professional expertise to the Herbert Quandt Foundation in researching new contacts for the foundation’s list of partners from the Arab world in the domains of Arabic Language Teaching, Education and Research, plus Cultural
and Educational Cooperation. He also introduced proposals for the Herbert
Quandt Foundation school competition and follow-up events for the
above-mentioned conference on «Education and Scholarship« in cooperation with his home organisation, the Princess Basma Youth Resource
Center.
17
18
Soumaya Bendiab
Soumaya Bendiab, born 1975, is from Algeria.
She is a radio journalist at the Algerian radio
station, Radio Chaine 1, in Algiers. In her work,
she specialises in the fields of theatre, cinema
and music. Her hosting organisation for her
internship was the radio station Radio Multikulti in Berlin.
»My stay in Berlin and the warmth of people I was in
touch with privately made me feel at home.
The friendships I formed allowed me to get to know
the famous sites of Berlin such as the Berlin Wall
and other historical monuments.«
»I had some very good times with the colleagues of Radio
Multikulti and also at the place where I was staying.«
»My internship position was in a studio equipped
with modern digital equipment and supervised
by highly qualified and professional colleagues who
quenched my thirst for learning by training me
in the presentation of short tags of information,
moderation of debates and direct
interviews methods.«
19
Home Organisation
Radio Chaine 1 is one of the three national channels of the national
Algerian broadcasting Service, Radio Algérienne.
Radio Algérienne has the threefold function of informing, educating
This is done in the three languages of Arabic, Berber and French.
Soumaya Bendiab’s internship in Germany was very much in line with
the interest of Radio Algérienne to further develop existing international
contacts in the form of international exchange and co-production of programmes as well personnel training and technical assistance.
20
Soumaya Bendiab
and entertaining at the local, national, regional and international level.
»This experience has enabled me to enrich
my knowledge of journalist techniques, broaden
my skills in research and the preparation of reports
and interviews and has also increased my professional
contacts in the international world of media.«
»The open and critical spirit, the teamwork,
the sense of creativity and the support I had at Radio
Multikulti have, thanks to the commitment
of my colleagues, stimulated my desire to develop
in the art of communication.«
Radio Chaine 1
Radio Algérienne
21, Boulevard des Martyrs
Algier
Algeria
www.algerian-radio.dz
21
Hosting Organisation
The radio station Radio Multikulti
is part of the public regional broad-casting
service, Broadcasting Berlin-Brandenburg.
Radio Multikulti offers a great variety
of worldwide music from absolutely
every part of the world, topical news
and information about the life Berlin,
with special focus on the migrant
culture of the city.
The broadcasting time from 5 pm to 10 pm is devoted to information
programmes in 17 languages as a service for migrants and citizens interested in foreign languages.
Soumaya Bendiab worked in the Arabic section of Radio Multikulti. She
acted as a moderator in live Arabic broadcasts and researched her own programme items in the city of Berlin. Her work enabled her to gain insights
into Germany which she could present to the Arabic-speaking audience
others, she made a valuable contribution to the task of Radio Multikulti
of forming a bridge between the migrants’ lives in Berlin and their culture
of origin. Furthermore, at Radio Multikulti she had the chance to become
acquainted with digital broadcasting techniques and will be one of the
first persons to be able to work on a digital basis back at her home radio
station, where digital broadcasting techniques were introduced recently.
22
Soumaya Bendiab
and, by sharing this personal process of new intercultural experiences with
Radio Multikulti
rbb
Masurenallee 8 – 14
14057 Berlin
Germany
www.radiomultikulti.de
»At a professional level, I received training
in the following areas: critical analysis of media production,
mastering of different techniques of oral communication,
acquisition of radio editing, montage
and recording techniques.«
»The intern’s contacts, especially those in Algeria,
enriched our programme.«
Haroun Sweis, Radio Multikulti
»The different way of working and the different perception –
a view from outside on Arabs living in Berlin – all these
experiences added new elements to our programme.«
Haroun Sweis, Radio Multikulti
23
24
Abdallah Daif
Abdallah Daif, born 1978, is from Egypt. He is a programme organiser at Gudran for Art and
Development in Alexandria, Egypt. In his work, he specialises in the field of theatre, but is also a
painter, musician and writer. His hosting organisation in Germany was Die AnStifter – a citizens’
project.
»The few days I spent in Germany were
my first experiences of direct contact with the first world.
I can say that this experience has affected my personal life
and stimulated my professional capacities.«
»Some guys, who I don’t trust anyway,
warned me before my trip of the possibility
of encountering some kind of discrimination
because I’m African, Arab, Muslim ...
I did not argue with them, but I said whatever happened,
it was an experience that I eventually had to go through.
When I returned home, they were all astonished
when I told them that I had only met
welcoming and friendly people the entire time
and at all levels:
from the intellectual elite to the young people
I was staying with, and even
with street artists
who I could communicate with, especially
in the city centre of Hanover.«
25
Home Organisation
Gudran is a group of artists, filmmakers, graphic designers, musicians
and fishermen from El-Max, a suburb area of Alexandria which is inhabited
by fishermen.
The uniqueness of El-Max reflects the uniqueness of the local community. It is a closed community with its own history, culture and heritage.
However, it has seen hard times, for food is scarce and depends on the
weather and whatever the sea brings. There are lots of other problems
play hazards because of the rough nature of the area.
Gudran works with the local population in many different aspects,
mainly using art as a tool to improve the quality of life for the inhabitants
of El-Max.
Abdalla Daif and his colleagues from Gudran share their daily lives
with the fishermen. They accompany them with daily artistic workshops,
international artistic work camps as well as international artistic meetings
intended to break the solitude of the village.
When they started working there, it was the children that became the
focus for integrating the project into the community. The children were
open to new ideas. To this day, Gudran still offers them a variety of workshops such as painting, pottery, music, theatre, shadow theatre.
Gudran for Art and Development
Tolombat El-Max St.
El-Max
Alexandria – Egypt
www.gudran.com
26
Abdallah Daif
too: mainly sewage, rubbish, healthcare, education, poverty, work and
»There are so many differences
between Die AnStifter and Gudran.
They result from the nature of society
and the laws that rule it.
In Egypt/Alexandria/El-Max,
we move as a group of artists
sharing their daily lives
with the fishermen of this village.
In Stuttgart, in contrast, Die AnStifter
moves in another context
that suits the nature of
European society.«
27
Hosting Organisation
Die AnStifter (»The Instigators«) is a citizens’ project for the support
of citizens’ social, cultural and political initiatives. The group is formed
by a loose pool of volunteers working in the domain of culture. They are
active in the fields of violence prevention, exchange between Eastern and
Western Germany, youth projects, action against oblivion and supporting
peace groups.
In 2003, they introduced the Stuttgart Peace Award, which is financed
by donations and intended to be awarded to projects, initiatives and perwith the aim of contributing to a tolerant civil society.
Abdallah Daif’s internship with Die AnStifter took the form of a networking stay in the fields of culture, political action and social work during
which he became familiar with the different initiatives, institutions and
projects run by the members of Die AnStifter.
The main event Abdallah Daif was involved in was the appearance of
Die AnStifter at the Kirchentag (Church Day) in Hanover.
He participated in the artistic and musical performances presented by
Die AnStifter at the Church Day to campaign for the initiation of voluntary
work in citizens’ initiatives.
Die AnStifter
Olgastraße 1 A
D-70182 Stuttgart
www.architektur-kultur.de
28
Abdallah Daif
sons who swim against the stream working for peace, justice and solidarity
»We worked together in an atmosphere
of effective cooperation.
The exchange of ideas
on intercultural projects was
especially fruitful.«
Peter Grohmann, Die AnStifter
»On the Church Day, Mr. Abdallah Daif
participated in our daily street music
and street theatre performances without
any difficulty, organizing, helping and also
playing music in our five-person
music and singing group.«
Peter Grohmann, Die AnStifter
29
(The Green Party). In her work, she specialises in the field of Good Governance.
Her hosting organisation in Lebanon was the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA).
»Given that Lebanese people place
great importance on education and
due to colonialism and the fact that
many Lebanese had to live outside Lebanon
during the civil war (about 4 million Lebanese live
in Lebanon and about 16 million abroad),
a plurality of languages can be found in Lebanon.
A hobby of the Lebanese people seems to be
incorporating as many languages as possible
into a single sentence.«
»Although the city once ravaged by civil war
is glistening again as it is rebuilt
in contemporary architecture,
here and there bullet holes can nevertheless
still be found in the destroyed houses.
Before the civil war, the nights of Beirut
were famous for their splendour,
but to me it seems as if
this glamour is now being
recaptured in Beirut’s nightlife – at least
I have never before seen so many super
nightclubs in one place.«
30
Tiana Hickel
Tiana Hickel, born 1979, is from Germany. She is a member of «Bündnis 90/Die Grünen«
31
Home Organisation
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (The Green Party) was founded as a German
federal party in 1980 based on previous regional initiatives. The party has
its origins in the climate of protest and change after the 1960s with the
currents of the ecological, peace and women’s movements.
Today, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen is a well-established part of the political
system in Germany, especially since the party formed the Red-Green Coalition with the Social Democrats in 1998, governing Germany together with
them from 1998 to 2005.
in all realms – equal opportunities in education, justice for generations,
genders, minorities and international justice – democracy, human rights
and the rejection of violence are also part of the party’s agenda.
Tiana Hickel supports a member of the party executive whose responsibilities focus on issues of migration and right-wing extremism.
She advises him on Middle Eastern issues and assists him during party
congresses.
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
Bundesgeschäftsstelle
Platz vor dem Neuen Tor 1
D-10115 Berlin
Germany
www.gruene-partei.de
32
Tiana Hickel
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen stands for environmental politics as a basis for
ecological, social and economical development. Self-determination, justice
»During my internship at
the Lebanese Transparency Association,
there was a project dedicated
to parliamentary election.
To prepare this project,
my colleagues and I had to organise
a lot of conferences attended by scientists,
journalists, lawyers and representatives
of other NGOs.«
33
Hosting Organisation
Realising the unacceptable levels corruption has reached in Lebanon
and the necessity to act against it, a group of individuals – business people,
academics, economists, lawyers and intellectuals – joined forces to found
the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA), in May 1999.
The association was the first Lebanese non-governmental organisation.
Its aim is to curb corruption in its various forms in different sectors of
society and the state. The association’s objectives are to promote the
principles of transparency and accountability, establish the rule of law
and strengthen respect for basic rights as declared in international
charters and the Lebanese Constitution.
To improve the quality of public life and empower civil society, the LTA
During her internship at LTA, Tiana Hickel was given a project of her
own covering the shareholding budget. This gave her the opportunity to
make contact with various national and international representatives of
NGOs. This work gave her an insight into the way business is carried out
in oriental countries.
The Lebanese Transparency
Association (LTA)
Baaklini Center,
Bank El-Rif Square, 4th Floor
P.O. Box 50-552
Baabda, Lebanon
www.transparency-lebanon.org
34
Tiana Hickel
organises workshops, seminars, conferences and lectures.
»The team of the Lebanese
Transparency Association (LTA) was a
young hardworking cluster of committed,
motivated and dedicated people.
Everyone was integrated into the working processes
to an equal degree and given responsibility –
that was the reason for
the successful work.«
»It was also very interesting to watch
four different confessions working
side by side in the LTA office:
one executive director was a Maronite,
the other Sunni, while the project manager
was Armenian Orthodox and one
of the interns a Greek Catholic.
It was a joyful experience to sample peaceful
and constructive cooperation in a country
where religious affiliation is a major element
of one’s identity while, at the same time,
being the main initiator
of present conflicts.«
35
36
Aisha Lawal
Aisha Lawal, born 1979, is from Nigeria. She is the personal assistant to the Executive Director
of BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights in Lagos. Her hosting organisation in Germany was GTZ
(Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) GmbH in Eschborn.
»In Germany, men and women play different
and important roles in the development of society.
It is interesting to note how men and women share domestic
roles, also with regard to bringing up the children,
and also combine all of these with their professional lives.
This is a very progressive development compared to most
African societies where patriarchy is still deeply rooted
and particular roles are assigned to women. However, this
is not to say that gender disparity does not exist at all in
German cities, but it only happens in rare cases.«
»It is interesting to note the peaceful co-existence
of Christians and Muslims in Germany. As Christianity
is by far the major religion in Germany with Muslims
as a minority, both religions are being practised
with degree of freedom and respect for one another.
It is a different phenomenon in Nigeria, where many
atrocities are committed against women and young girls,
all under the guise of promoting culture and religion.«
»Germany is a society where love, harmony,
respect for individual rights (regardless of age) and,
most especially, hard work prevails.«
37
Home Organisation
BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights is a NGO focusing on women’s
legal rights under the systems of customary, statutory and religious laws
in Nigeria.
In 1996, the organisation developed from the Women and Laws Nigeria
work of Women Living. In this three-year multidisciplinary project, a group
of activists, social scientists, lawyers and specialists in Muslim law and
Arabic generated a wealth of data. The need for a stable organisational
structure in order to use this data efficiently resulted in the foundation
of BAOBAB.
BAOBAB operates from a national office in Lagos and with outreach
teams in 14 states across Nigeria with the aim of promoting women’s
human rights through improving knowledge, as well as exercising and
developing rights under religious laws.
Aisha Lawal, a specialist in the areas of peace-building, mediation
and counselling, has been working with BAOBAB since 2003.
38
Aisha Lawal
project, under the lead-management of the International Solidarity Net-
BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights
76, Ogudu Road,
Ojota, Lagos
P.O. Box 73630, Victoria Island, Lagos
Nigeria
www.baobabwomen.org
»Our talks clearly showed how, in Nigeria,
religion is an essential element of identity
which is also used to differentiate
oneself from others.«
Ruth Bigalke, GTZ
»Conditions which I took for granted
(freedom of religion, tolerance)
were not self-evident for our intern,
with the result that at the beginning
she was afraid she might offend
or hurt people by being
seen at prayer.«
Ruth Bigalke, GTZ
39
Hosting Organisation
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
(»German Society for Technical Cooperation«) is an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations.
It is organised as a private company owned by the German Federal Government and works mainly on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
GTZ provides viable, forward-looking solutions for political, economic,
ecological and social development in a globalised world. GTZ promotes
complex reforms and change processes, often working under difficult
on a sustainable basis.
GTZ is currently running around 2700 development projects and programmes in over 130 countries, with its own GTZ offices established in
67 countries.
The main focus in international cooperation is on so-called Technical
Cooperation. Far from being centred on transferring technical knowledge,
this primarily involves communicating knowledge to enable people to
shape their present and future independently by strengthening individual
initiative and the capabilities of people and organisations.
Aisha Lawal was involved in the Sector Advisory Project »Gender«, one
of the cross-sectoral themes organised by GTZ which includes the issues
of crisis prevention, youth, HIV/AIDS control, emergency aid, poverty, food
and nutrition safety, Rio+10, PPP, social and ecological standards from a
gender perspective.
She gave her colleagues at GTZ a valuable insight into the complexity
of gender issues within a society like Nigeria where religion influences the
codes of social interaction.
40
Aisha Lawal
conditions. Its corporate objective is to improve people’s living conditions
Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1 – 5
65760 Eschborn
www.gtz.de
»This programme has contributed a great deal
to my knowledge, experience and self-esteem,
which will definitely be extended to my organisation.«
»I wouldn’t like to speak about a direct ‘use’
of Aisha Lawal’s internship in our department.
But it made me more and more conscious
of how formative experiences can be in a context
where religion has such conflict potential and often
causes restrictions of human rights.«
Ruth Bigalke, GTZ
41
42
Koumay al-Melhem
Koumay al-Melhem, born 1981, is from Syria. He is an editor at the publishing house Etana Press
in Damascus, Syria. He mainly works for the Arabic and English e-magazine Al-Thara. His hosting
organisation was Media in Corporation (MIC) in Berlin.
»In Berlin, I got to know many new friends: students,
writers, artists, journalists and people working
in the cultural field. Apart from helping me to discover
this calm city, it also enriched my daily life:
my neighbours (paying mutual visits), the underground,
new city districts which I discover permanently...
To be honest, I have never felt like a stranger here.«
»I spent three months in Germany in an atmosphere
full of calm and ideals and in helpful working conditions.
I will return to Syria with a great deal of experiences
and thoughts which I will share with
my colleagues and friends.«
»I must admit that the support I received from my colleagues
at MIC during the first few weeks and the fact that
I was able to establish relationships with people made many
things much clearer to me. Before arriving in Germany,
I already had some contact with Germans who I had met
in Damascus or other countries I had previously been to,
but the image of Germany undoubtedly becomes
clearer when you are on the spot.«
43
Home Organisation
Etana Press is a Damascus-based publishing house which specialises
in organising activities and publishing materials aimed at increasing civic
awareness in Syrian society, particularly among the young. In order to
accomplish this, Etana Press uses both traditional and electronic media.
During the »Women and Society Conference«, Etana Press established
the bilingual (Arabic-English) e-magazine Al-Thara. Al-Thara is the first
magazine in Syria devoted exclusively to covering women’s rights and
related legal matters. It contains articles and interviews by Syrian women
activists and social commentators, as well as articles on social and political
developments. It also includes electronic resources on social and environmental issues.
The main goal of Al-Thara is to create awareness of women’s rights in
Syria and the broader region, while at the same time providing a training
ground for young Syrian journalists. All parts of the constitutions of Arabic
countries that deal with women’s rights can now be studied in Arabic as
well as English. The UN documents on women’s rights can likewise be
found here in Arabic and in English. In addition, readers have access to
on-line psychological and legal counselling.
Al-Thara is completely independent and the editorial team strives for
Koumay al-Melhem
total accuracy in reporting – a great challenge in the Syrian context.
44
Etana Press
P.O. Box 8396
Damascus, Syria
Al-Thara e-magazine:
www.thara-sy.org
»I return to Damascus with many ideas which
I want to develop further in the electronic newspaper
‘Al-Thara’ in Damascus where I work as an editor.
Even during my internship, I wrote weekly contributions
for my newspaper about my experiences
and thoughts during my work at ‘Niqash’.
Since my electronic newspaper back home is concerned
with women’s and children’s rights, I also wrote
a number of articles about women in Iraq
and their situation in the constitution.«
»At the moment, we are thinking
about establishing electronic links
between the sites of ‘Niqash’
and ‘Al-Thara’«.
45
Hosting Organisation
Media in Cooperation (MIC) is a Media NGO covering the political process and media development in Iraq. Since April 2004, Media in Cooperation has been planning and developing media projects in cooperation
with partners located in Iraq. MIC addresses young open-minded people.
Focusing on multilingualism (Arabic, English, German and Kurdish),
MIC works in three locations (Iraq, Jordan and Germany) simultaneously.
The contributors of MIC all add to their work from their different
cultural backgrounds (Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Germany, Egypt).
MIC cooperates with around 30 reporters and 20 radio stations in Iraq
which is possible due to their extremely good network of journalists,
NGOs, cultural foundations and volunteers. All radio shows are broadcasted in Arabic from Amman.
Media in Cooperation is currently involved in three radio programmes.
The first programme is called Election Monitor Iraq. This programme is
about the preparation, execution and analysis of the elections of January
2005. The second programme is Niqash, an open line radio show about the
constitution process. 360° Iraq is the third radio show. It deals with contemporary art and culture in the Arab-speaking world, Iran and Turkey
jects are funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and UNESCO.
During his internship, Koumay al-Melhem was involved in all three
radio programmes. He established the very useful newsblog
www.niqash.org in Arabic concerning the constitutional process in Iraq
and helped develop a new focus on the website after the referendum on
the draft constitution. He also provided MIC with a great deal of input
for the ‘Niqash’ and ‘360° Iraq’ projects.
46
Koumay al-Melhem
presented from the artists’ point of view. Media in Cooperation and its pro-
Media in Cooperation
(MIC)
Streamminister
Schönhauser Allee 155
10435 Berlin
»Koumay al-Melhem is a journalist
with special expertise in political landscaping
as well as cultural exchange.
He was a great help to our projects.«
Nesrine Shibib, MIC
»Koumay al-Melhem joined the ‘360° Iraq’ radio project
in Amman after completing his internship.
His contacts in Syria and elsewhere in the region
were very helpful for the organisation and
an enrichment of the radio show.«
Nesrine Shibib, MIC
47
48
Sulaiman al-Shandoudi
Sulaiman Al-Shandoudi, born 1974, is from the Sultanate of Oman. He is the acting director
of International Affairs at Sultan Qaboos University. His Hosting Organisation was Deutscher
Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD), Bonn.
»The first day I arrived in Germany,
I noticed that everything was new and modern,
from the airports to the roads and houses.
I also noticed that the country was well connected
through a highly maintained transportation system.
Travelling through Germany by train gives
an important picture of the country.
The country has huge agricultural areas
but big factories can also be seen along the road –
a clear sign that the country is a well-developed
industrial nation.«
»The German people are organised,
friendly and hard-working.
They are helpful and nice to strangers
and many of them speak English.«
»In my opinion, German cities are examples
of what many Arab cities should look like.
The old buildings in these cities are well preserved
and considered national treasures.
All of this makes Germany a nice, welcoming country
for both students and tourists.«
49
Home Organisation
Sultan Qaboos University is the realisation of a promise to establish
a university announced by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said during the
10th anniversary of Oman’s National Day in 1980. Construction started in
1982 and the first Sultan Qaboos University students were enrolled in 1986.
Today, the university has seven faculties: Agriculture and Marine
Science, Arts and Social Sciences, Commerce and Economics, Education,
Engineering, Medicine and Health Sciences, including the University
Hospital, and the College of Science.
In his capacity of being responsible for international affairs at Sultan
Qaboos University, Sulaiman al-Shandoudi made use of his internship at
the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) to intensify his contacts
with German Universities in order to promote closer relations in science
and research between Germany and Oman and thereby advance mutual
Sulaiman al-Shandoudi
understanding between the different cultures.
50
Sultan Qaboos University
P.O. Box 50
Muscat 123
Sultanate of Oman
www.squ.edu.om
»Attending the ‘Cross Border Education and
Development Cooperation Conference’ enabled me
to meet key contacts from Germany and abroad.
One thing that became clear in this conference
was the absence of any participation
from Arab universities.
I was very aware that I was the only Arab
attending this important conference.
I think experts from Arab universities should
be invited to these conferences and information
on the proceedings should also be sent
to Arab universities.«
»To overcome the misunderstandings and misinformation
between the Muslim World and the Western World,
it is urgently necessary to invite decision-makers
and journalists from the Muslim world and the Western
world to spend some time together.«
51
Hosting Organisation
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is one of the world’s
largest and most renowned organisations in the field of international
academic exchange. Scores of students, teachers, researchers and scientists
supported by the DAAD have been able to gain valuable experience abroad.
The DAAD is a conjoint institution of the German universities. It has
a worldwide network of offices, teachers and alumni groups who offer
information and advice on academic exchange with Germany.
As an intermediary organisation working on behalf of the German
Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development,
DAAD supports the exchange of students, offers grants for postgraduate
research, encourages the movement of university teachers, coordinates
international partnerships between universities and organises numerous
specific programmes for different regions of the world.
Sulaiman al-Shandoudi completed his internship in the central office
of the DAAD in Bonn, rotating through different departments so as to
familiarise himself with the tasks and personnel in different areas. With
Bonn as his internship base, Sulaiman al-Shandoudi travelled a lot through
Germany, visiting a large number of universities. The Academic Exchange
Office at the University of Bonn was also kind enough to enable him to
Sulaiman al-Shandoudi
attend a German language course.
Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst
(DAAD)
German Academic Exchange Service
Kennedyallee 50
53175 Bonn
www.daad.de
52
»When I arrived in Cottbus, I was welcomed at
the railway station by Prof. Michael Schmidt,
Vice-President for International Affairs.
There are very few universities in Germany
where the Vice-President will be waiting
for you at the station.«
»We intensified our contact with
Mr. al-Shandoudi’s home university.
The direct contact with Mr. al-Shandoudi’s home university
can be of great benefit to our programme for Omani
government scholarship holders.«
Dr. Anette Pieper, DAAD
53
54
Monika Stösser
Monika Stösser, born 1970, is from Germany.
She is a project coordinator at the Werkleitz
e.V. Centre for Art and Visual Media in
Saxony-Anhalt in Halle upon Saale. She
specialises in the field of promoting film
and media projects. Her hosting organisation
in Lebanon was Ashkal Alwan – The Lebanese
Association of Plastic Arts.
»The time of my stay – one month
after the terrorist attack on Hariri
and the parliamentary elections – was an
extraordinarily exciting time
for the development of the
political situation.«
»It is noticeable that some Western exhibitors
are not sufficiently aware of the conflict situation
between Israel, Palestine and Lebanon.
For example, it is impossible to unite
a Lebanese and a Palestinian representative
on a common platform at a
panel discussion.«
55
Home Organisation
The Werkleitz Gesellschaft is a non-profit association for the support,
realisation and promotion of film, art and media projects. It receives institutional funding from the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs of
Saxony-Anhalt.
leitz Biennale’, which was established to provide an international forum
for art and visual media. Since its establishment in 1996, it has grown into
the largest festival of its kind in the new federal states of Germany. The
‘Werkleitz Biennale’ develops its own unique format by combining an art
biennial with a curated film festival, critically tackling a new cultural issue
each time.
Since 2003, Monika Stösser has been working as a coordinator and
general manager for the Werkleitz Gesellschaft e.V. She develops and
organises the regular workshop/lecture programme and realises the
‘visiting artists’ series.
Besides her responsibility for the video archive of experimental film,
she is also involved in public relations, e.g. writing the monthly newsletter,
press releases or designing advertisements. She assists the director and
represents the Werkleitz Gesellschaft in public and on various art juries.
She coordinates the exhibition section of the ‘Werkleitz Biennale’ and
works closely with the curatorial team during the conceptual development
of the festival.
Her internship at Ashkal Alwan in Beirut enabled her to make important
contacts with artists from Lebanon and the Arab world for future cooperation with the Werkleitz Gesellschaft.
56
Monika Stösser
The main event organised by the Werkleitz Gesellschaft is the ‘Werk-
Werkleitz Gesellschaft e.V.
Centre for Art and Visual Media
in Saxony-Anhalt
Schleifweg 6
06114 Halle (Saale)
www.werkleitz.de
»I’m planning to go to Beirut to visit
the third edition of ‘Home Works’,
which is expected to take place in the end
of November 2005.«
»In addition, there was a request
by the Academie Libanaise Beaux Arts/ALBA
to invite part of the coming Werkleitz Biennale
to the ALBA Film Festival 2006.«
57
Hosting Organisation
The main objective of Askal Alwan as a non-profit-making arts organisation is to initiate and promote critical artistic practice within social, political and cultural contexts. The association’s commitment to publishing,
documentation and archiving art meets with universal approval across the
Middle East and North Africa. Since its foundation in 1994, Ashkal Alwan
has supported the production of contemporary art projects in Lebanon and
across the region. It does so by creating regional networks between cultural and artistic practitioners, enabling the formation of partnerships and
collaboration. Ashkal Alwan organises workshops and forums to create
opportunities for critical reflection and engagement between the diverse
actors in the world of cultural production, criticism, academia and theory.
Since 2001, Ashkal Alwan has produced the annual forum known as
‘Home works’. The designers of ‘Home Works’ aspire to motivate exchanges between those practising culture and arts in the region and those who
are active in the international context.
Having gathered extensive experience in organising festivals such as
the ‘Werkleitz Biennale’, Monika Stösser was taken with the idea of overcoming obstacles created by regional circumstances and taking a first step
towards a critical reassessment of the cultural situation in the region by
nally planned for April 2005 but postponed to November 2005 due to the
political events in February 2005.
Monika Stösser’s main work at Ashkal Alwan was to update its website and find more effective ways of systemizing its library and archive.
Through her work, Ms. Stösser gained an insight into the current cultural
environment as well as a lively impression of artistic work in Lebanon and
the Arab world.
58
Monika Stösser
contributing to the preparation of the third edition of ‘Home Works’, origi-
Ashkal Alwan –
The Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts
Gemmayzeh, Boutros Dagher Street
Chichmanian Bldg, 3rd Floor
Beirut
Lebanon
www.ashkalalwan.org
»Ashkal Alwan is a significant
and well-networked, independent
organisation for the arts.
It is a central contact point
for information and studies
concerning the cultural situation and
artistic production in Beirut
and Lebanon.«
59
60
Kambiz Tavana
Kambiz Tavana, born 1972, is from Iran. He is the diplomatic writer of the Shargh Newspaper in
Teheran, Iran. His hosting organisations in Germany were the weekly newspaper Die Zeit and
the broadcasting station Deutsche Welle.
Home Organisation
Shargh Newspaper is the most popular reformist newspaper in Iran.
The team of Shargh is a very young and skilful group of journalists. Most
of them previously worked at different newspapers which have now been
closed down. The editor in chief of Shargh, Mr. Mohammad Ghouchani, is
only 25 years old. Since Shargh is a reformist newspaper, it had a temporary ban imposed on it by the Iranian judiciary system on 18 February 2004.
The ban was removed on 28 February 2004 and Shargh was published
again on 3 March 2004.
Kambiz Tavana specialises in topics of Iranian foreign policy, nuclear
issues, human rights, the international role of Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan
and the relationship between Iran and the European Union.
Shargh Newspaper
Boulevard No. 9
Zagross street/
Argentina square
Tehran
Iran
www.sharghonline.ir
61
Hosting Organisation 1
DIE ZEIT is a German nation-wide weekly newspaper. The first edition
was printed on 21 February 1946. The paper was founded in reaction and
opposition to the National Socialist regime which had just been overthrown. The founding publishers were Gerd Buccerius, Lovis H. Lorenz,
Richard Tüngel and Ewald Schmidt di Simoni. From 1983 onwards, the
newspaper was co-published by the former German chancellor (1974 –
1982) Helmut Schmidt.
The paper is known for its very large physical size, detailed articles and
thorough corroboration of its arguments. In order to allow its readers an
independent formation of opinion, controversial subjects are often treated
Mr. Tavana spent his internship at the political department of DIE ZEIT
with Gero von Randow and Ulrich Ladurner as his tutors. The proof of the
fruitful internship are a large number of articles written by Mr. Tavana
which were published in the online edition of DIE ZEIT as well as one article
in the print edition together with Ulrich Ladurner.
62
Kambiz Tavana
by presenting parallel articles with opposed positions.
Die Zeit
Speersort 1
20095 Hamburg
www.zeit.de
»Through Mr. Tavana we have
learnt a lot about Iran.
Our specialised know-how on Iran
increased considerably.«
Ulrich Ladurner, Die Zeit
»We got to know that Iran means
much more than the atomic bomb,
regime of mullahs and such things.
Our intern helped us
to seize the complexity
of his homeland.«
Ulrich Ladurner, Die Zeit
63
Hosting Organisation 2
Deutsche Welle (DW) is Germany’s official international broadcaster
financed by government funding. It broadcasts news and information on
shortwave and satellite radio in 29 languages and has a satellite television
In 1962, Deutsche Welle started to broadcast programmes in Persian.
Kambiz Tavana completed the first part of his internship in the Persian
language radio and online news department of DW. The focal point of his
work was reporting news and information from Germany covering Iran and
the Middle East as well as European and international affairs.
64
Kambiz Tavana
service available in three languages.
Deutsche Welle
DW-WORLD
Kurt-Schumacher Str. 3
53113 Bonn
www.dw-world.de
«We talked to each other and
were able to obtain more information
about the difficulties and problems
of journalists in Iran.«
Jamsheed Faroughi, Deutsche Welle
65
66
cifa crossculture
The enterprise cifa crossculture offers intercultural seminars, training
sessions and consultancy services for the international involvement of
private companies and public institutions. It is a spin-off from the Institute
for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) and is, through this link, active in the
area of foreign cultural policy. With a leading network of over 100 experts,
cifa crossculture can avail of many years of experience and specialist expertise, especially with regard to preparing for the region of the Near and
Middle East.
Forms of behaviour and communication that differ according to culture
can lead to misunderstandings and disruptions in the intercultural dialogue. In times of globalisation, however, it is communication between
cultures, in particular, that is becoming increasingly important, with the
attainment of intercultural competence more than just a slogan.
Cultural competence means understanding one’s own and other systems of values, as well as recognising patterns of thought, behaviour and
communication in order to be able to act effectively, efficiently and coherently in a different culture. One of the best known advocates of comparative cultural research, Geert Hofstede, defined culture in the following
terms: »Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from those of
another.« This definition clearly shows that people differ from each other
through their cultural character. To enable the correlations to be understood, intercultural seminars and training sessions are offered for deployment abroad or to optimise intercultural cooperation. Those attending
learn to better understand the way in which other cultures and, indeed,
their own culture think and act.
The training institute cifa crossculture is one of the best providers of
intercultural training courses (certified by the German independent foundation for product testing in its publication Finanztest 5/2004). cifa crossculture emerged from the ifa, which has been developing competences and
skills in the intercultural seminar domain since the late 80s.
The seminars are specifically conceived for the participants (diplomats,
representatives from the areas of industry, science and civil society, etc.) in
67
order to successfully prepare them for their stay abroad. It is not a matter
of listing cultural anecdotes or faux pas; what is needed is to create the
scope for reflection on the norms, standards, values and behavioural patterns both in one’s own and in the other culture in order to help speed up
the adaptation process. The programme ranges from regionally, nationally
or thematically specific in-house training sessions to industry-wide open
seminars, from business-related intensive language training to specific
consultancy services. A large network of selected experts makes it possible
to organise seminars on virtually any culture or country.
Phases of intercultural adaptation
According to comparative cultural research findings, identical patterns
concerning the perception of a different culture can be ascertained after
stays abroad lasting several weeks to a few months. Adapting to and settling into a new cultural environment occurs in four phases.
While anticipation and curiosity dominate in the first phase of euphoria, this is followed by a phase of crisis in the form of disillusionment by
virtue of irritating observations being made in the new culture, with one’s
own culture and way of acting also being examined and questioned.
If people are not prepared for this, they will try and cope with the help
of their own familiar patterns of thought and action. This leads to the situation that the foreign behaviour is judged wrongly on the basis of one’s
own cultural standards. As it is quite possible, however, for one’s own fundamental cultural standards to be of little significance or even absent in
other cultures, problems can occur in a different culture with regard to
communication and coping with tasks or simply with everyday life. The
American anthropologist, Kalvero Oberg, described these adaptation difficulties as cultural shock, coining this term in a twofold sense – on the one
hand for the abrupt, shock-like emergence from a state of euphoria into a
feeling of being totally out of place and, on the other hand, for the entire
process of cultural crises, i.e. the actual shock and overcoming it.
»Shock« is simply a collective term for a whole series of psychological
reactions in this respect and stands for:
68
• stress on account of the pressure to achieve the necessary
psychological adaptation;
• a feeling of loss – friends, status etc.;
• a feeling of rejection because of feeling rebuffed by members
of the new culture or rejecting these oneself;
• confusion about one’s own role, the role expectations of others,
one’s own feelings and one’s own identity;
• fear on becoming aware of the full extent of the cultural differences;
• feeling of helplessness when sensing that one cannot cope
with one’s new surroundings.
The ensuing third phase of adaptation varies in length depending on
personality. Once the cultural rules have been adopted, misunderstandings
become rarer, with other standards and values recognised and accepted
as such. Things gradually start looking better and the person learns more
and more how to move between two cultures. This progressively leads to
reaching the state of the fourth phase, i.e. stabilisation. What was once
a »stranger« can then become a traveller and ambassador between the
cultures.
Steffen Henkel
cifa crossculture, Stuttgart
[email protected]
cifa crossculture
Charlottenplatz 17
D-70173 Stuttgart
www.cifa-crossculture.de
[email protected]
69
Outlook
Since the first CrossCulture Internships, which are documented in the
preceding pages, the programme has developed further, also extending to
additional areas of activity.
A great deal of experience gathered from the pioneer phase was incorporated into the second and third announcements, with the result that the
target groups were addressed more systematically and reached more easily, which led to an increase in the number of outstanding applications.
What is remarkable in this respect is that the number of applications from
female candidates has risen significantly since the first announcement,
with many more women, like their male counterparts, meeting the selection criteria than the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) has funding to support.
This development shows that we are pointing in the right direction
with the CrossCulture Internships. Our internship programme is not only
meeting a need which has not been recognised to a sufficient extent in the
past: we have also been able to address potential not previously exploited.
Both sides have more than enough human resources that can be integrated into the intercultural dialogue more firmly through a CrossCulture
Internship and who can organise their civil society involvement in a more
sustainable manner. It can be concluded from the pioneer phase of the
CrossCulture Internship programme that extending the project will meet
with a positive response and be implemented successfully.
Expanding the previous fields of activity is not only necessary in quantitative terms; the flexible structure of the CrossCulture Internship programme also allows it to be extended and adapted to virtually all areas of work
in which the abilities of young professional and future decision-makers
can be further developed through internships. CrossCulture Internships in
Germany and the Muslim world could also be used, for example, for the
parliamentary, economic, technical and administrative domains.
A CrossCulture Internship can be organised as a complementary or
accompanying measure to existing programmes, producing value added
for both the sending and the receiving organisation.
70
An expansion of the CrossCulture Internship programme must, however, be founded on a solid financial basis. The support provided by the
German Foreign Office has facilitated the establishment of organisational
structures and safeguards the continuation of the project for the foreseeable future in its previous limited form. However, extending the programme in quantitative terms and with regard to subject matter requires an
increase in the present funding levels. We are therefore looking for partners who share our interest in cultural, sociopolitical and professional
exchange between Germany and the Muslim world. With the CrossCulture
Internships, we are offering a project that gives sponsors the opportunity
to incorporate their own area of activity into the programme.
At a comparatively low cost, supporters can make a contribution towards improving cooperation, understanding and communication between
Germany and the Muslim world; this also provides them with a suitable
instrument to incorporate their areas of activity into the intercultural
dialogue. Promoting the intercultural and professional further training of
young professional and committed volunteers represents a significant and
sustained investment in the development of civil society in the respective
countries as well as in the future of relations between Germany and the
Muslim world.
The pioneer phase of the CrossCulture Internship programme is a promising start for a project with the potential to reach a large number of
new multipliers and establish permanent networks between the cultures.
71
72
73
»Diese Praktika halte ich für eine der sinnvollsten Aktionen
im Europäisch-Islamischen Kulturdialog; insbesondere
auch deshalb, weil die Praktika Institutionen,
vor allem aber Kollegen, miteinander vernetzen.
Es wäre gut, wenn das Programm fortgesetzt
und ausgebaut werden könnte.«
Jochen Leyhe
Institut für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
des Deutschen Volkshochschul-Verbandes e.V.
74
Vorwort
Im Rahmen ihres Strebens nach kooperativen Lösungen verfolgt die
Bundesregierung bereits seit Jahren eine Politik des Dialogs mit der islamisch geprägten Welt. Die terroristischen Anschläge vom 11. September
2001 haben weltweit die Einsicht in die Notwendigkeit eines solchen Dialogs verdeutlicht, und zwar als Alternative zu Konfrontation oder eines
»clash of civilizations«. Im Auswärtigen Amt wurde für diese Aufgabe ein
Arbeitsstab für den Dialog mit der islamisch geprägten Welt eingerichtet,
der ein Netzwerk von Dialogreferentinnen und -referenten an den Botschaften in der Region koordiniert. Unser Ziel ist es, zum Abbau von Feindbildern beizutragen und gegenseitiges Verständnis zu fördern. Die Umsetzung dieses Ziels in konkrete Projekte erweitert nicht nur das klassische
Instrumentarium der Gestaltung unserer auswärtigen Kulturbeziehungen,
sie konkretisiert damit auch deren Aufgaben im Bereich politischer Konfliktprävention.
Medienauswertungen machen deutlich: Das Interesse am jeweils Anderen ist sowohl in westlich als auch in islamisch geprägten Gesellschaften
vorhanden. Häufig ist dieses Interesse jedoch von stereotypen Wahrnehmungen geprägt. Woran es mangelt ist die persönliche Begegnung und
bessere Kenntnis des jeweils Anderen als Voraussetzung für wechselseitiges Verständnis.
Ein fruchtbarer Dialog setzt Vertrauen voraus. Unser Dialogansatz wird
nur dann angenommen, wenn er in der Region nicht als Bevormundung,
sondern als Angebot einer gleichwertigen Partnerschaft wahrgenommen
wird. Teil der stereotypen Wahrnehmung ist der häufig geäußerte Verdacht, »der Westen« versuche den Dialog zu instrumentalisieren, um eine
auf Wertewandel und Dominanz ausgerichtete Politik gegenüber der islamisch geprägten Welt zu rechtfertigen. Diese Sorgen müssen ernst genommen werden, indem die positiven Absichtsbekundungen mit Leben erfüllt
und Gemeinsamkeiten stärker herausgearbeitet werden, ohne dabei kritische Themen auszusparen. Verschiedene Begegnungen auf politisch und
geistig höchstem Niveau haben gezeigt, dass es in den ethischen Grundüberzeugungen zwischen beiden Gesellschaften weitreichende Gemein-
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samkeiten gibt. Die Herausforderung, die sich stellt, ist es, diese Erfahrung
vor allem jugendlichen »Normalbürgern« zu vermitteln.
Genau da setzt das aus Mitteln des Europäisch-Islamischen Kulturdialogs finanzierte und vom Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen durchgeführte
Programm CrossCulture Praktika an: Die Einbeziehung junger Berufstätiger
aus unterschiedlichen Tätigkeitsbereichen bietet nicht nur eine wichtige
Ergänzung zur langen Tradition des Hochschul- und Kulturaustausches,
sondern das Programm bietet auch die Möglichkeit, flexibel auf die jeweilige gesellschaftspolitische Situation in verschiedenen Ländern der islamisch
geprägten Welt reagieren zu können. Es geht damit über klassische Dialogformen hinaus, da hier jungen Menschen aus Deutschland und aus islamisch geprägten Ländern Gelegenheit geboten wird, miteinander zu reden
und zu arbeiten und sich durch gemeinsame Zielsetzungen und Aktionen
als Partner zu erleben.
Hans-G. Gnodtke
Beauftragter des Auswärtigen Amtes für den Dialog
mit der islamischen Welt
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Einleitung
Mit der vorliegenden Broschüre haben wir die Pionierphase der CrossCulture Praktika dokumentiert, um die Entstehungsgeschichte des Konzepts, die Erfahrungen bei der konkreten Umsetzung und vor allem die
Menschen vorzustellen, die an der erfolgreichen Durchführung dieses
neuen Projekts teilgenommen und mitgewirkt haben.
Die CrossCulture Praktika sind ein Teil des ifa-Forums Dialog und Verständigung – ein Projekt im Rahmen des Europäisch-Islamischen Kulturdialogs des Auswärtigen Amtes. Nach den Anschlägen vom 11. September
2001 hat sich das Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) mit diesem neuen
Dialogprojekt bemüht, manche Schwächen bisheriger Dialoginitiativen zu
vermeiden, indem – so der Grundgedanke – der Westen zunächst einmal
zuhört, was die muslimische Welt uns zu sagen hat. Denn wenn ein wirklicher Dialog das wechselseitige Zuhören voraussetzt, liegt es nahe, selbst
damit anzufangen. Von dieser Prämisse ausgehend hat das ifa sechs Intellektuelle aus islamisch geprägten Ländern gebeten, ihre Einschätzung des
Standes und der Probleme in den westlich-muslimischen Beziehungen zu
formulieren. Das Ergebnis dieser Art Bestandsaufnahme liegt mit dem
Report »Der Westen und die islamische Welt – eine muslimische Position«
seit 2003 vor. Eine der Empfehlungen war, verstärkt die Netzwerke der
Zivilgesellschaften zu fördern. Die CrossCulture Praktika sind aus dieser
Anregung hervorgegangen.
Dialoge mit der muslimisch geprägten Welt sind schon seit Jahren fester Bestandteil der ifa-Programmarbeit. Bereits im Jahr 1997 hat das ifa die
Reihe der deutsch-arabischen Mediendialoge aufgenommen und damit
einen regionalen Schwerpunkt gesetzt. Mediendialoge in Zentralasien,
Iran, Israel und der Türkei folgten. Mit Hilfe der zusätzlichen Mittel des
Auswärtigen Amtes ab dem Jahr 2002 konnte dieser Fokus ausgebaut und
mit mehreren Projektsträngen im ifa-Forum Dialog und Verständigung
zusammengefasst werden.
Alle Initiativen und Programme basieren auf dem Anliegen, den Dialog
nicht abstrakt und selbstbezogen zu führen, sondern sich anhand der gemeinsamen Arbeit an konkreten Themen besser kennen und verstehen
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zu lernen. Dieser Ansatz liegt sowohl den Mediendialogen wie auch den
CrossCulture Praktika zugrunde.
Die CrossCulture Praktika bieten zudem die Möglichkeit, noch vertiefter
als bei punktuellen Dialogveranstaltungen in das gemeinsame Arbeiten bei
Partnern aus einer anderen Kultur einzusteigen und bei einem sechs- bis
zwölfwöchigen Aufenthalt im Ausland in das Alltagsleben dort einzutauchen.
Die Zielgruppe sind junge Berufstätige und freiwillig Engagierte in
Organisationen und Institutionen der Zivilgesellschaften in der islamisch
geprägten Welt und in Deutschland. Im ersten Jahr 2005 konnte das ifa
14 Kandidaten aus der islamisch geprägten Welt zu einem Praktikum nach
Deutschland einladen und sechs Deutschen einen Praktikumsplatz in muslimisch geprägten Ländern vermitteln.
Die Praktikantinnen und Praktikanten konnten wichtige Erfahrungen
auf zwei Ebenen sammeln: zum einen haben sie einen Überblick über
Strukturen und Personen im Partnerland gewonnen, die sie nach Rückkehr
in ihre Heimat für die zukünftige Zusammenarbeit nutzen können – ein
wichtiger Beitrag zur Netzwerkbildung zwischen Organisationen/Institutionen in Deutschland und den muslimisch geprägten Ländern. Zum anderen haben die PraktikantInnen über die praktische Arbeit hinaus das Alltagsleben im Partnerland mit seinen kulturellen Prägungen und Verhaltensmuster kennen gelernt. Die interkulturelle Erfahrung der Praktikantinnen und Praktikanten fließt nach der Rückkehr als »Profit« in die Arbeit
der Heimatorganisation ein – so wird die Idee von Dialog und Verständigung in den Heimatländern multipliziert.
Um den Multiplikationseffekt zu sichern, kommt es bei der Auswahl der
CrossCulture Praktikanten neben deren persönlicher Motivation und Qualifikation auch entscheidend auf ihre Einbindung in eine Organisation/
Institution, die Stellung dieser in der jeweiligen Zivilgesellschaft und ihr
Interesse an der Netzwerkbildung zwischen Deutschland und der islamisch
geprägten Welt an.
Beim Abstecken der Themenfelder, die im Konzept der CrossCulture
Praktika als Schwerpunkte genannt sind, haben wir uns an den Ergebnissen
der damals vorliegenden Arab Human Development Reports (AHDR) 2002
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und 2003 orientiert. Die CrossCulture Praktika richten sich also primär
an Kandidaten und Organisationen/Institutionen, die in den folgenden
Bereichen tätig sind:
• Wissensgesellschaft und Bildung
• Rechtsdialog und Menschenrechte
• Medien
• Jugendaustausch
• Politische Bildung
Bei den Ausschreibungen haben wir ein besonderes Augenmerk auf
Tätige in Organisationen und Institutionen gelegt, die eine wichtige Aufgabe im Bereich Bildung und allgemein beim Aufbau von Wissensgesellschaften in der arabischen/islamischen Welt spielen.
Darüber hinaus sollten MultiplikatorInnen aus Institutionen und Organisationen angesprochen werden, die in weiteren reformrelevanten Feldern
tätig sind, besonders in den Bereichen Rechtsdialog und Menschenrechte,
Medien, Jugendaustausch und politische Bildung.
Auf der deutschen Seite sind Zielgruppen Tätige in den entsprechenden
Partnerorganisationen sowie junge Berufstätige und Engagierte in Organisationen und Institutionen, in denen interkulturelle Erfahrung Voraussetzung für den Arbeitserfolg darstellt. Regional konzentriert sich der Austausch auf Deutschland und die 22 Mitgliedsstaaten der Arabischen Liga
sowie Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan und die arabische Bevölkerung in Israel.
Als wir die erste Ausschreibung mit den genannten Vorgaben verschickten, erwarteten wir die Rückmeldungen mit großer Spannung. Es
war nicht vorauszusagen, ob aus allen gewünschten Themenbereichen
Bewerbungen eingereicht würden, in welchen Ländern es eine besonders
große Nachfrage gibt, und ob wir überhaupt die Zielgruppen erreichen,
die wir ansprechen wollen.
Mit Hilfe der deutschen Auslandsvertretungen haben wir zahlreiche
Bewerbungen aus den unterschiedlichsten Arbeitshintergründen erhalten.
Aus fast allen einbezogenen Ländern kamen Bewerbungen, zahlenmäßig
stark repräsentiert aus Ägypten, Pakistan und Sudan; keine Anfragen erhielten wir aus dem Irak und Libyen. Was die Schwerpunktbereiche betrifft,
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so ist eine hohe Nachfrage aus dem Bereich der Medien und eine besonders geringe aus den Bereichen Wissensgesellschaft und Bildung festzustellen.
Auf deutscher Seite gab es ebenfalls ein Übergewicht an Bewerbungen
aus dem Bereich Medien. Darüber hinaus war das Interesse besonders groß
bei Kandidaten und Organisationen, die eigentlich schon als »Profis« im
interkulturellen Kontakt mit der islamisch geprägten Welt gelten können.
Hingegen waren Kandidaten aus Organisationen/Institutionen, die die
CrossCulture Praktika nutzen wollten, um ein erkanntes Defizit an interkultureller und Regionalkompetenz für die islamisch geprägte Welt auszugleichen, wenig repräsentiert. Das Niveau war bei dem größten Teil der
Bewerbungen erfreulich hoch, so dass wir weit mehr interessante Bewerbungen erhielten, als wir Praktikumsplätze anbieten konnten. Die Auswahl
der Kandidaten gemeinsam mit Vertretern des Auswärtigen Amtes war
deshalb nicht leicht, entscheidend war dann letztlich eine regionale und
fachliche Ausgewogenheit.
Unser Anspruch war und ist, für die einzelnen PraktikantInnen sehr gezielt den Praktikumsplatz auszuwählen. Die Auswahl vermittelte die erste
von vielen Erkenntnissen, die im Vorfeld nicht abzusehen waren: Auch
wenn wir die Bereitschaft vieler Organisationen vorab eingeholt hatten,
so mussten doch noch für die meisten Praktikanten ganz individuell andere
Organisationen angesprochen werden.
Für die positive Resonanz bei der Suche nach Praktikumsplätzen bedanken wir uns ganz herzlich auch bei denjenigen Organisationen und Institutionen, für die es bei der ersten Ausschreibung keine Praktikumskandidaten gab. Besonderer Dank gilt den Organisationen und Institutionen,
die sozusagen als Pioniere der CrossCulture Praktika die erste Gruppe der
CrossCulture Praktikanten betreut haben.
Einige der Praktikanten und deren Heimat- und Gastorganisationen lernen Sie durch die hier vorgelegte Dokumentation kennen und gewinnen so
einen Eindruck von der Vielfalt der Erfahrungen, die alle Beteiligten in der
Startphase der CrossCulture Praktika gemacht haben. Zu den Erfahrungen
gehört auch, dass bei einem individualisierten Programm wie den CrossCulture Praktika eine feste Zeitplanung nur eine grobe Richtschnur sein kann.
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Aufgrund der kurzfristigen und flexiblen Anpassung an individuelle Gegebenheiten waren einige Praktika der ersten Ausschreibung noch nicht abgeschlossen, als wir diese Dokumentation fertig stellten. Wir können deshalb hier nur die Praktikanten vorstellen, die zwischenzeitlich wieder in
ihre Heimat zurückgekehrt sind, und bei denen wir schon die Eindrücke
vom abgeschlossenen Praktikum einholen konnten.
Mit einem Text zu Erfahrungen beim Arbeiten in fremden Kulturen und
zum Umgang mit dem Kulturschock stellen wir außerdem unseren Partner
cifa vor, der das interkulturelle Begleittraining für die CrossCulture Praktikanten gestaltet hat. Die Aufbauphase eines neuen Projektes verlangt von
allen Beteiligten Geduld und vielleicht auch manchmal Nachsicht, da man
noch nicht auf eingespielte Verfahren zurückgreifen kann. Wir möchten
uns daher beim Auswärtigen Amt, den deutschen Auslandsvertretungen
und den beteiligten Organisationen für ihre Kollegialität und gute Zusammenarbeit bedanken.
Die Betreuung der so unterschiedlichen Kandidaten aus verschiedenen
Ländern hat uns viele interessante Einblicke und neue Kontakte verschafft
und darüber hinaus auch Spaß gemacht.
Wir hoffen, dass wir Ihnen mit dieser Broschüre einen Eindruck davon
vermitteln können und wünschen viel Vergnügen bei der Lektüre.
Barbara Kuhnert
Leiterin Referat Dialogforen
und
Katharina Kilian-Yasin
Projektleiterin mit ihrem Team
Manuela Höglmeier und Sonja Ibrahim
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cifa crossculture
Das Unternehmen cifa crossculture bietet interkulturelle Seminare,
Trainings und Beratungsdienstleistungen für das internationale Engagement privatwirtschaftlicher Unternehmen und öffentlicher Institutionen.
Es ist eine Ausgründung aus dem Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e.V.
Durch diese Verbindung ist es im Rahmen der Auswärtigen Kulturpolitik
tätig.
Durch eines der führenden Expertennetzwerke von über 100 Personen
kann cifa crossculture gerade für die Vorbereitung auf die Region des
Mittleren und Nahen Ostens auf langjährige Erfahrung und eine besondere
Expertise zurück blicken.
Kulturell unterschiedliche Verhaltens- und Kommunikationsformen
können im interkulturellen Dialog zu Missverständnissen und Störungen
führen. In Zeiten der Globalisierung ist aber gerade die Kommunikation
zwischen den Kulturen immer wichtiger und die Erlangung interkultureller
Kompetenz mehr als nur ein Schlagwort.
Kulturelle Kompetenz heißt, das eigene und fremde Wertesystem zu
verstehen sowie Denk-, Verhaltens- und Kommunikationsmuster zu erkennen, um mit diesem Wissen effektiv, effizient und stimmig in einer anderen Kultur zu handeln. Einer der bekanntesten Vertreter der vergleichenden
Kulturforschung, Geert Hofstede, definiert Kultur folgendermaßen: »Kultur
ist die kollektive Programmierung des Geistes, die die Mitglieder einer
Gruppe oder einer Kategorie von Menschen von einer anderen unterscheidet.« Wie diese Definition deutlich macht, unterscheiden sich Menschen
durch ihre kulturelle Prägung voneinander. Um die Zusammenhänge zu
verstehen, werden interkulturelle Seminare und Trainings für einen Auslandseinsatz oder zur Optimierung der interkulturellen Zusammenarbeit
angeboten. Dort lernen die Teilnehmer die Denk- und Verhaltensweisen
einer anderen und auch der eigenen Kultur besser verstehen.
Das Trainingsinstitut cifa crossculture ist einer der besten Anbieter
interkultureller Trainings (Finanztest 5/2004). Hervorgegangen ist cifa
crossculture aus dem Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e.V., das seit Ende
der 80er Jahren Kompetenzen im interkulturellen Seminarbereich aufgebaut hat.
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Die Seminare werden gezielt für die Teilnehmer (Diplomaten, Vertreter
aus der Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Zivilgesellschaft etc.) konzipiert, um
ihren Auslandsaufenthalt erfolgreich vorzubereiten. Dabei geht es nicht
um das Auflisten kultureller Anekdoten oder Fauxpas, sondern darum,
Raum zu schaffen für Reflexion über die Normen, Werte und Handlungsmuster in der eigenen sowie der fremden Kultur und hilft den Anpassungsprozess zu beschleunigen.
Das Angebot reicht von regional-, länder- oder themenspezifischen
Inhouse-Trainings bis hin zu unternehmensübergreifenden Offenen Seminaren, von businessbezogenen Intensiv-Sprachtrainings bis hin zu konkreten Consulting-Dienstleistungen. Ein großes Netzwerk ausgewählter
Experten ermöglicht die Durchführung von Seminaren zu nahezu allen
Kulturen und Ländern.
Phasen der interkulturellen Anpassung
Nach Auslandsaufenthalten von mehreren Wochen bis einigen Monaten
– so hat die vergleichende Kulturforschung festgestellt – lassen sich
gleiche Muster hinsichtlich der Wahrnehmung einer fremden Kultur feststellen. Die Anpassung an und das Einleben in einen neuen Kulturkreis geschieht dabei in vier Phasen: Während in der ersten Phase der Euphorie
Vorfreude und Neugier auf die bevorstehende Zeit dominieren, folgt als
Ernüchterung eine Phase der Krise, da es zu irritierenden Beobachtungen
in der neuen Kultur kommt und eigene Werte und Handlungsmuster überprüft und in Frage gestellt werden.
Ist man darauf nicht vorbereitet, so wird man versuchen, sich mithilfe
der eigenen vertrauten Denk- und Handlungsmustern zurechtzufinden.
Fälscherlicherweise wird dadurch das fremde Verhalten auf der Grundlage
der eigenen Kulturstandards beurteilt. Da es aber möglich ist, dass gerade
die zentralen eigenen Kulturstandards in fremden Kulturen von geringer
Bedeutung sind oder gänzlich fehlen, kann es in der fremden Kultur zu
Problemen bei der Kommunikation und Bewältigung von Aufgaben oder
schlicht des Alltags kommen. Diese Anpassungsschwierigkeiten hat der
amerikanische Anthropologe Kalvero Oberg als cultural shock (»Kultur-
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schock«) bezeichnet und prägte diesen Begriff in zweifachem Sinne. Zum
einen für den schockartigen Sturz aus der Euphorie in das Gefühl, völlig
fehl am Platze zu sein. Zum anderen verwendete er das Wort Kulturschock
auch für den gesamten Prozess der Kulturkrise, den eigentlichen Schock
und dessen Überwindung.
»Schock« ist dabei nur eine Sammelbezeichnung für eine ganze Reihe
psychischer Reaktionen und steht für:
• Stress aufgrund der Belastung, die notwendigen psychischen
Anpassungsleistungen zu erbringen;
• ein Gefühl des Verlustes – Freunde, Status etc.;
• ein Gefühl der Ablehnung, weil man sich von Mitgliedern
der neuen Kultur abgelehnt fühlt oder diese selbst ablehnt;
• Verwirrung über die eigene Rolle, über die Rollenerwartungen
anderer, über die eigenen Gefühle und die eigene Identität;
• Angst, wenn man sich des vollen Ausmaßes der kulturellen
Unterschiede bewusst wird;
• Ohnmachtsgefühl, weil man meint, mit der neuen Umgebung
nicht zurechtzukommen.
Je nach Persönlichkeit dauert die sich daran anschließende dritte Phase
der Anpassung unterschiedlich lang. Mit der Übernahme kultureller Spielregeln werden Missverständnisse seltener, fremde Normen und Werte als
solche erkannt und akzeptiert. Stufenweise geht es aufwärts, man lernt
immer besser, sich in zwei Kulturen sicher zu bewegen. Sukzessive wird
so der Zustand der letzten Phase, die der Stabilisierung erreicht. Der einst
»Fremde« kann dann zum Wanderer und Botschafter zwischen den
Kulturen werden.
Steffen Henkel
cifa crossculture, Stuttgart
cifa crossculture
Charlottenplatz 17
70173 Stuttgart
www.cifa-crossculture.de
[email protected]
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Ausblick
Seit den ersten CrossCulture Praktika, die auf den vorhergehenden
Seiten dokumentiert sind, hat sich das Programm weiterentwickelt und
konnte um zusätzliche Arbeitsbereiche erweitert werden.
Viele Erfahrungen aus der Pionierphase sind in die zweite und dritte
Ausschreibung eingeflossen, so dass die Zielgruppen systematischer angesprochen und noch besser erreicht werden konnten, was dazu führte, dass
die Zahl von hervorragenden Bewerbungen gestiegen ist. Bemerkenswert
ist dabei, dass die Zahl der Bewerbungen von weiblichen Kandidaten seit
der ersten Ausschreibung signifikant angestiegen ist, und ebenso wie bei
den männlichen Bewerbern erfüllen weit mehr Bewerberinnen die Auswahlkriterien, als das Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) Fördermöglichkeiten hat.
Diese Entwicklung zeigt, dass wir mit den CrossCulture Praktika den
richtigen Weg eingeschlagen haben. Wir sind mit unserem Praktikumsangebot nicht nur auf einen offensichtlich bislang zu wenig erkannten
Bedarf gestoßen, sondern konnten auch Potenziale ansprechen, die bisher
ungenutzt blieben. Auf beiden Seiten gibt es mehr als genug human ressources, die durch ein CrossCulture Praktikum fester in den interkulturellen
Dialog eingebunden werden und ihr zivilgesellschaftliches Engagement
nachhaltiger gestalten können.
Als Fazit der Pionierphase der CrossCulture Praktika bleibt festzustellen,
dass ein Ausbau des Projekts auf große Resonanz mit erfolgreicher Umsetzung stoßen wird. Nicht nur quantitativ ist eine Erweiterung in den bisherigen Arbeitsfeldern geboten. Die flexible Struktur der CrossCulture Praktika
erlaubt auch eine Ausweitung und Anpassung auf nahezu alle Arbeitsfelder, in denen Kapazitäten von jungen Berufstätigen und zukünftigen Entscheidungsträgern durch Praktika aufgebaut werden können. CrossCulture
Praktika in Deutschland und der islamisch geprägten Welt könnten beispielsweise auch für den parlamentarischen, wirtschaftlichen, technischen
oder Verwaltungsbereich genutzt werden. Ein CrossCulture Praktikum kann
als Ergänzung oder Begleitmaßnahme zu bestehenden Angeboten gestaltet werden und damit sowohl für die entsendende als auch die aufnehmende Organisation einen Mehrwert ergeben.
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Ein Ausbau der CrossCulture Praktika muss allerdings auf einer festen
finanziellen Basis stehen. Die Förderung durch das Auswärtige Amt hat den
Aufbau der Organisationsstrukturen ermöglicht und sichert die Fortsetzung des Projekts in der nächsten Zukunft im bisherigen kleinen Rahmen.
Eine quantitative und thematische Erweiterung erfordert jedoch eine
Aufstockung der bisherigen Mittel. Wir suchen daher Partner, die unser
Interesse am kulturellen, gesellschaftspolitischen und professionellen Austausch zwischen Deutschland und der islamischen Welt teilen. Wir bieten
mit den CrossCulture Praktika ein Projekt an, das für Sponsoren die Chance
gewährt, den eigenen Arbeitsbereich in das Programm einzubringen.
Mit vergleichsweise geringen Mitteln können Unterstützer einen Beitrag zur besseren Zusammenarbeit und zu mehr Verständigung zwischen
Deutschland und der islamisch geprägten Welt leisten; sie haben zudem
ein geeignetes Instrument, ihren Bereich in den interkulturellen Dialog einzubringen.
Die Förderung der interkulturellen und professionellen Weiterbildung
von jungen Berufstätigen und freiwillig Engagierten ist eine tief greifende
und nachhaltige Investition in die Entwicklung der Zivilgesellschaft in den
jeweiligen Ländern und in die Zukunft der Beziehungen zwischen Deutschland und der islamisch geprägten Welt.
Die Pionierphase der CrossCulture Praktika ist ein viel versprechender
Anfang für ein Projekt mit dem Potenzial, noch viele neue Multiplikatoren
zu erreichen und dauerhafte Netzwerke zwischen den Kulturen aufzubauen.
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Imprint
Impressions of the First Year 2005
CrossCulture Internships
With an Annex in German
A project within the framework of the »European-Muslim Cultural Dialogue«
organised by the Federal Foreign Office
Concept, organisation and documentation
Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa), Stuttgart
Responsible Barbara Kuhnert
Project Team
Dr. Katharina Kilian-Yasin
Dr. Manuela Höglmeier
Sonja Ibrahim (intern)
Design Michael Kimmerle, Stuttgart
Photographer Jochen Eckel
Printing Dr. Cantz’sche Druckerei, Ostfildern
Published by
Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e.V., Stuttgart
Charlottenplatz 17
D-70173 Stuttgart
Postfach 10 24 63
D-70020 Stuttgart
© 2006 ifa Stuttgart