Masifunde Bildungsförderung e.V.

Masifunde Bildungsförderung e.V. is a German non-profit registered association (gemeinnütziger Verein) dedicated to education, global responsibility and international solidarity. It was founded in 2005 as a fundraising organisation for Masifunde Learner Development in Walmer Township, South Africa, and has since grown into an education provider in its own right. The association collects donations in Germany to support its South African partner organisation in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), while also running its own Global Learning (Globales Lernen) programmes for young people and (young) adults in Germany. The organisation's work rests on two pillars. In South Africa, it supports Masifunde Learner Development, which delivers educational programmes for young people in Walmer Township. In Germany, it offers educational activities in a political and social context, a direction the board decided to pursue in 2009. Its guiding educational goal, following the Global Learning approach, is to enable learners to change perspective and become active agents of change in society themselves. Masifunde's German programmes include Learn4Life!, a weekly working-group format that addresses Global Learning topics often neglected in everyday school life; Bildungsexkurse (education workshops) that can be booked independently for project weeks or project days; Multiplikator-Schulung (multiplier training) for facilitators and anyone interested in Global Learning; Hamba Schulwärts and Hamba Online, which bring South African perspectives into direct exchange with German pupils and young adults; and the monthly podcast Global Gedacht!, in which Masifunde moderators discuss Global Learning themes with experts. The German educational work follows its own educational mission statement oriented to the principles of Global Learning and the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals, defining education as a transformative process towards a more just world. By bringing Learn4Life! from South Africa to Germany in 2017, Masifunde reverses the classic direction of development cooperation: rather than only exporting German support southwards, it imports South African educational practice and perspectives northwards. The association positions itself as a civil-society actor working for global responsibility, international solidarity and a more just world society, and it invites supporters to donate to sustain its educational work on the ground.

Masifunde Bildungsförderung e.V. was founded in 2005 as a fundraising organisation for Masifunde Learner Development in Walmer Township, South Africa. Its original purpose was to collect donations in Germany to finance the educational work of the South African partner organisation. In 2009 the board decided that the association should also offer educational programmes in Germany in a political and social context. This marked the beginning of Masifunde's own educational work in Germany, guided by the approach of Global Learning (Globales Lernen). Under this approach, the primary educational goal is to enable learners to change perspective and to become active themselves for changes in society. A significant step came in 2017, when the Learn4Life! programme was brought to Germany following the model of the programme of the same name at Masifunde Learner Development in South Africa. In weekly working groups, Learn4Life! addresses Global Learning topics that are neglected in everyday school life; in 90-minute education sessions, children and young people are encouraged to place their own actions in the context of global developments. In cooperation with Masifunde Learner Development, participants can also exchange with peers from South Africa. Through this transfer, Masifunde reverses classic development cooperation. Over time the German programme portfolio expanded beyond Learn4Life! to include Bildungsexkurse (workshops that can be run independently, for example to support project weeks or project days), Multiplikator-Schulung (regular training for facilitators and others interested in Global Learning, offered online or in person), Hamba Schulwärts (direct exchange between pupils from the 8th grade upwards and "South-North volunteers" from South Africa), and Hamba Online (aimed mainly at young adults, covering topics such as the Black Lives Matter movement, perspectives on volunteer services, and the current political and social situation in South Africa). The podcast Global Gedacht! was added as a complement to all of Masifunde's educational programmes. In monthly episodes, Masifunde moderators speak with experts about Global Learning topics and global connections, with themes following global questions and the Learn4Life! modules. Guests have included the Member of the European Parliament Erik Marquardt and other figures from science, civil society and NGOs such as SeaEye. During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, a special series on Corona in South Africa was produced, in which a full-time staff member of Masifunde Bildungsförderung e.V. spoke with the Masifunde founder, who lives in Gqeberha, South Africa, about the Corona situation in South Africa and how the partner organisation Masifunde Learner Development adapted to the new circumstances. The association continues to support its partner organisation Masifunde Learner Development in Gqeberha, South Africa, with donation funds collected in Germany, and describes itself as engaged for education, global responsibility and international solidarity for over 20 years.

• 2017

  The Learn4Life! programme is brought to Germany following the model of the same-named programme at Masifunde Learner Development in South Africa.

• 2009

  The board decides that the association will also offer educational programmes in Germany in a political and social context.

• 2005

  Masifunde Bildungsförderung e.V. is founded as a fundraising organisation for Masifunde Learner Development in Walmer Township, South Africa.

Non-profit education association working on Global Learning, global responsibility and international solidarity, reversing classic development cooperation by bringing South African educational practice to Germany.

• Learn4Life!

  Weekly working groups addressing Global Learning topics neglected in everyday school life; in 90-minute education sessions, children and young people place their own actions in the context of global developments, with the possibility of exchange with peers from South Africa. Brought to Germany in 2017 following the South African model. Modules include Flight & Migration; Postcolonialism and Anti-Racism; Food, Agriculture & Environment; Life in the ONE World; Human Rights; Sustainable Digitalisation; Gender & Gender Justice; and Resources & Consumption.

• Bildungsexkurse (education workshops)

  Workshops that can be conducted independently, for example to support the design and delivery of project weeks or project days. In two to six school lessons, global contexts are conveyed to pupils; topics include everyday racism, apartheid in South Africa, consumption, environment and human rights, as well as topics derived from the Learn4Life! modules and adapted to individual needs.

• Multiplikator-Schulung (multiplier training)

  Regular training, online or in person, for future facilitators of Masifunde educational offerings and for anyone wishing to further their education in Global Learning topics. Topics include postcolonialism & critical development cooperation, transculturality & democracy, inclusion & participation of minorities, anti-racism and critical whiteness, and consumption & environment, as well as methodological skills for leading and conducting workshops and working groups.

• Hamba Schulwärts

  Enables pupils to enter into direct exchange with "South-North volunteers" and thus learn perspectives from the global South. In 90-minute education sessions, people from South Africa sensitise young people to development-policy questions by sharing their experiences and seeking joint dialogue. Aimed particularly at pupils from the 8th grade upwards and linked to the subjects politics, society, geography and English.

• Hamba Online

  Aimed mainly at young adults, covering topics such as the Black Lives Matter movement, perspectives on volunteer services, and the current political and social situation in South Africa. The intention is an exchange of perspectives from South and North that opens up many new viewpoints.

• Podcast Global Gedacht!

  A monthly podcast complementing all of Masifunde's educational programmes, in which Masifunde moderators speak with experts about Global Learning topics and global connections. Themes follow global questions and the Learn4Life! modules; aimed particularly at (young) adults and available wherever podcasts are found. Guests have included MEP Erik Marquardt and figures from science, civil society and NGOs such as SeaEye. A special series on Corona in South Africa was produced during the height of the pandemic.

1. 1Masifunde Bildungsförderung e.V. | Bildung Südafrikamasifunde.de
2. 2Masifunde – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
3. 3Wikidata Q1907083wikidata.org