News archive 2007
Despite freezing temperatures, GoAhead! opened a very popular information kiosk on the christmas market in Erdmannsweiler and the traditional market in Königsfeld (Black forest). Lots of visitors aquainted themselves with GoAhead!'s mission and work, expressed their appreciation and donated money. On sale was jewellery, key rings and other artwork, all produced by women's support groups in Africa; the income goes straight into their cooking pots or school fees.
A highly motivated volunteer provided comfortable knitted scarfs, at another stand Gabriele Bildhauer was selling selfmade jams, liquors, punch and casserole. The action's initiator, board member Wolfgang Bildhauer, was very happy with the success. Besides €117 in income, new members were recruited. 
After months of advertising for the "Homes of Hope" programme, the first HoH team has been assembled and will travel to South Africa in 2008 to construct a house for a family in need. The HoH concept connects the two main pillars of our work, effective help in Africa and raising awareness in Europe. Before their departure, the group members will hunt for donations and spread the word about their endeavour: young people learn about poverty and engage in its relief. | 09/12/2007 World AIDS Day: GoAhead! initiates human ribbon |
Thanks to the support of director Klapper, year tutor Wilkens and the student body, the entire grade 11 gathered in the school's courtyard at 11 am, two days before the 1st of december. After a GoAhead! team had directed them to their correct positions, the students put up red sheets of paper to form a colourful ribbon. Pictures of the action appeared in the local papers on Saturday. The red paper was sponsored by the Kappe book store and is being used for GoAhead! matters - we recycle! GoAhead! would like to thank the Walsrode high school, the Walsrode newspaper and of course year 11 for their support! |
When the world turned its eyes to the HIV / AIDS epidemic on Saturday, GoAhead! was not going to rest. In Walsrode, Germany, GoAhead! member Christoph Hollmann organised a human AIDS ribbon of 160 pupils in cooperation with the local high school.
During the weekend, excitement spread through the GoAhead board: Desmond Tutu visited Germany to accept the Doenhoff Price and give a speech for the "Global Stone Project" in Berlin. For a while GoAhead has been trying to get the backing and a message from Bishop and nobel laureate Tutu. Hence, GoAhead board members Jan Bildhauer, Jan Martin Frie and Tilman Rodenhäuser, as well as member Lena Haap took a trip to Berlin to catch Desmond Tutu after his speech.| 27/11/2007: GoAhead! organises school workshop in Königsfeld, Germany |
Jan Bildhauer and Johannes Hilje kicked off the workshop with an introduction to the topic and stories from their own time as volunteers. The students were split up into three groups working on the topics South Africa, Poverty and AIDS, respectively. Led by Jan Bildhauer, Jan-Martin Frie, Steffen Bildhauer and Johannes Giessler, the students analysed various aspects of these broad areas using literature, pictures and videos. Another group co-operated with media director Johannes Hilje to from a newspaper editorial. At the end of the day, they presented a print-ready documentation on the workshop and its results. On the next day, Jan Bildhauer, Jan-Martin and Rike Vetter spoke in front of three years of the same school, spreading the word about GoAhead! to another 1100 pupils. We would like to thank all students for their participation, Reverend Fischer for his support with the organisation and the Zinzendorf school for their generous donation. You can download the workshop paper here: SüdAfrika Post |
One of the pillars of GoAhead!'s work in Germany is education. In this context we organised a workshop on "South Africa, Poverty and AIDS - Issues and Perspectives" at the Zinzendorf school in Königsfeld (Baden-Württemberg). It proved popular and only 30 of 100 interested pupils could participate.
Following the group projects, the pupils presented their results to their parents. The GoAhead! Team finished off with more talks about volunteering. Despite a few suggestions for improvement, the participants rated the session very highly.