Bonner Querschnitte 10/2020 Ausgabe 628 (eng)

(Bonn, 17.02.2020) At the invitation of the directors of the Center, Paul and Susi Childers, Thomas and Christine Schirrmacher visited the University of the Nations (UoN) in Kailua-Kona (Big Island/Hawaii) as representatives of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA). In addition to a guided tour through all departments and discussions with staff, they also gave guest lectures on the subject of human trafficking and current developments in the Arab world.

Founded in 1978, the UoN is part of the missionary society ‘Youth with a Mission’ and has 20,000 students in 650 locations in 160 countries with 100 languages. Many of the students come to Hawaii for three-month courses. Hawaii benefits from its location between several continents.

The two German visitors were particularly impressed by the extensive gardens and facilities for environmental education. All students there learn not only how to think ecologically, but also how to produce ecologically clean drinking water and food in poor areas of the world using the simplest means available.

“I‘m almost certain that the tens of thousands of students who spent three months here in the afternoons learning about ecological thinking using practical examples are the world’s largest activity of its kind,” says Thomas Schirrmacher. He was so impressed that he asked the WEA Sustainability Center (WEASC) in Bonn to send someone there immediately, who is currently in Kailua-Kona, to arrange closer cooperation.

Downloads and Links:

• Photo 1: The central flag and prayer place of the University of the Nations, Kailua-Kona (Hawaii) © BQ/Thomas Schirrmacher
• Photo 2: Susi Childers during her guided tour across the huge campus of the University of the Nations, Kailua-Kona (Hawaii) © BQ/Thomas Schirrmacher
• Photo 3: View of an experiment at the University of the Nations Environment Station, Kailua-Kona (Hawaii) © BQ/Thomas Schirrmacher
• Photo 4: Logo der der University of the Nations, Kailua-Kona (Hawaii)
• Photo 5: Thomas and Christine Schirrmacher with University of the Nations anti-trafficking activists © BQ/Thomas Schirrmacher
• Wikipedia entry on the University of the Nations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_the_Nations
• Website of the University of the Nations: https://uofn.edu
• Website of the WEA Sustainability Center: https://wea-sc.org