German-US-American Youth Exchanges – USA-Special 2022
streets about the same problems in different countries. Just think of Fridays for Future or the Black Lives Matter movement. It would definitely make sense to connect young Ger - mans and US-Americans over their shared concerns and enable them to get to know each other. “We must live together as brothers [and sisters] or perish as fools” said Martin Luther King. I completely agree and think that the sooner we unite, the sooner we learn to live together, to fight mutual prejudices, stop radicalization and develop and strengthen our common values, the sooner we can spread our common values and allow them to have an impact all over the world. Learning from each other and passing on what we have learnt Initiatives like “YouthBridge” not only enable young peo- ple to build bridges between different communities in and around their own hometowns, they also actively stimulate intercontinental dialog between young people. During our trip to New York in 2018, we met participants from all kinds of projects. We talked to them and learned from them. This led to “YouthBridge” Munich bringing the Catcalls of New York project to our city in Germany.
This is what it can and should be all about – learning from each other and passing on what we’ve learnt. Germany and the US can learn a lot from each other. But for this to happen, we need open-minded young people who are motivated to shape their future. This is our mission.
The European Janusz Korczak Academy was founded in 2009 as a Jewish organization that is open to all social groups. Its goal is to strengthen and open the Jewish community and dispel prejudices prevalent among Jews and non-Jews. Since 2011, the Academy has run exchange programs between young adults, educators, and social workers from Munich and its US-American partner JCC Kings Bay Y Brooklyn . The Academy started the YouthBridge project in 2017. It is funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Eva Haller is President of the European Janusz Korczak Academy . Participant Daniela Greiber is currently studying medicine at LMU Munich. Web: youthbridge.eu
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