Becoming Aware

“As a child you are really sensitive to influences, and if there is a situation where other people are being mean, or rude, or simply not welcoming, you pick up on that.”

Tiemo is from Germany and is a Member of the European Parliament.

“In the town where I grew up, well not a town, it’s more of a village, our goal keeper in the handball team was a refugee from the Middle East. His name was Nasir and I remember how the others kept excluding him…

As a child you are really sensitive to influences, and if there is a situation where other people are being mean, or rude, or simply not welcoming, you pick up on that.

He and his smaller brother were excluded from social activities, they were never invited to our camping trips, nor did they travel with us, if we ever had tournaments outside of Germany.

I was lucky enough to have good friends and parents who drove me places, who took care of me, people that I could talk to and feel the support of, but the pity is that not all children are as lucky. Youngsters need friends and family, they need to be included in social activities to feel empowered and to be comfortable with themselves.

I guess you’re right, I may be quite sensitive to people excluding other people…Without this childhood experience, I wouldn’t have been aware of the importance to fight discrimination.

I remember the first time when I became truly engaged in this fight at the political level. 

I was maybe 16 years old and I participated in this ‘march of lights’, which was organised in various German cities and where people came together to stand against right-wing activities and xenophobia.

That was a powerful moment. It made me aware that if you want to counter hate and discrimination, and solve problems, you need allies and people to do that with.

This awareness, and the decision to act upon it, are what brought me to where I am today.

After this march of lights, I stuck to politics and came together with other Europeans. I met other children and teens from my city and we discussed issues, so this showed me that it is important to discuss and to be open, and if you want to solve problems you need allies and people you can work with. This was the moment when I decided to really become a member of the Youth organization of my party until last year.”

Photo and story by Soundous Boualam / other photos provided by Tiemo Wolken’s team.