Cultural Bridge
Cultural Bridge is a collaborative project that was conceived and edited by Dr. Vishnu Ramdeo as part of his German Chancellor Fellowship (at Humboldt University of Berlin) program in 2016. The MoU between the Institute of Asian and African Studies and the Ramdeo College of Management and Science provides meaningful internship opportunities to students in India in the Tier-2 cities of India, starting with the city of Pali (in the state of Rajasthan). The Cultural Bridge Initiative provides easier understanding of the Indian landscape, provides guidance, networking and establishes credible contacts and partnership with institutional set-ups for students. The project is targeted towards easier accessibility to students in doing meaningful internships on India based subjects, inclusive of language, social-science, environment protection, education, music, business, human rights, art and craft, medicine,sports (e.g. yoga) etc… It is recommended to spend 4 to 12 weeks or more in India, preferably during the summer break. The project offers a unique experience of India based in smaller cities and towns and making them link closely with communities in India and also contribute to their projects in a sense of social exchange.
The project is vice versa also accessible for Indian students to do their internships in Germany.
Herein Cultural Bridge preferably supports Indian students from less privileged backgrounds to come to Germany and organizes funding possibilities and easier access to visas.
Each year, BA and MA students learn and take internships facilitated by Ramdeo College of Managemnet and Science and engage in extra-curricular activities with the local population thus experiencing the Indian culture. Optionally the students also get to teach German, English or other subjects at local schools, as part of imparting their own values, sensitivities and culture, thus, providing an exchange platform, which determines the true-ethos of Cultural Bridge. The students are affiliated to institutions that present the core domain of their work and are assisted by the Ramdeo College representative for any local logistical or advisory support. The students are free to develop their own independent project and are also allowed to engage in local practices to understand the Indian way of working, taking-up and guiding projects. The project's focus and goal is to enhance and engage students' capabilities and understanding of India and take on a much-integrated inter-cultural communication skills and is thought of as a complement to our other MoUs with Indian universities.
Cultural Bridge is mainly collaborating with institutions that are mostly located in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where accessibility, infrastructure and credible touch points are hard to find. Also, most of these areas are difficult to find information about on the Internet.
As India is accelerating at the rate of 7% GDP, there are big transformations happening in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities both in terms of the society and the economic growth. Cultural Bridge thus offers a unique opportunity to experience local India‘s society and way of life.
The project is coordinated by Founder, Dr. Vishnu Ramdeo (Berlin/Rajasthan), Project Advsior, Mr. Gaurav Sharma (New Delhi) and Facilitator and Coordinator Ms. Enya Christensen (Berlin). Please direct all inquiries regarding the project to one of the enlisted Cultural Bridge members.
For more information visit www.culturalbridge.net
The Cultural Bridge Team is welcomed by students of the Ramdeo College.
Cultural Bridge participants teaching German in a public school.
The Cultural Bridge Team created in cooperation with the police academy Jodhpur beautiful hanging gardens out of old plastic bottles. Not everyone was happy with the coulours chosen by the police of Jodhpur.
Political science student Ferdinand gives a lecture on environment protection in a primary school.
Art student Alex is working on his artwork which was later put on a wall in the public space of Pali. It is completely made of old plastic bottles.
Art student Alex had the opportunity to play some music with a priest in a temple.
