Campaign in Germany IHEYO was organizing the campaign in Germany together with the Humanist Freethinker Association Havelland, who is one of the founder members of IHEYO. Starting point of all involved activities was an intercultural week in the end of September, which got attention through lots of events in the whole State of Brandenburg. In between that week there were different event in cooperation with several organisations like for example an Indian evening in a restaurant called „India house“ in our office town Nauen together with the Mikado-organisation or a discussion round about homosexuality with Andersartig e.V. (Being different). While autumn time the Humanist Freethinker Association offered different workshops, discussion rounds, movie-time, which could be booked and ordered free in costs by schools, youth clubs or interested youngsters. The results of orders from the side of the youngsters were immensely and surprisingly really high that the autumn schedule was busy from October till December with at least one activity per week. The offers included theatre workshops, workshops about media and tolerance, theme movie evenings with following discussion rounds, plan games with attention to the communication between two groups and historical workshops about the two World Wars, right tendencies of extremism, their roots and actual situation in Germany and especially in our State Brandenburg.
Tolerance-Event/ Final Activity
On Saturday 8th December, the HFH was celebrating on the occasion of the day of human rights (10th Dec.) its final event of the tolerance campaign in the cultural house in Rathenow. As main point of the campaign, that event was opened and published to everybody in our district Havelland to raise awareness among the youngsters, neighbours and people on the streets, to get attention for the actual situation and problems in our area and to raise our voice as a sign of action. The official opening of that event was supported by „concentus alius“, a homophilharmonic orchestra from Berlin-Schöneberg and was further supported by regional artists from Rathenow like the dance ensembles „Fantasia“ of the music- and art school, a Big Band, one Chansontrio „Chantrois“, two Bands „Purple People Eaters“ and „Ferromon“ from Potsdam and last but not least with a song poem project called „zwischenFall“ (incident) from Leipzig. The programme was mixed up with several offers for each age and everybody, not only for listening, but also lots of possibilities in all of the surrounding rooms. Guiding tours through the actual photo exhibition “Faces of India”, information to HFH, IHEYO, their work and projects, information desks and personal contact to Amnesty International and their Mersi-group, which is specialist for human rights and sexual i dentity, the organisation Andersartig e.V., an Indian bazaar, a children street for playing, painting and also an information desk for the musicians.
As to the same time a Christmas market was located before the cultural house, the event could raise attention to lot more people from the outside that around 150-200 visitors were part of that event.
Conclusion
Looking back as the coordinator of the campaign, IHEYO and HFH can be satisfied with the results through the actual number of interested and involved youngsters which showed us the high consciousness and interest for issues like that. Youngsters are interested in political and social actions, they react on actual situations and some of them respond actively in further activities.
Silvana Uhlrich
Coordinator of the tolerance campaign,
2nd Vice-President IHEYO