Comes
Eichsttt
This year the meeting took place virtually and thus offered the opportunity to host representatives of the partner associations in Peru and Togo. Charo Duenas (Lima) and Laurent Tay (Lom) used concrete examples to illustrate the current situation in their countries and the effects of the corona pandemic on the population.
The absolutely unstable political situation in Peru (eleven groups in parliament and constantly changing presidents) means that poverty continues to rise in some provinces and in some places there are no protective measures against the corona virus. Kolping tries to help where possible with individual aid and projects. However, the national association itself has been suffering massively from the loss of income from tourism and funding for the past year.
The situation for Kolping in Togo is somewhat better, as the projects there will continue to be funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development for the next two years. So Kolping can help the people in agriculture through education and small loans through the difficult times. Despite the positive aspects, Laurent Tay also pointed out the increasing violence in families, some of which have to live in precarious situations.
Dizesan chairwoman Eva Ehard assured the partner associations that the Dizesan association would be supported in a spiritual and financial form. Impressed by the reports from One World, the participants of the chairman’s conference then devoted themselves to the everyday pandemic in their own country. The topics in the legal area ranged from the Corona Mitigation Act to the Transparency Register. The exchange about the content-related work during the lockdown and above all as a future perspective after the lockdown took place in breakout rooms and was shared with everyone in the plenum. It turned out that a lot of things took place in a modified form or completely new, because the hygiene concepts and infection protection regulations did not allow the tried and tested.
The longing for and the anticipation for the time when encounters and community can take place again in the usual proportions is also enormous in the Kolping families and districts. Dizesanprses Stefan Killermann knew with his clerical word and the report on the planned activities in the Joseph year to present the patron saint of the Kolping Society as a role model. Just as Jesus’ foster father faced the challenges of life with “head, heart and hand”, we too should – true to a motto of the Kolping Society – be “rooted in God and be in the middle of life”.
The index instructions of the Kolping Youth (KJ) showed the various campaigns on the focus topic “Living Peace” 2020/21: Postcards that were designed on the topic and can also be used as a gesture of solidarity instead of a greeting of peace. The Spotify playlist with songs about peace, the peace impulses and the Nobel Peace Prize laureates portrayed on Instagram and Facebook were named examples of the activities of the KJ.
Simone Kuffer informed about the plans for the exchange with the young people who are supervised and taught by the Kolping Educational Center at the Eichsttt vocational school. Further topics were the updating of the protection concept for children, adolescents and those under protection for the Kolping Society and Kolping Youth. The culture of mindfulness and the importance of building blocks for the prevention of violence and border violations is a fundamental concern in the association. For the upcoming federal election, the participants dealt with the Kolping Association’s working aid “Wahlweise 21” and considered which forms of dealing with the candidates and party programs will be possible this year. HK
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