"It's about encounters": The "Women in Dialogue" project promotes intercultural exchange - for 20 years
Created: 08/11/2022, 1:00 p.m
The “Women in Dialogue” and their guests of honor met in June for an anniversary reception in the Epiphany Center in Lerchenfeld on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of their existence.
© Lehmann
"Women in Dialogue" in Freising connects women with and without a history of migration.
The successful project is now celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Freising
– Adelheid Nast and Elisabeth Früstück had in mind getting women with and without a migration background to exchange ideas and network with each other when they launched the “Women in Dialogue” project in the Evangelical-Lutheran community in the cathedral city 20 years ago founded.
How well the offer has established itself became clear at the birthday party: the intercultural exchange is accepted by women of all ages.
One of the group's two speakers, Brigitta Sutor, remembers the beginnings.
Ms. Sutor, how did it come about that "Women in Dialogue" was founded 20 years ago?
Ms. Nast and Ms. Früstück, representing the city of Freising's Asylum Working Group, were invited to a meeting with the Islamic community.
They learned how difficult it is for Muslim women to go public and establish contact with local women.
That was the trigger for the initiative.
Did the women accept the newly created offer?
Yes, in the beginning it was mainly Turkish women who accepted our low-threshold offer.
Over the years we have become intercultural.
In the meantime, women from all countries are happy to have the opportunity to speak German in a family atmosphere.
How often do you meet and what awaits the women?
We meet once a month on Monday mornings between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. in the Evangelical parish hall on Saarstrasse.
Getting to know each other is the focus, as is learning and practicing the German language.
There is a special offer every two weeks: cooking, yoga, a first aid course, for example.
We've also had Mondays where political issues were discussed, for example the European elections.
And: joint excursions are a wonderful opportunity to bring the local culture closer to the women.
This is how the “Women in Dialogue Group” presented itself in 2021. Even during the hard Corona phase, the women stayed in touch via zoom meetings – and there were even new members.
© private
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Is it a lot about religion?
The topic is not decisive.
As I said, it's about meeting.
Things are sometimes discussed that concern the different religions, but the interreligious dialogue is not our topic.
(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
How did you survive the Corona period?
We stayed in touch very well through the Zoom meetings.
It was surprisingly well received.
We even grew during the pandemic.
Does that seem to interest the younger generation as well?
Yes, the young women are very happy to accept the offer.
Our oldest participant is already over 80 years old.
New ones are added at every meeting.
It pays to have staying power.
There are also lectures that interest women.
We recently had a policewoman with us who described how she is doing as a woman in her job.
Brigitta Sutor is one of two speakers.
© Gleixner
What is the planning and organization like?
It runs as a group in a team.
Women from Germany and from other countries of origin are equally involved.
We are all happy when the women form networks with each other over time, which means that women from other countries of origin can pass on their experiences in Germany.
For many, our group is like a springboard into the new society.
What's next for the next 20 years?
We will see how the group develops, always react in an up-to-date manner, what is currently necessary - actually, we will continue to do everything as before.
We will also continue to work well together with the integration officer of the city of Freising, Sina Hörl.
A great success was the presentation of the intercultural prize of the city of Freising.
In addition to the Togoer club in Freising and the mothers' café in the "Tollhaus" youth center in Lerchenfeld, we were able to celebrate second place last year.
Mary Martin
You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.
