“In 2004, I experienced the global solidarity of KOLPING for the first time when I participated in a workcamp in Mexico with the Kolping Youth Services Germany. In 2005, I got the chance to realize an internship with KOLPING INTERNATIONAL in Cologne during my semester break and got introduced to the instrument of microcredits in the development cooperation of KOLPING INTERNATIONAL. This instrument seemed to connect wonderfully with the approach help for self-help. 10 years later my path crossed again with KOLPING INTERNATIONAL and I realized the efforts KOLPING INTERNATIONAL makes to meet regional differences. Since 2016, as a member of the diocesan board and as a BIP, I have gained yet another access to the work of KOLPING INTERNATIONAL. Nowadays, it is most important for me in the partnership work to strengthen the responsibilities of members in Colombia and in the Archdiocese of Cologne for a more just world and to open spaces in which we can learn from one another and express policy demands together.”
Esther Henning, Representative for International Partnership Work (BIP) in the Diocesan Kolping Association of Cologne, Germany, until 2019, and Peace Worker in Bolivia
