Download - TRAMP - Arbeit und Leben DGB/VHS

TRAMP – Transnational Mobility of Older People in Europe
The best thing about the trip to France was the companionship
and the companionship with people from other
countries, and that we worked together and also that we
got to know another culture and existing differences. We
learned how the elderly live in France and the Czech Republic
and what their situation is like. This improves the
knowledge of human nature. Regarding the communication,
there were some difficulties in the beginning and
at first everyone tended to stay in their own little group,
but over the course of time they tended to mix more and
more. We either communicated using our hands and feet
or with the help of someone who spoke a little German.
All of that worked pretty well. We definitely came closer
to Europe. And the children probably learned from the
experience of working with people from other cultures.
We would definitely go again and we think it would make
sense by all means to expand such projects.
Theo Risse and Winfried Kaiser, Hamm, participants
in Metz
The exchange in Prague
• Interior decoration of the nursery Eliška
– the elderly and pupils of the primary
school coated and painted the walls together.
Result: nicer atmosphere in the
nursery.
• Construction and repair of benches and
tables at KLAS, decoration of the garden
and construction of a boule site. Result:
improved environment for leisure activities
of the elderly.
• Setup of benches in the school garden:
polishing and varnishing wood, assembly
of benches, positioning and encasing
in concrete, works on the surrounding.
• Securing the KLAS premises – building
of a fence around the KLAS building.
Result: increased protection and more
aesthetically pleasing appearance.
32 Part 1
• Renovation works on KLAS building –
the fence, main door and windows were
repainted (originally not planned – this
was initiated by German seniors). Result:
increased lifetime and more aesthetically
pleasing appearance.
• Design of puppets for UNICEF, silk
painting and tiffany works. Result: products
for the UNICEF stall and support
of child vaccinations in Africa.
All project works were completed by the
end of the exchange week and presented
during the final ceremony.
The concept of encouraging communication
between people with different native
languages in a manual work context despite
a lack of foreign language skills has proved
to be a success. This was also indicated by
the participants themselves during interviews
and in the evaluation questionnaires.
On the one hand this is due to the fact
that manual work activities usually do not
require a very complex theoretical context.
Most of the information can be communicated
in a non-verbal manner. On the
other hand, as one participant put it, it is
‘craftsmanship international’. The participants
enjoyed the selected project work,
which contributed to an open atmosphere
and promoted communication processes.
In an interview one of the participants of
l’outil en main said: “I really enjoy passing
my knowledge on to adolescents. Many
of them were completely alien to manual
work. One of the adolescents told me he
could picture himself working in this kind
of profession after he left school.”
Almost all participants evaluated the
workshops as informative, varied and versatile.
Most of them thought the workshops
in Hamm, Oberhausen and Prague
were well-organised. The final exchange in
Prague received the best evaluation. The