WIR SIND HIER! auf „Peer Loaded“ in Görlitz, Foto: Alexander "Ali" Rönisch
On the first weekend of July 2022, our youth group “Wir Sind Hier!” traveled to Görlitz in Saxony and participated in the first youth conference of Saxon peer – projects. Under the name “Peer Loaded”, committed young people from all over the state came together, got to know each other and attended a variety of workshops.
Update (09/30/2022): Video documentation of the youth conference:
WIR SIND HIER! auf „Peer Loaded“ in Görlitz
WIR SIND HIER! auf „Peer Loaded“ in Görlitz
WIR SIND HIER! auf „Peer Loaded“ in Görlitz
WIR SIND HIER! auf „Peer Loaded“ in Görlitz
WIR SIND HIER! auf „Peer Loaded“ in Görlitz
WIR SIND HIER! auf „Peer Loaded“ in Görlitz
WIR SIND HIER! auf „Peer Loaded“ in Görlitz
In addition to topics such as hate speech, fake news, and civil courage, there was also a well-attended awareness-raising workshop against antiziganism by “Wir sind Hier!”.
The group was able to reach many young peer trainers in Saxony through varied methods, expertise and a good dose of humor and has raised awareness for the continuous and multi-layered discrimination against Sinti and Roma*.
In addition to the input from the group, the stay in Görlitz was also used intensively for networking with local peer projects.
The nice weekend was rounded off by a concert of Brass Riot from Berlin in the old factory Rabryka. After a busy weekend, we were able to dance the night away.
We would like to thank the “Peer Loaded” crew, the Saxon Youth Foundation, the RAA Saxony and especially all the great young people for the good time.
We will be happy to come back and look forward to seeing you again!
Our young people from WIR SIND HIER! were together with young people from our friendly organization Gangway e.V. in the Easter vacations for 5 days in Leipzig.
With them were Ali from WIR SIND HIER! and Lennart, who works as a street worker for Gangway, Seyram, the volunteer from RomaTrial, Naomi, Elisa, Estera and David, from the WIR SIND HIER! Group, as well as Blondina, Elisei, Samson and Elisei from Gangway Friedrichshain.
We arrived at the main train station in Leipzig on Wednesday afternoon and made our way to the “Hostel Eden”, where we were warmly welcomed and provided with wifi and rooms.
Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
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Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
Erlebnisbericht Leipzig
Since many of us were hungry, we soon made our way to a restaurant near our hostel, where we also met Valentin, our new collaborator for WIR SIND HIER! in Saxony.
Afterwards we took a sunset walk with him through our neighborhood (Lindenau and Plagwitz), where among other things there was a stop at a playground with swings and small photo shoots.
In the evening we sat together on the terrace and played familiarization games like “Who-would?” or “Truth-or-Duty”.
The next morning, Lennart went shopping with a few young people so that we could have breakfast afterwards. Afterwards we went to the city center, where we explored the city on our own in smaller groups for an hour. Then we got together again to go up to the roof of the MDR Tower together, where we could enjoy the view of Leipzig and the surrounding area.
Unfortunately, it started to rain when we were on top, so we decided to go back to the hostel, there our teenagers cooked Aripioare de pui, mămăligă, cartofi si usturoi (chicken wings, polenta, potatoes and garlic). It was very very tasty!
After dinner we went for another evening walk and danced under a bridge.
On Friday, after we had pancakes for breakfast, we went out and sprayed graffiti, we divided the wall among ourselves so that everyone could create something of their own. Really cool works of art were created.
Afterwards, we chilled in the hostel until dinner and played cards, because there was a card game tournament after dinner and we could practice a bit before dinner. Jule, who works in the hostel, and Bifi, another friend of Ali, joined us for the tournament. They already knew the game and the tournament was very exciting.
Saturday we had a late breakfast on the terrace, then we said goodbye to Seyram, who had to leave earlier. After that we went to a boat rental, where we went with paddle boats, we distributed to five boats, so that older ones were mixed with younger ones. The young people were a bit excited, but then the boating was a lot of fun.
In the evening we went to a carnival, where we rode roller coasters, ghost trains, and much more. We went back to the hostel full of adrenaline.
On Sunday morning we had breakfast and then packed our stuff and headed to the train station to go back to Berlin.
We enjoyed the trip very much and hope that we can travel together again soon.
At the end of March we, David Paraschiv from the youth group “WIR SIND HIER!” and Alexander Rönisch (Ali), project leader “WIR SIND HIER!”) set off to Plauen. After previous arrangements with the Dresden “Group against Anti-Romaism” and the local association colorido e. V., we participated in an interdisciplinary exchange on March 24 in the context of the International Weeks against Racism with a workshop on the topic of “Racism against Sinti* and Roma*”.
We experienced a great interest of the participating actors to learn more about the history of the Sinti* and Roma*, as well as to deal critically with antigypsyistic
Plauen is also the birthplace, place of residence and center of life of Sinti* and Roma*. Therefore, there was a lot of desire for exchange on the part of local associations in the premises of Colorido e.V..
We were able to report on experiences from Berlin and promoted a multi-perspective view. David spoke from his perspective as a resident of a segregated housing block where many Roma* from Romania live in Berlin – Friedrichshain, as well as Ali from his experience as a street social worker in this social space. We talked about a broad alliance, which has been organized over years in a socio-spatial way and supports the residents on different levels and in which the two got to know each other years ago.
To what extent the situation is transferable to Plauen, we can not judge, because we were the first time on site and the information situation is unclear. Our intention was to sensitize for stereotypical, antigypsyistic attributions and to give a motivating insight into the work of local networks in Berlin.
We would like to stay in contact with the local actors and are looking forward to our next visit in the beautiful Vogtland. Thank you for the fruitful meeting to all participants. We will come again!
colorido e. V. /, Roma Respect, Against Antiromaism, Alliance Against Racism Saxony, Riesa efau, Kultur Forum Dresden, KARO e.V., Sächsischer Flüchtlingsrat e.V.
P.S.: After this long working day it was not the end of the day for everyone! Afterwards David was online at the education summit of the New German Organizations.
During the winter vacations of 2022, the Berlin youth group of WIR SIND HIER! went on an excursion to Saxony. Our goal was to escape the gray winter routine in Berlin, meet new people, build collaborations, and just have a good time.
WE ARE HERE! – in Dresden
So, from 03.02. to 06.02. the group set off for the capital of Saxony. In addition to nightly sightseeing tours in the old town and many great moments as a group, we met with Erik from Fanprojekt Dresden/ Lernort Stadion, among others, to get to know each other and to plan a cooperation in the future. The project is aimed at school classes and educational institutions in and around Dresden and offers workshops and project days on the topics of fair play and anti-racism in the venerable Rudolf Harbig Stadium. This was a good opportunity to integrate our workshop offer on the topic of anti-gypsyism and thus bring it to local educational institutions.
Afterwards, the group went to Bautzen, where we were warmly welcomed by street worker Benno from the Pro-Chance project. After a short walk, we went together to the Kurti youth club. The special feature of this facility is that it is completely managed by young people and, along with the Steinhaus, is an important place for young people in Bautzen. We talked about the political situation in the city, the national minority of the Sorbs, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of living there.
At the Bautzen Memorial
Afterwards, the group visited the Bautzen Memorial, the former famous – infamous “Stasi prison”. After a short tour of the old town, the group returned to the hostel in Dresden. The last day was used intensively to get to know the surrounding area better and to process the collected impressions.
WE ARE HERE & Saxon vineyards
We had a very nice time and collected many points of contact for future visits.
What sounds and is written like a tongue twister is a complex, year-round program for our young people, in which they receive comprehensive training as peer trainers. In order for them to be able to offer workshops on the topic of antigypsyism to their peers in schools and youth facilities later on, they have to acquire these skills at such a young age.
The days are short, the weather is too cold. There is a pandemic that complicates this dark season… but after Advent comes Christmas and our team is young and motivated. The youth would like to put on something creative that also provides information. Sounds right up our educational alley!
Out of the group an advent calendar against antigypsyism has been created, which lets open a little door every day – from A to Z. The campaign, which became an Instagram hit in its time, can be viewed at the following link…this time even without having to wait for the next day:
Our WSH project aims to be active in the German states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony and to set up youth groups in these locations. Since the worldwide pandemic broke out at the beginning of our project, we lacked for a very long time the possibilities of a trip to the other federal states with our youth group to see with which forces there we can cooperate. But as soon as that was possible, we traveled with the youth group from Berlin to Dresden.
In Dresden we met some Roma youth and activists and talked with them about our goals and wishes regarding the project. They were lively conversations! Along the way, we were able to see some of the beautiful city of Dresden, which was a bonus point. We are really looking forward to building up our youth group in Saxony. Hopefully we can continue to make trips like this to keep the networking going between groups.
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