About us

We are an open network and host an Ejo Connect meeting twice a year. Between meetings, we stay in touch via social media. If we have piqued your interest, you want to join, have questions or suggestions, contact us!

Ejo-Connect Germany

Ejo-Connect is the youth network of the partnership between Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda and wants to give young people from Rwanda and Germany the opportunity to actively participate in the partnership. Ejo is used in Kinyarwanda for yesterday (ejo hashize) as well as for tomorrow (ejo hazaza). Our name is program, because our network consists of young people, former volunteers, students, FSJ-lers, pupils, etc. who were in contact with Rwanda yesterday and want to maintain the contact tomorrow. We come together from all over Germany (either digitally or if possible in presence in Rhineland-Palatinate) and plan projects and actions together. The ideas and implementation depend on the active members in our network. Wherever people get involved, new activities are created. Everyone can join us without obligation and can decide for themselves how much capacity they have to contribute. We are all volunteers.

The focus of our work in recent years has been on the preparation of pupils and students who had planned for an exchange or longer stay (such as voluntary service) in Rwanda. In our opinion, a critical examination of (post-)colonial issues such as racism and development cooperation is essential for an encounter at eye level between the Global North and the Global South.

Most recently, we organized an online lecture series on these topics around (post-) colonialism to provide an educational and exchange platform for people in the partnership. Currently we are planning a new series of lectures in which we would like to give the floor to speakers from Rwanda.

We are always happy to receive questions and suggestions via our e-mail address:

ejoconnectrlprwa@gmail.com

Ejo-Connect Rwanda

The Rwandan youth group exists since November 2020. 

In today's economically and politically globalized world, it is necessary to acquire intercultural skills and break down prejudices in joint discussions at eye level. For this, the exchange with people of other nations is essential. The Rwandan youth group allows young people to get in touch with like-minded people. It promotes discussion of social, economic and political issues and strengthens the partnership between Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda. 

The first project of the youth group is a blog discussing various social issues, which is created in cooperation with the German youth group. 

Welcome to the youth group are young Rwandans and Germans living in Rwanda who want to share their creativity, their experiences, their knowledge and their ideas, who are interested in planning and implementing joint projects, and who find joy in intercultural exchange at eye level.

You want to join us? Or you have a question about the youth group? Then send us a message to

contact@ejo-connect.com

Our experience at Ejo-Connect

Patrick

At Ejo-Connect I met new friends and many contacts have remained until now, 8 years after I joined. I used our network meetings for engaging in exchange and for expanding my German language skills.

In particular, I was able to learn a lot about the Rhineland-Palatinate/Rwanda partnership at Ejo-Connect and participate in activities within this framework. Thereby I understood more about the German-Rwandan relations, their differences and similarities.

Patrick

Christa

When I moved for my studies, I could no longer get involved in the Rwanda-working group at my old school. Nevertheless, I wanted to stay in touch with the partnership between Rwanda and Rhineland-Palatinate, and Ejo-Connect filled this gap. Here I can exchange ideas with my peers and work on projects together. I especially enjoy the network meetings and learn new things about Rwanda and the partnership every time. For me, it is very enriching to be part of Ejo-Connect.

Christa

Lara

When I returned to Germany after my voluntary service in Rwanda, I missed the exchange and the joint cooperation with Rwandans very much. Ejo-Connect allowed me to revive the (inter-) cultural exchange and I learned a lot about group work and project planning during my participation in the youth group. Also, it's just a lot of fun to work on meaningful and valuable projects with other nice young people.

Lara

Ejo-Connect as part of the partnership between Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda

Ejo-Connect is part of the partnership between Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda and wants to give young people the opportunity to get involved in this partnership. The partnership was founded in 1982 and from the beginning pursued the goal of a grassroots partnership at eye level. People from Rwanda and Germany should get to know each other through this grassroots form of development cooperation and work together on projects. In Rhineland-Palatinate, one can find numerous partnership associations. There are also partnerships between schools, church communities or institutions.

The supporting framework consists of the Rwanda department of the state government as well as the Partnerschaftsverein Rheinland-Pfalz/ Ruanda e.V. with its office in Mainz and the coordination office in Kigali, Rwanda. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them both cordially for their support!

 

More information about the partnership and the Partnerschaftsverein Rheinland-Pfalz/ Ruanda e.V. can be found here:

Website: www.rlp-ruanda.de

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruandapartnerschaft