City walk: Out and about with young people in Offenbach

In bright sunshine, the participants of the "I'll show you my city" tour were given an insight into the lives of two young people at the invitation of the volunteer center. Princess (16 years old) and Yonathan (15 years old) showed their personal places in Offenbach. The meeting point was the Hafentreppe, which is also a popular place for their circle of friends. "Although I've always lived in Nordend, I found out about this new place via YouTube," reported Yonathan, who told his friends. Appointments are usually quite spontaneous, and when the weather is warm you always meet someone you know. "The blue crane in the harbor is now one of my favourite places. You have a great view," enthuses Princess.

The young people still go to school and are also active volunteers. Princess has now collected a large number of honorary posts: Class representative, middle school representative, currently head girl, kindergarten mentor in the Agenda 21 project, school paramedic. Both are also altar servers and sing in the church choir at St. Peter's. This place was at the end of the tour, where Father Piotrowski welcomed the group to the church on the Kaiserlei, which is quite inconspicuous from the outside. But inside, a warm and friendly church interior opened up, with the light bathing the round church interior in different colors through its colorful windows. Princess surprised the participants with a performance of her singing skills.

Yonathan had previously shown the group how agile he is. The TVO, the oldest gymnastics club in Hesse, hosted a training session for its capoeira group. This sport originates from Brazil and is described as a martial art, but it also involves music and dance. After practising movement sequences, the children and young people aged five and over "fight" each other in pairs. They take turns assuming attack and defense positions in flowing movements, so that the result is more like playing or dancing together. After a short time, one of the two is replaced. Those standing in a circle around them sing and clap along. "What fascinates me about capoeira is the diversity and the interaction between young and old," explains Yonathan, who is now involved in training the young people and adults. The tour participants were impressed by the diverse commitment of the two young people. Although the title of the tour "The youth of today!?" played on possible prejudices, it showed that young people have a lot to show and give.