The Student Initiative Rahel (German: ''Rahel-Bildungsprojekt'') was a project of the ''Institute for World Church and Mission'' (IWM, German: ''Institut für Weltkirche und Mission''), which is part of the

Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology (German: ''Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Sankt Georgen'') is a higher education Jesuit college in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The school offers a 10-semester Magister in Catholic T ...

in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen. The

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

project started in 2010 and collected money until 2017, financing

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

s for

disadvantaged The "disadvantaged" is a generic term for individuals or groups of people who: * Face special problems such as physical disability, physical or mental disorder, mental disability * Lack money or economic supportKingdom of Nepal: Economic and Soc ...

young people, mostly women, in

Adigrat Adigrat ( , ''ʿaddigrat'', also called ʿAddi Grat) is a city and separate Districts of Ethiopia, woreda in Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It is located in the Misraqawi Zone at longitude and latitude , with an elevation of above sea level and below ...

in northern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. The students in Ethiopia were also supported ideally during their education. The project was run mainly by current and former students at the IWM in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was largely funded by donations.

History

The idea for the educational project was developed in 2010 during a research trip on the subject of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

by the then head of the IWM, Albert-Peter Rethmann. It was in the context of a research project of the

German Bishops' Conference The German Bishops' Conference () is the episcopal conference of the bishops of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany. Members include diocesan bishops, coadjutors, auxiliary bishops, and diocesan administrators. History The first meeting of th ...

in Adigrat in

Tigray Region The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

in northern Ethiopia. In this region, many young people, especially young women, have no access to

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

, many are

AIDS orphan An AIDS orphan is a child who became an orphan because one or both parents died from AIDS. In statistics from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (U ...

s. An initiative of the ''Adigrat Diocesan Catholic Secretariat'' (ADCS) of the

Ethiopian Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat The Ethiopian Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat () is a Catholic eparchy located in the city of Adigrat, Ethiopia. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Addis Ababa. History On 25 March 1937, Pope Pius XI established the Prefecture Apostolic of Tigr ...

had already supported ten young people with micro-scholarships for obtaining a university entrance qualification and at least one

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in their own country. The result of the journey was an international initiative of students for students in the context of

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

. The Rahel project was named after Rahel Hailay, an AIDS

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

who studied

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

and

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

at the universities in

Axum Axum, also spelled Aksum (), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015). It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire. Axum is located in the Central Zone of the Tigray Re ...

and

Mek'ele Mekelle (), or Mek'ele, is a List of zones of Ethiopia, special zone and capital city, capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta province, Enderta Awrajja, awraja in Tigray Province, Tigray. It is locate ...

from 2009 to 2014. By 2015 the Rahel project had enabled the training of 47 young Ethiopians. Later it was possible to support 40 young people at the same time. In November 2017, the project was announced to be phasing out. In a farewell letter to the donors, the Rahel team wrote that it expected its work to be gradually taken over by the ''Adigrat Diocesan Catholic Secretariat'' (ADCS) and former graduates in Ethiopia. The Rahel team conveyed the same message on Facebook in January 2018, clarifying that it would not accept any further donations.Posting on the initiative'
Facebook page
28 January 2018.

Target

The project supported disadvantaged, primarily female, young people in the Tigray Region who lack equal access to education for reasons of

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

or gender. The financial support consisted of micro-scholarships. The scholarship holders were accompanied during their studies or education. Networking among scholarship holders and the value of

ethical Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied e ...

behaviour was promoted. Women who achieve a higher level of education should understand their importance as

role model A role model is a person whose behaviour, example, or success serves as a model to be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term ''role model'' is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who hypothesized that individuals compa ...

s for others. This

development cooperation Development aid (or development cooperation) is a type of aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid by ...

was intended to give

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

to the beneficiaries, making them self-responsible. The motivation of the beneficiaries to support the idea was a key factor. Therefore the promotion of

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

and self-initiative was part of the project. The initiative of the students in Germany could also serve as a model for the students in Ethiopia. As a secondary effect, training programs such as the Rahel project are a medium to long-term contribution to the fight against the

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

crisis.

Funding, support and public relations

The educational project was financed through public donations and campaigns, such as at the Frankfurter Stadtkirchenfest at the

Frankfurt Cathedral Frankfurt Cathedral (), officially Imperial Dome of Saint Bartholomew (), is a Roman Catholic Gothic church located in the heart of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is dedicated to Saint Bartholomew. It is the largest religious building in the c ...

, collects in Catholic church

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es and the ''

Holy Cross - Centre for Christian Meditation and Spirituality Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

'' of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg The Diocese of Limburg () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Cologne, with metropolitan see being the Archdiocese of Cologne. Its territory encompasses parts of the States ...

, or the summer festival of the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology. These actions also created new contacts, information and exchange on the project. They were supported by the ''Network of Frankfurt One World Groups'' in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. The Rachel educational project was funded by the

Cusanuswerk The Cusanuswerk is one of the thirteen German sponsorship organizations financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany) to promote gifted students. It is headquartered in Bonn. History The Cusanuswerk was founded in 1956 u ...

, a gifted support program under the supervision of the Catholic German Bishops' Conference and by the ''Centre for Christian Meditation and Spirituality'' of the Diocese of Limburg. The project was supported by the

Pontifical Mission Societies The Pontifical Mission Societies (TPMS), known in some countries as Missio, is the name of a group of Catholic missionary societies that are under the jurisdiction of the Pope. These organizations include the Society for the Propagation of th ...

(German: ''missio'') in all financial matters, such as account management, the administrative costs or the transfer of money to Ethiopia. Public relations efforts were made in the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

Realisation in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia the project was referred to as an OVC project ('' orphans and vulnerable children''). It was supervised locally by the ''Adigrat Diocesan Catholic Secretariat'' (ADCS) of the

under the patronage of diocesan bishop Tesfay Medhin. The

project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the Project planning, planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined star ...

of the ADCS Woldemariam Besirat selected the scholarship holders, and organized religious education workshops on topics such as

, the consequences of

emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

issues. The promotion of

self-reliance "Self-Reliance" is an 1841 essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of his recurrent themes: the need for each person to avoid conformity and false consistency, ...

self-confidence Confidence is the feeling of belief or trust that a person or thing is reliable. * * * Self-confidence is trust in oneself. Self-confidence involves a positive belief that one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do in the future. Sel ...

and

self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth, abilities, or morals. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Macki ...

, awareness of

social responsibility Social responsibility is an ethical concept in which a person works and cooperates with other people and organizations for the benefit of the community. An organization can demonstrate social responsibility in several ways, for instance, by do ...

and the importance of

cooperation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English and, with a varied usage along time, coöperation) takes place when a group of organisms works or acts together for a collective benefit to the group as opposed to working in competition ...

were some of the aspects of the OVC project.

Literature

* Judith Breunig, Madeleine Helbig, Claudia Berg, Stefanie Matulla, Magdalena Strauch, Marita Wagner, Benedikt Winkler (June 2015): ''Rahel – Ein Bildungsprojekt für Adigrat. Festschrift der Studierendeninitiative. Ein Blick durch die Zeit: 2010–2015.'' Institut für Weltkirche und Mission,

.
he title translated: ''Rahel – An education project for Adigrat. Festschrift of the initiative by students. A view through the years: 2010–2015.''

References

{{Authority control Educational projects International development programs Catholic charities Charities based in Germany Catholic Church in Ethiopia History of education in Ethiopia History of the Tigray Region Christianity in Frankfurt 2010 establishments in Germany Foreign charities operating in Ethiopia Ethiopia–Germany relations 2017 disestablishments in Germany Adigrat History of women in Ethiopia