After four years as a consultant for the development of Kolping associations and projects in Asia, Dr. Hildegard Hagemann returned to her home town Herne in December 2024. She describes her time as a Kolping coordinator in Vietnam as a ‘huge learning experience’ and the most challenging task in her professional life. In Asia, Kolping exists in India, Indonesia, Myanmar, East Timor, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
Dr. Hildegard Hagemann started working for Kolping in Asia in December 2020 – in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. As difficult as the beginning was, it was helpful to be on site as Kolping’s contact person. “This allowed me to build trust and it was important to persevere and remain on the ground during the pandemic,” Dr. Hagemann says.
Network and continental meetings
It was an enriching task to gain insights and develop a feeling for how Kolping can have an impact in Asia. Asia is diverse, every country is different, the coordinator quickly realised. It was therefore important for her to exchange ideas directly with the countries and to network Kolping organisations in Asia. During the pandemic, the continental meetings were therefore held online every three months. Afterwards, there was another regular in-person meeting in July 2024.
Launching new projects
Many activities were initiated during her time as a consultant: the Kolping House in Ho Chi Minh City started to cooperate with Francis Hoi, who had opened vocational training centres and catering services for disadvantaged young people in Vietnam. Training there is free of charge. The training kitchen in the Kolping House is also available for seminars or short courses for Kolping members, who receive a recognised certificate for their training.
Hildegard Hagemann supported the Freiburg Diocesan Association in establishing a partnership with Vietnam. Coffee farmers in Vietnam are encouraged to make their beans available for tatico coffee – a cooperation is being considered.
In addition, a cooperation with the Kolping Youth Community Services has been established and ‘weltwärts’ volunteers have been successfully integrated by Kolping Vietnam and the Francis Hoi Vocational School for the third year already.
Recruitment of specialists
The recruitment, preparation and support of skilled workers, particularly in the nursing and catering sectors, is one of the most recent areas of cooperation between Kolping institutions in Germany and Asia. The Recruiting GmbH company of Kolping Paderborn is looking for competent and like-minded partners in sister organisations who support and protect skilled migrant workers on their difficult, often precarious journey to Germany in a spirit of Kolping solidarity and family. Co-operations with India and Vietnam are in the pipeline.
Another highlight of the four years was a visit to Myanmar to organise seminars on sustainable agriculture. “It is deeply encouraging to see how Kolping Myanmar is standing together in these difficult times,” Dr. Hagemann recalls. The repositioning of Kolping Indonesia, which is progressing with intensive digital seminar preparations, also confirms the potential of Kolping in Asia in her view.
“I am grateful for all the travelling and for all the wonderful people I have met. I have made many friends.”
Empowering civil society to fight for people’s economic, social and cultural human rights has always been a special concern of Dr. Hildegard Hagemann. A student of agricultural sciences in Bonn, Malaysia and Giessen in the 1980s, she received her doctorate in this discipline. She also met her now husband in Malaysia, and after starting a family, she worked with him in Papua New Guinea as a development expert in the 1990s. During her many years of work as a consultant on development policy for the German Commission for Justice and Peace, she took part in the annual Labour Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on behalf of KOLPING INTERNATIONAL representing KOLPING INTERNATIONAL and the values of Catholic Social Teaching. The couple has two adult sons.