02.06.2022 Christin Müller 14565

pme donates: Educational project #LadakhmeetsVeddel

The intercultural education project #LadakhmeetsVeddel builds a bridge between young people from two cultures - German and Indian. Margit Werner, pme site manager in Hamburg, is a strong supporter of the project. She convinced her employer and 2,000 team members that it was a project absolutely worth supporting. At Christmas 2021, the campaign received a donation of 20,000 euros from pme Familienservice. Margit tells us in an interview what this project is all about.  

What is the #LadakhmeetsVeddel project? 

Margit: This educational project is intended to build a bridge between cultures and people whose realities of life are very different on the one hand, but whose problems for children, young people and families are similar on the other. 

How did you come to propose this project? 

Margit: Issues such as climate change, the advancement of girls and women and globalization are close to my heart and I thought about which project or person I know who is committed to supporting these issues. I got to know Katharina Poggendorf-Kakar on my travels to India. She was born in northern Germany, lives in Goa and has been running art and cultural projects with children for many years. 

Margit Werner (front center) with the organizing team of #LadakhmeetsVeddel

How did you make contact? 

Margit: One call to Benaulim, Goa to Katha and you have a project! No, seriously: there probably couldn't have been a better time. During the lockdown, Katha was already working on the idea of setting up a global project that would bring together children and young people from different continents and encourage an exchange about the realities of their lives. Research has shown that the fears and concerns of children and young people in India are very similar to those of German children: many are worried about the environment, the climate and the question of how we will live in the future. 

What exactly does the project look like?  

Margit: Two schools from India and two to three district schools with children in Hamburg will take part in the project. The project is managed by a steering group from India. In Hamburg, the project is affiliated withHypercultural Passengers.

The plan is for the participating students between the ages of 14 and 18 to learn how to shoot, edit and publish small video clips themselves over ten days. They will receive professional support from ten artists and filmmakers from India and Hamburg. The content is intended to get them talking to other children and young people. My pedagogical voice says: it is about recognizing the opportunities and risks of globalization, children and young people should recognize through self-empowerment that their voices are heard (and seen), (especially those of girls) it is about participation and learning across borders. 

That sounds exciting, when exactly does it start? 

Margit: The project plan was written in January 2022, then there were a few Zoom conferences with the planners and in March 2022 a live meeting with the actors involved in the Hamburg district of Veddel. The first video workshop will start from September 10 to 24, 2022 at the Jamyang School in Ladakh, Himalayas.

Social commitment of the pme Familienservice 

Whether in refugee aid, projects for children or the homeless - many team members at pme Familienservice volunteer in their free time. The pme Familienservice also supports social projects in Germany and around the world.

For Christmas 2021, the company donated a total of 120,000 euros to eight charitable organizations that work for disadvantaged people, children and young people or other issues on a daily basis. Last year in 2021, for example, all 2,000 team members had the opportunity to submit their own suggestions for social projects that they thought were particularly worthy of support. The associations with the most votes received financial support to implement their projects.