No. 12 – INTERVIEW mit THOMAS RÖHLINGER

von Deutsch in Marokko - Allemand au Maroc - أَلْمانِيّ فِي المَغْرِب

Deutsch in Marokko – Allemand au Maroc – أَلْمانِيّ فِي المَغْرِب: Salamaleykoum and Hallo everybody. Today Deutsch in Marokko – Allemand au Maroc – أَلْمانِيّ فِي المَغْرِب is very proud to have Thomas Röhlinger for an interview. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of “Radijojo World Childrens Radio & Media Network“, a Member of the „Global Experts“ network of UN Alliance of Civilizations and initiator of the World Children’s Media Foundation. Mister Röhlinger, welcome and nice to have you today. Thank you for joining us from Berlin to Kénitra.

Thomas Röhlinger: Hello to Morocco!

Deutsch in Marokko – Allemand au Maroc – أَلْمانِيّ فِي المَغْرِب: Please can you tell us, what is Radijojo?

Thomas Röhlinger: Radijojo – that’s the short name of our Radijojo World Children’s Media Network. All our work is non-commercial, free of advertising, independent and made by kids for kids. I founded Radijojo 10 years ago as grassroots NGO in Berlin together with my son who was a young child then. Today we connect children of all age groups in more than 100 countries, empowering them to use media as tools for education, cultural exchange, promotion of peace and children’s rights. Our work has received awards by UNICEF, UNESCO, German Federal Government and EU.

Our most recent success is a success of Moroccan kids: With the students on Chair El Hamra middle school Marrakech, we won the competition of the UN Alliance of Civilization’s Global Forum in Vienna 2013!
The adress of our work in Morocco is: futur.edublogs.org
Please browse our many other websites and projects all over the world, to get the full picture:
www.radijojo.org
www.radijojo.de
www.euchira.eu
www.across-the-ocean.org
www.radijojo.de/globalgreenkids
www.radijojo.de/we-are-discovering-the-world

Deutsch in Marokko – Allemand au Maroc – أَلْمانِيّ فِي المَغْرِب: How did Radijojo come to Morocco and what do you do here? Who are your partners?

Thomas Röhlinger: Our overall mission is helping to create a culture of peace and understanding between Morocco and Germany, between the “Muslim world” and “the West”, between the young generations in our both countries. It was a great honor for us that Mr. André Azoulay, President of the Anna Lindh Foundation and advisor to the King of Morocco, has personally supported our work and encouraged our young participants to keep working together for a peaceful EUROMED region. We had the privilege to present drawings made by primary students in Sitti Fatma, Ourika valley to him when we met him at the Anna Lindh Forum in Marseille. See photo:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=429978203760527&set=a.121131417978542.25803.110255342399483&type=1&theater
Children and Youth are at the core of our work. Why? Peace can only prevail if we learn to make friends, to learn and live together, from as early as possible – with our hearts and minds.
Our partners are public schools, children’s homes, NGOs, especially our friends YACD (Youth Association for Culture and Development) and the association “Friends of Public Schools” in Marrakech, the Ministry of Education, the University of Marrakech, the youth program of radio SNRT Marrakech and many more.
Our project is part of the transformation partnership between Germany and Morocco, in the context of the EUROMED network of the Anna Lindh Foundation, in the frameworks of UNESCO, UNICEF and UN Alliance of Civilizations.

“Nous sommes le futur du Maroc” is supported by the Institute for Foreign Affairs (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, ifa) with funds by the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Deutsch in Marokko – Allemand au Maroc – أَلْمانِيّ فِي المَغْرِب: Please tell us about your last project at the school in Asni. How did you work?

Thomas Röhlinger Please take a minute to check all the wonderful contributions of the students in Asni. This will tell you more than 1000 words:http://futur.edublogs.org/category/asni-workshop/
We always help, the kids to use media as tools to express themselves, to show their talents, to find solutions for problems they see on local, national, global level. We always try to work in the philosophy of “Think global – act local”. We help the kids to join international activities, sharing their talents, views and ideas with peers in Morocco, in Germany, Europe and worldwide. In Asni for instance, we joined media competitions of UNESCO on Peace and Culture and the UN Alliance of Civilizations on Cultural Diversity. The kids came up with tons of wonderful essays, songs, poems, videos, drawings – incredible, for the short time of a week that we had! Another highlight is it to connect the kids with peers in Germany via skype – that’s always a lot of fun and joyful learning; and often, it is the very first contact for the participating kids in Morocco with peers abroad.
With our help, they can develop their skills: communication, problem solving, writing, reading, acting, singing. They become proud of their local culture (like in the Berber villages of the High Atlas) and of the wonderful cultural diversity of Morocco. They develop a sense of a shared destiny with their peers in the EUROMED region. And they get an idea of the concept of “World Citizenship”, as proud members of a global community of responsible, active, tolerant, world-savvy children and youth.

Thomas Röhlinger: If you wonder: ‚How do the children respond to your ideas? Are they different in their way of working and learning, compared to German children?‘, I would say:
Sometimes I have the impression that the kids are even more active, creative, motivated than some kids in Germany who are sometimes a bit spoiled and bored. If I think of the wonderful kids in Ourika, Marrakech and Taroudannt – just amazing..!
In Morocco, we see that they are really excited, that they want to give their very best – and it is wonderful if we can help them with this. And the feedback of the kids, the parents, the educators, the principal is just excellent – we get “bombed” with requests to come back, to hold more workshops, to stay forever! And for us, it is always more than just a workshop. We come as strangers and leave as friends; I really mean it. The work here, the kids here change us, too

Deutsch in Marokko – Allemand au Maroc – أَلْمانِيّ فِي المَغْرِب: That really sounds amazing!!

Thomas Röhlinger: It really is; we would have never expected that.

Deutsch in Marokko – Allemand au Maroc – أَلْمانِيّ فِي المَغْرِب: Are there any comparable media projects for children in Morocco or the Mena region, that you know about?

Thomas Röhlinger: Nothing comparable that we would know of. This is why we do it, after all. There are a lot of wonderful little local things here and there, and we try to support and involve them; but there is no systematic regional approach; neither in Morocco nor MENA. We try to help to here on the long run.
There is a lot for older youth now, from what we observe. But children and younger teens are often excluded (like they are all over the world) ; and there is no existing children’s media network where kids can participate regularly, after the workshop crew has left – except us! J

Do we know programs, that develop children media projects in Morocco or MENA region?
Well, Anna Lindh Foundation (ALF), UNESCO and UN Alliance of Civilizations (UN AoC) are supporting grassroots activities in the MENA region. I am member of the “Global Experts” of the UN AoC; and I was member of the 2nd Alexandria Education Convention of ALF where we worked on a common handbook for Intercultural Citizenship in the EUROMED region that will be published soon. We hereby offer our knowhow ad experience to transfer such valuable work into practice on the ground; both in formal and non-formal education in Morocco and MENA.

Do we also train media educators?
Yes. Media educators are invited to join our educators workshops in Essaouira, Rabat and the Marrakech region in the next months. Pleace contact us in advance for details. If they cannot attend personally, we can involve them online.

Deutsch in Marokko – Allemand au Maroc – أَلْمانِيّ فِي المَغْرِب: Thomas Röhlinger, do you plan further projects and cooperations here in Morocco? Who can participate and how can people get in contact with Radijojo?

Thomas Röhlinger: We are here to stay – and everybody is invited to join in. We aim to create a structure that enables schools, NGOs, kdis with their families to use our award-winning educative methodologies and networks to share their views, talents, ideas and dreams and work together for peace and good common future – anywhere in Morocco, anytime, at any age.
The best way to contact us is via our blog:
futur.edublogs.org
Here, you can also find an easy-to-read check-list of the Do’s and Don’ts:
http://futur.edublogs.org/join-in/
plus a list of excellent educative resources of UNESCO, UNICEF, Anna Lindh Foundation and other partners:
http://futur.edublogs.org/useful-links-and-resources/
Please don’t forget to join the Radijojo Facebook page – that’s the easiest way to be up to date and collaborate:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Radijojo-World-Childrens-Radio-Media-Network/110255342399483?ref=hl

Deutsch in Marokko – Allemand au Maroc – أَلْمانِيّ فِي المَغْرِب: Dear Thomas Röhlinger and all the team of “Radijojo World Childrens Radio & Media Network“, thank you so much for this very detailed interview. I am sure there will be many people here in Morocco, who are going to contact you soon. Thank you very much. May the children´s media network grow all over the world. All the best for you and your team. See you soon in Morocco! Wasalamaleykoum!!!

Thomas Röhlinger: Shoukran! Many thanks! Dankeschön!