Steinen: Indian Catholic priest Father Edwin John wants children to come together in parliaments. So they should be able to solve problems better. The idea now arrived at a workshop in Steinen, Germany. In 1977, Father John had an idea. He wanted children to come together as parliaments to shape their living environment and solve problems as well.
At the end of the 1990s, the idea became reality, initially at Kanyakumari, the southern tip of India, where children from six to eighteen years are politically involved. Since then, the idea has spread throughout the world – now it has arrived in Wiesental, Germany. There was also a workshop in Steinen. Since October, Father John has been traveling in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, together with Joseph Rathinam, head of the Adjacent Parliaments Academy, and presents the concept of children’s parliaments through workshops.
On November 22, the two were first in Schopfheim at the Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium and then in stones at the Meret-Oppenheim-Schulzentrum. The bilingual 9th class of Renate Bächle, representatives of the SMV and some interested students took part in it.
Since the Indian guests do not speak German, the workshop was mostly in English. Also present was Daniela Gütlin of the Sociocracy Center Switzerland, which is also responsible for the Southern Baden area across borders. The project day was supported by the Schöpflin Foundation. Courtesy: MattersIndia
