Project meeting in Hagen | Day 2

Today the group went on an excursion to Duisburg-Marxloh to see how people of different religions live together. In order to find out we went to Merkesz mosque where we found out about its planning process. The mosque was planned including representatives from the neighbourhood like the Catholic priest, the Protestand pastor and others. Some decisions about the mosque were taken jointly, for example that the mosque has clear windows in the ground floor so that everybody can see what is happening inside. There are also three entrances to cater for different types of visitors (believers, visitors).

After that the group enjoyed a walk in the sunshine through Marxloh to have lunch in the canteen of Elly-Heuss-Knapp-Gymnasium.

After a break which people spent in groups we went to Petershof which is part of the Catholic parish neighbouring the mosque. Here social worker Oguz Topac told us how the help refugees and migrants of all backgrounds in Duisburg. They have many volunteers and can offer help in many languages. Moreover they are creating more and more offers according to need.

To sum up we can say that we have had some great new impressions on how people of different religions live together and what they can do to ensure a peaceful community.