08.07.2025

Well prepared for one year in UEM

The young adults bring also their musical talent...

...into UEM's morning devotion.

Dr. Leita Ngoy (centre), former UEM Scholarship holder, gave a workshop about "Ubuntu" as a philosophical foundation.

All photos by: Hadil Al Hassan / UEM

“We’re having a great time here. Some seminars are very heavy. But being prepared is important and we are slowly feeling the nervousness, but also the excitement,” says Hadil, who is currently preparing for her service in Stone Town, Tanzania.

For ten days, the programme at the YMCA Education Centre in Wuppertal, Germany, focuses on living and working one year in a UEM member church. For Hadil, this will be the ELCT/ECD* in Zanzibar. A total of 22 young adults will be going to Indonesia, Rwanda, Tanzania, with EKvW* to Argentina or, with the North German Mission, to Ghana or Togo. Thanks to a cooperation with ERK*, placements in South Africa are provided as well. A particularly important element is the exchange with the South-North volunteers from Asian and African UEM member churches who are currently serving in Germany.

The young adults, who must be at least 18 years old when they depart, are accompanied by former volunteers and staff members of the UEM. The team is present throughout the entire seminar, sharing their own experiences and providing space for the volunteers’ questions.

Travelling Abroad Well Prepared

Alongside topics such as intercultural understanding and health care, the focus here is on dealing with homesickness, grief and personal boundaries. At the UEM Archive and Museum Foundation, participants learn about the background of mission and colonialism. They explore the connections and differences between the two and how the UEM and its member churches today deal with this legacy. A particular emphasis is placed on anti-racism: White volunteers as well as volunteers of Color experience during their placement that, worldwide, white people are given more value, whereas people of Color are devalued. The UEM also accompanies this aspect of volunteering sensitively yet critically, in line with the philosophy of learning together in Global Learning in Ecumenical Perspective.

Three Volunteers’ Services

The UEM communion of churches invites young adults to serve as volunteers in another country. Young people from the continents of Africa or Asia come to Germany (South-North) or serve in another country in Africa or Asia (South-South). Young Germans serve in countries in Africa or Asia (North-South). You can find our Volunteer Program here.

Ten days with plenty of input, little sleep, and long evening conversations with fellow volunteers: the seminar challenges the young adults. But it also gives them a lot in return. Before departing for Rubengera, Rwanda, Tabea says: “Having former volunteers here who give us so many honest insights is really special. I am grateful that we are able to engage with the topics that will come up later in the country where I will live.”

We wish the young adults all the best and God’s blessing for their voluntary service.

*ELCT/ECD = Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Eastern and Coastal Diocese

*EKvW = Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen (Evangelical Church in Westphalia, Germany)

*ERK = Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche (Evangelical Reformed Church, Germany)