ESC: 12-months experience in multicultural Kindergarten

The AWO is one of six main associations in the field of Free Welfare Services in Germany. This also includes the County Association „AWO Kreisverband Karlsruhe-Stadt e.V.”, which is a member association that gets involved in voluntary commitment in social equality. The „AWO Karlsruhe gGmbH“ is a subsidiary of the „AWO Kreisverband Karlsruhe-Stadt e. V. with about 1500 employees. They offer a bright range of social service, with over 70 facilities. For example, this includes nurseries, youth welfare facilities, centres for the elderly, offers for people with mentally illnesses, for people with disabilities and projects for unemployed and homeless people. We set high value on high service quality with professionally well-founded, innovative and modern concepts. Our 1500 employees consult and support people in all live situations. The daily working routine is always influenced by the deeply anchored values solidarity, tolerance, freedom and equality. A big part of the „AWO Karlsruhe“ are the 18 Kindergartens with their different focuses for children from Karlsruhe and surroundings. Six out of the 18 Kindergartens have been welcoming European volunteers for four years now. The Kindergartens „Kita Sie Kids Villa Pusteblume“, „Kita Krone“, „Kita im Weiherwald“, „Kita am Haydenplatz“, „Kita Monelli“ and „Kita Polyglott“ all have different focuses. However, they all have in common, that children, volunteers, Trainees, Apprentices and Teachers from all social and cultural backgrounds are welcome. Professionally sound and high-quality concepts such as bilingual education according to the immersion principle, the modern, playful introduction to MINT* topics, but also special sports offers that actively support the children's natural need for movement are fixed components in the everyday life of the AWO Karlsruhe Kindergartens. Tasks and goals of the Kindergartens are to provide the children with education, knowledge and supervision and to communicate values and rules. The Kindergartens educate, give impulses and reveille the children’s interests. Each Kindergarten has it´s one focus. The Kindergarten „Kita Krone“ for example has its focus on exercise, health-conscious nutrition and sports. The Kindergarten „Kita am Haydenplatz“ has its focus on health and health-conscious nutrition as well as on the environment.. The Kindergarten „Kita im Weiherwald“ has its focus on inclusion and opens its doors for children with and without disabilities. The exercise in nature is also an important topic for them. The nurseries „Kita Polyglott“, Kita Moneli“, „Kita Sie Kids Villa Pusteblume” and “Kita am Haydenplatz” are intercultural and bilingual nurseries which have their main focus on exercise, nature and health-conscious nutrition, as well as on interculturality and bilingual education. The children can learn, discover and try new things every day. They learn profitably, with the teachers and volunteers how to interact, take responsibility and live with people from different cultures in a playful way. Through the European volunteers, the children get a view on different cultures and the diverse society. They will be able to grow up without prejudices. The activities for the volunteers are to support the children on a daily basis, to play with them and to discover new things and be creative. The volunteers are more than welcome to include their own ideas and start projects about their own cultures and knowledge. The volunteers also support the teachers in the daily routine of the Kindergarten, which also includes the preparation of the meals in the kitchen. The goal of the project with the volunteers is the intercultural opening of the nursery. The project should support the children to see the varieties of the society, to live without prejudices and therefore be able to live conscious towards solidarity.