Sebastian Däschle – a designer focusing on sociopolitical topics – is initiator and idea provider of the model project Cucula, a refugee company for crafts and design in Berlin. He was away on a half-year-long journey to West Africa to learn more about the reasons why people have to leave their countries – What is our own role in this? What are the sources of the global crises? How can we live sustainably, both socially and ecologically? What would a common future look like? A collage of research in observations, thoughts, meetings, and pictures
Frederik, phd researcher tourism Management SD: What comes to your mind if you think about the world of today? F: For me when I… sometimes I ask myself what this whole universe or the world is all about. Where do we come from, you know, as humans. And where do we go back at the end of the day. And for how long will the world be. I ask all those questions. You know, I try to ask what kind
Alex, Metal Worker SD: What comes to your mind, if you think about the world of today? A: Like Africa, Africa better like this. We are [working]…[but] our expenses are high, we are not having money, you see, we are not having money. Because every day, we are working, we are working hard. But if you get the money, don’t know how to use it, the money it vanishes, you see. If you like to take us, to go to
Edward, consultant for sustainable development SD: What comes to your mind if you think about the world of today? E: I think I would answer this in two points. The first would be that we live in a great world. Why? Because when I look at the possibilities, technology, ITC, transformation, inventions, the way the medicines are able to correct problems, to solve, some problems that in the past few years we could not imagine that we have the capacity
Alfons, Gardener and Activist SD: What comes to your mind if you think about the world of today? A: Go to Ziguinchor, Hotel Le Perroquet. You will find a huge Baobab Tree where two kind of birds nest inside. Some are coming from Europe for the winter, some are here for the whole year. You can see that living together is possible… …we are [in] transition, people forget that all we have [is what] the people before us left for us,
El moctar Mohamed Yahya El moctar, Journalist مختار محمّد يحيى العالم في هذه اللحظة يعاني من اضطرابات شديدة، وهو ما يشهده لجوء العديد من شعوب المناطق الجنوبيّة: أفريقيا والعالم العربيّ، خاصة تلك البلدان المنكوبة بسبب الحروب. يلجؤون للهجرة نحو الشمال، ظنًا منهم أنهم في الشمال قد يجدون حياة سعيدة وفرصة أحسن من حياتهم السّابقة. ولكن هؤلاء عادةً ما يجدون صعوبات عديدة في أوروبا والعديد من الدّول الغربيّة، حيث يجدون المصاعب في المعيشة وحتى في الاندماج، وبالتالي يتمنّون في الغالب العودة إلى بلدانهم، ولكن يكون ذلك أصعب بسبب عدم حصولهم على الأموال وغير ذلك، شكرًا. SD: What comes to your mind if you think about the world of today? M: At this moment, the world is suffering from severe unrest. Many are migrating from the South, especially from Africa and the Arab world, most notably from countries affected by war. People migrate North believing that they will find a happy life and better opportunities. What they often find, however, is hardship, so they start wishing to
…am German. I grew up in a district called Paradise in Konstanz, in the Bodensee region. Embedded in a diverse beauty between snowy mountains, extinct volcanoes, crystal-clear lakes, humid forests and lush grassland. The region of Bodensee is not just blessed with beauty, it is also the center of the weapon industry in Europe. And Germany is the country with the third biggest weapon exports in the world. For 14 years of my life I went to school and I
A conversation, unfortunately based on a true story, in my hometown in the south of Germany. My conversation partner had once described me as a »do-gooder« years ago, and I was surprised that this expression was used as an insult. »What do you say to the people in West Africa when they want to head off to Europe?« Me: »Hmm … That’s a difficult question and would certainly be dependent on whom I’d meet there.« »Yeah, so these economic refugees
An acquaintance told me about his home in Ghana, how beautiful it is there in December. That he comes from a village, a very simple life with self-built houses made of clay and agriculture as a basis of existence. He told me that he only now realizes in Germany how beautiful and rich his homeland is. That he couldn’t imagine that there was poverty in Germany. That he wants to return, but that his family doesn’t believe him about how
Two and a half years ago, I met Malik, Moussa, Saidou, Maiga, and Ali, five young men from West Africa. They found themselves in a situation where they were not allowed to work and stay in Berlin, stigmatized, like many others, as so-called refugees. By working together on the DIY furniture of Enzo Mari, we became friends. We had the approach to help them out of their situation and to give them the possibility to take charge of their own