Our trip to Strasbourg

We left Heilbronn on the 5th of July 2016 for Strasbourg.The journey took 2 hours and was led by Mr and Mrs Kümmerle.We stopped at the boundary where we had coffee and also walked around for 15 minutes.Later we headed for Strasbourg and we also saw the river Rhine and the bridge which was under construction.

We were eager to go to the EU parliament and were amazed at the big and beautiful parliament building. Then we passed through the hands of the security.

A guide was given to us and we took our seats at the plenary. Members of the parliament were discussing about the Brexit.The debate was very strong and had heated arguments.

After 1 hour we went to a rest room and had a discussion with the vice president of the EU parliament-Mr Wieland. We asked some questions and he answered them but as all politicians do,he was not very clear to some of our questions.We also talked to one of the civil servants.

We took lunch and went for a tour with a tourguide-Mrs Regina.She took us around the church and another house which had 65 windows which in olden times it was a sign of richness.

We were priviledged to see River Ill and the movable bridge there. At 3.30pm we allocated at different groups and went to different places. At 5.30pm we went to the bus and started our journey back to Heilbronn.

IT WAS A DAY OF FUN!!!

(Grace, 16 Kenya/ Diana, 16 Kenya)

Experience in the Meeting at the Town Hall

We as Kenyan student leaders went into the Town Hall in Heilbronn on the 29^th of  June to study about the student leaders of Getogether and the history.

We learned that:

In the early years Germany had no well developed infrastructure but in the present days the German government has experienced a great improvement in terms of infrastructure and communication system.

We have also learned that there are youth student representative in the entire German republic, who deal with issues affecting the youth by creating a good environment for the youth through activities such as settling problems concerning them and encouraging them to work hard in daily live.

We as student leaders from Kenya, have also learned that there is a great difference in leadership between Kenya and Germany, in terms of student representatives. (Jim, 20 Kenya)

Photo Rally

On the 29th June we went to Heilbronn to tour the city.We divided ourselves in three groups.

Each group went to a different part of the city and take photos of different landmarks in the city.

Afterwhich we went back to school for presentation of the photos.Then we compiled the best photos. (Abby, 17 Kenya/ Joan, 18 Kenya)

Meeting between Kenyan and German student leaders

Our project started with a meeting between the kenyan leaders and the german leaders, they exchanged their experiences and sucesses they've made in school.
In  Germany we call our Student Council "SMV" (Schüler mit Verantwortung = Students with responsibility ) in which all students are represented by some students, but in Kenya the system is a little bit different. They also have a student council consists of captains and a student leader called "president".
Most of people don't know the differences between our system and theirs, but there are a lot.
For example, in Germany the leaders are mediators between the teachers and the students, they are just allowed to mediate the opinions and problems, but they are also allowed to plan projects at school.
In Kenya the presidents are not only there to represent the students, they really act like a "president", so they are allowed to punish other students. For example if a student is late for a lesson they can tell them to clean the corridor and the students are really doing it! In Germany nobody would do that! German students just accept the punishment if they see a connection between the mistake and the punishment.
(Marie, 17 Germany)

 










A great success a student leader from Kenya reached:

A report from Mary:
In our school we had a problem with the latrines. They were old and few as well. That is, the number of  students in the school was big yet the latrines were few so it could not accommodate all the students. The students then brought the issue to me and I as a president carried the isse to the school Board Of Management (BOM) since I am their representative there. They then realised that the issue was very serious and took action. For that reason, a project was started for building new latrines. As for now, we have new latrines in our school and all the students are happy about this. (Mary,17 Kenya)

Beilstein - Summary Report

Day 1

The session began on Friday, the 24. of June 2016 at 10 o'clock with the students getting the rooms and a small breefing from the teachers that is Silke, Chris and Titus. After lunch the two women Vicky and Martina from ENSA (Entwicklungspolitische Schulaustauschprogramm/ Development policy school exchange program) arrived and eventually the session commenced with ice-breaking. It started by german and kenyan stundents introducing themselves and later on ground norms. After that we had dinner and after that the programm for this day was over since it was the first day.

Day 2 

The next day the program started immediately after breakfeast some energizement from Augustine, which woke up everybody.
The topic of the day was introduced by the facilitators. There was a team building which brought all the participants together hence creating a maximum cooperation between the facilitators and the students.
There was a bridge building game to show the students, that people have different roles and if you have to work together sometimes you just have to accept this role or ask the person why he or she behaves like he or she does.
After that boys and girls served a hot lunch and had a break. After lunch the program continued with finding out something about the different cultures of germany and kenya which also includes the differences and similarities and this was done into mixed groups. After presentig the results we saw a movie about the „danger of the single story“ and we had dinner. 

Day 3

This was the last day of the program and everybody seemed to be tired. However we had to finish the whole program. Student council issues were also discussed towards the end oft he program. Here the students were seperated from the teachers to allow the students to open up their issues and to create confidence among themselves.
Later on the presentation was done and further explanation of varias issues affecting the students were explaining to detail. Students were given a chance to write letters to themselves about what they were expecting from the project which will be done in the next two weeks. At the end there was also a feedback from all the students and also the teachers to the ENSA facilitators and for saying goodbeye we had a prayer together and stundents leave at their own pleasure.  (Sarah, 19 Germany, Augustine, 25 Kenya)

 

 

20th of June - They are coming!

On this day we got the message: They will come!
Of course all of us were excited about meeting and getting to know our exchange students of Kenya. We were worrying so long if they would get the visa so we were very happy when we got the information that everything is going to work out.
We had to learn a lot about the culture and the way of living to understand our guests, that's why we had different meetings before they arrived. We talked about our fears and problems we might get because of the cultural differences of our countries. We also planned what we could do with our lovely guests and what could be interesting for them to see.
On the day they arrived we didn't even know their names and who would stay with us and this is what made our day even more exciting. Their flight was late and we had to wait a little longer so see them.
When they finally arrived in our school they were welcomed by our principal and the hosts and they told about themselves.

All of us are very glad that the kenyans are here in Germany and we're looking forward for a nice time with them.

Celebration on the first day

We had a welcoming party in the school hall

They presented to us some nice music.we then had a speeches from the school principal,sister Jane and Sir Titus..We were given very beautiful flowers and we also presented to them our Kenyan music. We were later taken around the school,had lunch. We felt very happy,excited and delighted. We played basketball, we made a warmup game and played Germans versus Kenyans and went home

The Students of sozialpädagogische Ausbildung told us more about their work and taught us some song we sang together we were very happy

Frau Fischer told us how wine is made in the class of wine makers.

WHAT A FUN DAY WE HAD. 
(Dimitrias, 18 Kenya/ Marion, 16 Kenya)