Testimonial

Luzie Kallfaß: In 2015/16 I spent a year in Tanzania, in Bukoba on Lake Victoria, where I volunteered for the weltwärts programme at an inclusive school and with a project for homeless children. The sending organisation was the sports club Allgemeiner Sport-Club Göttingen von 1846 e.V., so my activities focussed on sport.

Luzie Kallfaß: There was no big moment of realisation, but I did discover that 'helping' doesn't always help. I saw a few times how white people would visit the town for a short period of time, donate some money and satisfy themselves that everything was running the way they imagined, but as soon as they left things went back to the way they were. There's still a lot of work needed in the area of development cooperation and volunteer programmes. But programmes like weltwärts are a big step in the right direction.

Luzie Kallfaß: Only a small minority of people in Bukoba speak English. Most speak Kiswahili or the tribal language Kihaya. Both languages were completely foreign to me at first, but I learned to communicate surprisingly fast. The locals love it if you can speak the language – or try to, at least. People laugh along with you and it shows that you belong.

Luzie Kallfaß: The space to learn from and with one another and a unique opportunity to see how small and fragile the world is and how closely everything is connected.

It's important to realise that you're not going to save the world single-handedly and that your actions can really cause confusion in other cultures.