Sport is the perfect medium for intercultural exchange

Winifred Hanke: The personal development of our volunteers is very important to us. That's why we support them wherever we can and provide intensive, personal guidance at all times. In addition, as a sports club it goes without saying that sport is always the focus of our volunteer programmes. That goes both for our role as sending organisation and our role as receiving organisation. We see sport as the perfect way to ensure the success of intercultural exchange.

Winifred Hanke: Sport brings people together. Not only people from different countries, but also people of different ages or from different social backgrounds. Sport is all about fairness. Everyone is equal. Everyone follows the same rules and works towards the same goals. These aspects are particularly important in an intercultural context, which is what makes sport a great way to break down any barriers or reservations, help people to learn from one another, and promote intercultural partnerships.

Winifred Hanke: We are open to all types of sports in principle and don't rule any out. Our volunteers go to all sorts of different places doing a variety of jobs from caring for children, supporting schools, to working at a sports club. So the various volunteer programmes are also flexible when it comes to the kind of sport. Take childcare, for example. Here, we concentrate on variety, having fun and teaching basic motor skills, whereas at a sports club the focus is much more likely to be on a specific type of sport.

But the most important aspect is bringing together people from different cultures, not athletic performance. It can be advantageous when volunteers already have skills in a certain sport, but for us their personal motivation and suitability are far more relevant.

Winifred Hanke: The German state of Lower Saxony is twinned with the province of Eastern Cape in South Africa. With respect to volunteer programmes, we cooperate with the sports federation of Lower Saxony, so working with South Africa in this field was the logical next step. Our cooperation produced some very positive experiences, so we have been adding further partnerships one by one. Now, we also send people to Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Rwanda and Namibia. For volunteers coming from abroad to work in Germany under an incoming mechanism known as Süd-Nord-Komponente, we mainly work with South Africa, but have just added the first volunteers from Namibia and one from Uganda.

Winifred Hanke: Here in Germany we work closely with the Lower Saxony sports federation and the German Olympic Sports Confederation. In addition, we support clubs that provide spots for sports-related volunteer programmes and we now also plan to offer places for international volunteers as part of the Süd-Nord-Komponente. Over the years, we have built up similar well-established partnerships with South Africa. In the area of sports, a large network exists that constantly brings us into contact with new organisations and leads to new partnerships. Sometimes, former volunteers establish their own initiatives and we often work together with them.

Winifred Hanke: At their roots, volunteer programmes are not just about the specific projects that are implemented under this framework. We are also interested in sustainable development – of both the volunteers themselves and the companies involved. This goes for the children in the local school, their families, the college, as well as for the volunteer's home environment. They all gain experience in this context that has a lasting positive impact on their international activities and their everyday life in society.

Winifred Hanke: Getting out of your comfort zone as part of a volunteer programme is a great way to promote personal development. You learn to be open and curious about meeting new people and become more independent at getting around in unfamiliar environments. By knowing and understanding cultural differences, young people and young adults learn new perspectives and develop the ability to find joint, cross-cultural solutions.

The more people who benefit from this experience – especially young people as it is they who have the biggest impact on our future – the greater influence these personal experiences and skills will have on the community. New, intercultural ways of thinking can become established and pave the way for a global future of partnership.

Winifred Hanke: At the beginning, German culture is completely alien to our volunteers and their lives here are very different to home. Even just finding their feet in a new life, a new city and a new environment is a challenge in itself. It's also not uncommon for them to be faced with major communication barriers when they first arrive. Not only the language, but also the German communication culture in general can be difficult for them. How should they communicate and when, and when shouldn't they? For example, when should I greet a stranger on the street and when is it better not to?

The overall experiences of our volunteers can be very different, and everyone has their personal take on things. In my opinion, this fact is often given too little consideration in the context of international exchanges. We tend to want to make sweeping assumptions and to generalise cultural differences. In doing so, we often forget that there can be huge differences even within the same culture – when it comes to the personality of the individual participant and their personal background. It is thus particularly important to have an even more nuanced view and to question cultural generalisations.

Winifred Hanke: The only thing you can say for certain is that things usually don't go the way you expect! But it's no wonder. Africans are familiar with Germany so the volunteers come here with certain preconceived ideas. They often need to talk about the differences between their expectations and reality.

I also see – in both the domestic schemes and the Süd-Nord-Komponente – that often the things that cause volunteers the biggest difficulties at first that are the ones they particularly appreciate afterwards. This can relate to cultural differences and life in the community, as well their own personal development.

Winifred Hanke: I think that a great deal is possible and still unknown. New partner countries will come along and we will also continue to improve the substance of our volunteer programmes. We are always learning from our volunteers and take their feedback and suggestions seriously.

A particularly positive development has been the creation of the Süd-Nord-Komponente for volunteers coming from abroad, which we now need to continue expanding step by step and put on a firmer footing.

Winifred Hanke: Bilateral exchange brings a new and vital element of equality into the volunteer programme system. Instead of only sending volunteers as we used to, now German organisations are increasingly taking volunteers from other countries. This gives more of society the opportunity to experience intercultural encounters and prevents such encounters from being the preserve of a privileged few. Recent developments – mainly immigration – show how important it is to promote understanding of cultural differences, to strengthen exchange, and to tap synergies.

The younger the people are, the easier and more natural these learning processes are – which is why, at ASC Göttingen, the focus of our Süd-Nord-Komponente is specifically on institutions and organisations that bring as many young people together as possible.

Winifred Hanke: We all need these kinds of experiences. But an initiative like AGYI is a great opportunity to build a network and create a platform for communication that connects various youth exchange stakeholders and offers a place to share experiences and work together for the future.

The way I see it, the most important thing in this context is to give young people a voice – young people with intercultural experience who want to talk about and share their stories. Young people are our greatest prospects for creating global equality and a future of partnership. That's why we must give them the support and motivation they need. We do this by creating transparency and specific opportunities to acquire intercultural experiences. These enable young people to learn about taking responsibility and making a positive difference to our future.

Winifred Hanke: Talking won't change much. You need to get active! Go outside, experience these things for yourself and find a way to make your own positive contribution. We can all make a difference.