The youth engagement competition “Get involved – make a difference” honors committed teenagers and young adults up to the age of 27 who have developed, managed and implemented a project themselves within a year. Leonie Ogait from Idar-Oberstein and Annika Hoffmann from Trier, both student teachers with a combination of geography and biology, were honored on 21 February 2025 together with educator Kay Emmes from Trier for their international projects in the “German Namibian Exchange of Educators”.
This exchange format for student teachers and educators is carried out in cooperation with the German-Namibian association Suni e.V., the Namibian Light for the Children Foundation and the Geography and its Didactics working group of Faculty VI at Trier University. A total of 14 educators from Germany, Namibia and Nicaragua are taking part in the program and are training together in the field of education for sustainable development.
Minister President Schweitzer praised the commitment of the young adults: “I am very impressed by the wealth of ideas behind the projects. They show how voluntary work on important and topical issues […] can succeed.”
Leonie Ogait worked with teachers Maury Javiera Fernandez Clark, Belinda Kairanderua Upi and Hanalie Sizilien Nowases to develop a learning module on cheetahs for English lessons. The team cooperated with the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. As part of the project, a Namibian school class visited the CCF in Otjiwarongo and provided the project with valuable information as well as image and video material. The aim of the “Cheetah tracks – Following tracks to learn and protect” project is to promote English skills based on the topic of cheetahs. The project focuses on facts about cheetahs, their habitat and the dangers they face in Namibia.
Annika Hoffmann, together with the Namibian teacher Kaezuko Kamakuere and Tim Hartelt, a research assistant in biology didactics at the University of Kassel, has developed a game on the global plastic crisis and scientifically monitored its use in order to optimize the educational material. In the fictitious “Plastic Town”, the pupils go through various areas of everyday life – from school to their own homes. Exciting facts and creative tasks convey knowledge about the environmental problem of plastic, show options for action in everyday life and promote awareness of their own plastic consumption.
“I think it’s great that we were able to score points in the youth engagement competition with our fantastic ESD projects. Thanks to the financial support, we can continue to perfect our projects!” (Leonie Ogait)
The learning materials developed will be presented as part of a German-Namibian ESD training course on Campus II at Trier University in April and will be available for students and teachers to download at the end of the exchange project.
“We are delighted that the dedicated participants of the German-Namibian Exchange of Educators have been recognized. They truly deserve the award,” commented Patricia Ndjavera, Chairwoman of Suni e.V., on the award ceremony.
The exchange project is supported by the German-African Youth Office at Engagement Global with funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Rhineland-Palatinate Development Policy Network, the German-Namibian Society, Sparkasse Trier, the Directorate of Education Omaheke Regional Council, the State Chancellery of Rhineland-Palatinate and Suni e.V.
Authors: Annika Hoffmann, Leonie Ogait & Barbara Scharfbillig