Teil 2:

2. Community Service Activities

I concentrate my attention mainly on the scholastic array, and it surely would not be presumptuous to say that a serious engagement in school benefits community as well. Our student’s council organises fundraising campaign regularly, for example – right now we are trying to help the “Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe” by selling their merchandise, furthermore we arrange diverse fund-raisers for our partner school in Namibia.
Tasks like that absorb a lot of time, and therefore I was forced to give up my voluntary work in the animal shelter (which has been a wonderful and fulfilling job – I spent a lot of time walking dogs, bathing them and cleaning kennels – but it was often sad and gruelling as well) – I did not undertake any new social tasks. I did however join the choir of the Polish Catholic Mission. The Mission, and especially the choir, makes it it’s business to affiliate and integrate Polish emigrants who often moved here without family or friends – common singing of both secular and sacred music in many languages allies people and opens them up at the same time.
Alongside we organise common dinners, exhibitions of befriended artists and authors, trips and concert tours abroad as well as feasts and get-togethers on traditional occasions.
Collaboration in such groups is highly important especially for young people, because it connects generations as well as nations, establishes understanding for each other and helps lonely people finding their way back into society.

3. International Awareness

I grew up binationally, so to speak – I was born in Poland, and when I was two years old my parents decided to move to Germany. Though they settled in quickly and blended into German society, they still maintained Polish traditions, fostered their culture and language.
We lived in a high-rise apartment complex, so that I had a lot of foreign friends to play and grow up with.
Thus, my interest in peregrine cultures sparked very early – and my parents enhanced it even more: Every year we went abroad, always preferring expeditions with rental cars around the Yucatan peninsula or the like rather than package tours or beach holidays. Besides, I am quite passionate about everything English, the language, the people, the literature…
It all began with a certain fascination I developed for a particular author that made me join an online discussion forum. Soon our philosophical and societal discourses turned into personal chats that fed my Anglophilia all the more. I have pen pals in Australia and the US ever since and I was very happy to meet them personally on my trips abroad. Hence, national prejudices are but our private jokes – and nothing more.

4. Status of Women in your Country

a) What do you see as the most important problem(s) (no more than two) limiting the advancement of the status of women in your country?

In my opinion sexual equality is already far advanced in Germany: The level of education is equal, we have a female chancellor, women enjoy esteem and respect. However, surveys show that there are still disparities on the labour market – men are mostly favoured and paid better, they usually choose the more prestigious fields of study and professions and thus have better chances to pursue a career.
It seems as if the personal attitude, that is to say, education and upbringing, diminish women’s equality in society – women still adopt classic patterns, like taking parental leave or working only part-time because of the children. There are still classical “female domains”: Service occupations and cultural studies as well as philology. As long as such fixed barriers remain unbreached it will be quite impossible to achieve a real equality between men and women.

b) What do you think could be done about it?

It is important to asses changes and improvements very early in the children’s life – teachers in primary school should refrain from overlooking the girls’ alleged weaknesses in mathematics and science (as well as the boys’ assumed linguistic weaknesses), but instead forward them to, for example, support programmes, where these deficiencies can be mended and strengths can be extended.
Generally both genders should be treated equally, whether in punishments, markings or even only in physical education, but above all in family life – the must not be any “girls’ duties”, all responsibilities – but also rights – should always regard both sexes.
But seeing that mostly socially disadvantaged children can observe only hardened role allocations at home, they have to be enlightened and emancipated in particular - both boys and girls.
It would be unwise, though, to undermine the women’s role as a mother by putting more focus on success and career during the education of young girls. The children should be rather shown the whole spectrum of opportunities – both classic family models as well as ambitious single women and men who do the housework and look after the children.
Education – at home, the kindergarten or school – should convey to the children that their sex must not determine their lives, that is, their goals and possibilities, just as little as their hair colour or their nationality. Women should be aware of their options right from the start and know how to use them according to their wishes.

c) If I had the power to make one change to help women achieve better equality, I would…

…abolish the gender imbalance in religion. My main focus would of course lie on the Islam and all traditions involved, but here I want to concentrate on the status of women in the Catholic Church, firstly because Catholicism is far more widespread in Germany and secondly because I can better relate to it.
It is in fact unthinkable that women still are refused admittance to priesthood, still are primarily “mother” and partly because of that have to do without contraceptives (and therefore an autonomous life planning). I would appoint women to Catholic offices, so that they would have the possibility to preach enlightenment and emancipation and exemplify it.



5. Status of Women Worldwide

a) What do you see as the most important problem(s) (no more than two) limiting the status of women worldwide?

I see two principal reasons for the fact that women take an inferior position to men nearly all over the world: Religion and tradition as well as lack of education (though this aspect is mostly due to traditions, I consider it too important not to mention it separately).
Superstition, religion and tradition often deny gender equality and therefore lead to a lifelong contempt of women and therefore to all these atrocities committed on that account:
From the abortion of female foetuses and the killing of new-born girls (especially in Asia) to horrid genital mutilation rituals and the subsequent agony of a sex life, the trafficking in girls and women to the omnipresent gender-based violence, abuses and discrimination in everyday life. Additionally, men are much more educated in most of the countries, hence women are rather unqualified for demanding work, are dependent and trapped in their role.
And what is more: Many women are not aware that their situation is not “what God wants” or “normal”, that there can be a totally different way of life. They have no self-consciousness, probably the financial basis, too, to free themselves from the diurnal oppression.
This very problem roots in religion and traditions.

Aga: Ich habe nur den ersten Teil gelesen, aber der wirkt sehr flüssig, und Fehler habe ich auch nicht gefunden. Ich gehe davon aus, dass der Rest auch so ist. Viel Erfolg :-)

vielen, vielen lieben dank.
da fällt mir gleich mal einer der vielen steine vom herzen :)

Hi Aga! Wow, I am impressed!

There are a couple of odd choices of terms from time to time, but glancing through it, nothing that really makes me groan, except:
Part 1 :

a friend of mine and _I_
_As_ Steve Paul said_, "_....."
<commentary>feasts is rather a strange word .... to my American ears, at least. I notice that you use British spelling, though

Part 2:
Tasks like that _take_ a lot
makes it _its_ business
Alongside _singing_ (or "In addition to singing")
<commentary> again with the feasts ....
lonely people _find_ their way

Part 3:
I have _had_ penpals (if you still have them)
and I _have been_ very happy (if you continue to get the chance)

Part 4:
_there_ must not be any
Islam (no the in front of it)

OK, sorry - I need a break. It looks good, though!

thank you sooo much!
if you ever happen to be around mönchengladbach, drop me a note and i'll invite you for dinner :)


xxx, aga

Aga - That is a dangerous offer! I have a good friend in Mönchengladbach, and visit a couple times a year. I might take you up on that! :)

Best of luck!