A Bilateral Franco–German Child Exchange Anne-Laure Leroy | Blossin Youth Education Centre
Brief project description The project helped implement a Franco–German chil- dren’s exchange. The two associations in Donchery and Blossin had already cooperated on several Franco–Ger- man and trilateral youth exchanges between 2017 and 2019, and they wanted to expand this cooperation by organising exchanges aimed at children aged between eight and 12. Even leaving aside the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused severe travel restrictions, it still made sense to kick off the project with an online meeting during which the children did joint activities at a distance. We wanted to gradually get the children used to the idea of taking part in an in-person exchange and travelling to the other country. The same applied to their families. The French group comprised children living in the area around Donchery in the Ardennes. This is a very rural region with very few mobility options or international youth exchanges. The German children lived in a sub- urb of Cottbus. Most came from socially and financially challenged families – another reason why we wanted to make this a multi-stage project, the first phase of which involved a remote exchange between the two groups. The project was an enormous challenge for the children taking part because it was so very far from their every- day reality. The fact that the exchange began without them having to travel abroad was a key step both for the children’s and their families’ wellbeing and for gaining their trust. The programme consisted of alternating online and offline elements. Topics covered during the exchange were mutual support and solidarity. These are two fun- damental values that both partner organisations incor- porate in their day-to-day activities. We developed the project activities based on these topics in consultation with the partner organisations.
Overview
Project term and location Project period: 15 May to 9 July 2021
The joint programme switched between offline and online elements. Online sessions were primarily used for Language Animation exercis- es, for participants to present the various work results to each other and to talk about how they experienced an activity once completed. 15 May 2021, 10 am to 5 pm One-day event in the two youth centres in Donchery (FR) and Cottbus (DE). 10 June 2021, 5 to 9 pm and 11 June 2021, 10 am to 5 pm in the two youth centres in Cottbus and Donchery. 4 July to 9 July 2022 Youth hostel in the Vosges region (French group) and Blossin Youth Education Centre (German group); alternative activity as the in-person youth exchange had to be cancelled owing to the COV- ID-19 pandemic. Partner organisations and countries Germany: Blossin Youth Education Centre (Heide- see) and M-ECK Open Youth Centre (Cottbus) France: ECCO Association (Donchery, Ardennes) Participants Seven children aged between eight and 12 from Cottbus in Brandenburg and eight children aged between eight and 12 from Donchery in the Ardennes département. Educational team One social worker and one intercultural team leader from the German side and one social worker and one intercultural team leader on the French side. Funding The project received funding from the Fran- co–German Youth Office under the project call Digital ganz nah (“Digitally close”).
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