Due to the Corona pandemic, most of the planned events in the jubilee year of the 20th anniversary of the Aachen-Cape Town partnership were cancelled – this was the starting point for the idea of initiating a digital project in the 2020 Advent season with a reflection on the partnership and its individual stories.
In addition to joint activities and work, official meetings and conversations, there are also seemingly insignificant incidents, spontaneous events or friendships that shape the partnership and make it possible to achieve the partnership goals of “Learning from each other – Acting on an eye to eye level – Sustainable action”. These sometimes very personal stories are told in the Stories project. The motivation and enthusiasm of the people involved comes to light and is intended to motivate and encourage other people who are not yet familiar with the partnership to become involved and sensitise them to development policy themes.
In this brochure we want to try to make the changes in the world views of the individuals visible in personal statements, to tell. And only tell. Not to classify, scientifically evaluate, assess, scale or evaluate the effectiveness of measures. Only tell. Narratives can make the personal changes transparent. The spirit of Ubuntu resonates: the awareness that the individual
is only part of a greater whole. Even small steps can change people and thus the world!