Talk to us, ask away! Here are small portraits of our team members, so you can get to know us a little.
Bene (USA 2006/07) teamed lots of seminars for AFS Germany, is editor of the association's magazine HORIZONTE and works as a freelance journalist in Berlin. Bene is politically involved with Voices4 Berlin and is currently doing their PhD on queer feminist rap.
"In a global organization like AFS, queer issues need to be considered and included to better reach out to and support queer youth and families. That's why it's so important that QueerExchange creates awareness for queer issues and improves the visibility of queer people in international youth exchange.”
Flo (Kenya 2016/17) has been active at QueerExchange since 2017 and bringing queer topics to AFS preparatory and follow-up seminars ever since. Flo is currently studying biochemistry in Leipzig and coordinates the group together with Bene.
“Especially at the preparatory seminars, it's important that the needs of queer participants are addressed. Do I want to come out? How do I access HRT? Who can I confide in? What's the legal situation in my host country? With QueerExchange, the participants have a contact they can reach out to to get in touch with people who have had the same questions at one point.”
Paula (Bolivia 2023) started volunteering even before her volunteer service with AFS because her programme had been postponed. She's currently studying educational science in Cologne and works in the local chapter there.
“We have the opportunity to support young queer people who want to go abroad. As a queer person, you're faced with different challenges and through QueerExchange we can hopefully offer counselling and answers from our own experience!”
Levke (Irland 2022/23) ist seit der Rückkehr aus Irland im Sommer 2023 bei AFS im Ehrenamt aktiv. Die Zeit zwischen Auslandsjahr und Studium nutzt Levke, um im Hamburger Komitee und seit Januar 2024 auch bei QueerTausch mitzuarbeiten.
„Mir ist wichtig, dass queere Thematiken bei AFS nicht untergehen oder zu kurz kommen – sowohl für Programmteilnehmende als auch innerhalb des Vereins. Mit der Arbeit bei QueerTausch tragen wir dazu bei, dass sich queere Menschen bei AFS gesehen und willkommen fühlen!“
Rico is a real globetrotter. From Saxony he went on his voluntary service to Mexico (2011/12), after which he was a supervisor for a short exchange program to India. Professionally, his path has now taken him via Ireland, Mexico and Berlin to Houston, Texas, USA.
“In many places, people negatively focus on aspects of sexuality. That's why I'm committed to positive education with QueerExchange.”
Ole has been involved with QueerExchange since the beginning. Previously he was in the USA with AFS (2003/04) and lived in Sweden during his studies. Within QueerExchange, he supports projects and workshops on a small scale.
„Innerhalb der Arbeit bei QueerTausch liegt mir besonders am Herzen, dass sowohl Familien als auch Schüler*innen im Besonderen Freude haben, interkulturell zu lernen, ohne dass ein LGBT-Hintergrund als Belastung, sondern vielmehr als Bereicherung gesehen wird.“sitiv gesinnte Aufklärung mit QueerTausch ein.“