“Dialogue on eye-level”

through common work experience

How the cooperation between a German technical college and a Mozambican organistion of cooperatives developed into a model project Written by Ingrid Lorbach, translated by students of the FOS 12.1 of the G6 college

Last year Hamburg’s technical college for woodtechnology, colour and interior design received for their cooperation-project with the Mozambican organisation of cooperatives UGC ( Union Geral das Cooperativas) two awards at the same time.
As the first winner of the school competition of the education institution “Werkstatt3” in Hamburg they received the title “Eine-Welt-Schule” (One-World-School).
The jury really liked the well-thought through concept, the committed students who presented what they had learnt in a lively and visual manner and the teamwork between teachers, students, cooperation partners and supporters.
At the “bildungsmarkt 2003” (education market2003) in Mainz the project took part under the “Actionsprogram2015”to fight poverty by the federal government of Germany as one of the 23 ”best-practice Projects”. The federal secretary for economical cooperation and development Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said to the occasion, the project showed learners how to fight poverty in the “One World” also from Germany. It sets new accents in the whole of Germany in the education work which is why it is such a good example.

How have the students and teachers from Hamburg now managed to develop a concrete example of a north-south partnership-project, which aims at a "dialogue between cultures on eye-level" ?

Looking back: In 1999, a college-staff-meeting of the G6 decided to organize a partnership with an education-center in Mozambique. At the college a “Third World”-team was put up, and the development of school-contacts with Mozambique in June 2000 was incorporated as an objective in the college´s school-program.
In September 2001 Magarida Chambule visited the G6, she is one of the directors of the UGC in Mozambique. The contact with the representatives of the head organisation of the agricultural cooperatives in the green-zones of Maputo, was made by Rainer Maehl, teacher at the G6. He already had known Mozambique and the UGC from previous contacts.
As the biggest organisation of cooperatives in Mozambique, the UGC, represents over 200 separate organisations with 5500 members. 95 per cent of them are women. After talks with the college management and interested students, the director of the UGC invited the students to come to Maputo. The stay at the cooperatives should be a chance for the German students to get an impression and exchange experience at work.

The visit of Margarida Chambule and the invitation to Mozambique set activity going among the students. A group was founded which independently advertised the idea of a partnership with the UGC at the college and also outside and were looking for possibilities to finance a partnership journey. The “Forum for exchanges between cultures” was founded.
The students collected visual aids about Mozambique, talked with teachers to bring up the topic ‘Mozambique’ in class. They presented themselves with an information stand and a photo exhibition about Mozambique on an “open day”, had a talk with the senate office of Hamburg about a cooperation regarding development aid and organised a solidarity party with 850 paying guests. The students looked for sponsors and advertised for donations. They were guests in a radio-programme of an official Hamburg radio station.

Then in June 2002 a group of students and two teachers from the G6, one of them Rainer Maehl, flew to Mozambique to stay there for three weeks. They stayed at the agricultural centre of the UGC, they visited different settlements, hospital stations, agricultural cooperatives, a factory for chicken food, a pottery, an orphanage and an art centre.
They took part in the drawing lessons at a secondary school and worked at the joiner’s workshop of the UGC. There tables for the training centre should be designed and made together with Mozambican joiners. The outline was developed together with the head of the training centre. The putting into practice was not that easy because of missing material and the low standard of the technical equipment.
Dealing with the unfamiliar working conditions in Mozambique was definitely an important experience of the stay, but just as important for the prospective joiners from Germany was the huge hospitality and the fun at the meetings or common activities with the Mozambican people. Hosts and visitors value the stay of the Hamburg group as very successful and see it as the beginning of a long lasting co-operation.

Next Steps

The next step was a project suggestion for the ASA-program 2003 of the InWent foundation (for international further education and development), which …(to be continued)

The partnership between UGC and G6 should be developed further, with the aim to create a long-term cooperation with foreign-aid organisations. Now, Inkota, an ecumenical network with foreign-aid groups and committed individuals, is involved in the project-preparation.

INKOTA, as a foreign-aid, non-governmental organisation takes on the organisation, when applying for money and the project completion. The partnership between the UGC and G6 will get a new impulse this year.

Two Mozambican skilled workers as part of an ASA–North-South-project will come to Hamburg. From April until June there will be a joiner at the G6. He will get to know the training-scheme of the G6. The G8 college in Hamburg will look after a car-mechanic. During the stay - amongst other things - the preliminary steps of a small training-program for a prospective workshop in Mozambique will be developed. Experiences with product-oriented lessons as they are common at the G6 college will form the basis for this.

In 2005 a journey is planned again from Hamburg to Mozambique for students and teachers. And there will be a reason to celebrate then: The planned training workshop is to be inaugurated.