Urspring international.

Erasmus+ is the new edition of the European Union's Comenius Programme, which has now been discontinued. The Comenius Project was set up in 1995 by the European Union with the aim of supporting collaboration between schools at all levels and of all types within the EU as well as the movement of pupils and teachers. It was part of the Socrates Programme, which promotes school twinning and school-age and adult education. The aim of the schools which have previously taken part in the Comenius Programme is to promote the European idea and to pursue their commitment to a united Europe. The uniform working language is English. In 2007, Comenius was integrated into the EU's new Lifelong Learning Programme. Urspring has taken part in this project since 1998 and will continue to do so from Autumn 2015 under the new name, Erasmus+.

Urspring pupils are currently working on the There is no Planet B topic together with pupils from Scotland, England, Estonia, Belgium and Hungary.

Urspring School supports the school project in Kenya, through actions such as the Christmas market stall, charity runs and voluntary work.

 

"Desturi – the way to the future" (www.desturi.de) is the name of a schools and educational project in the heart of the East Kenyan bush, in Malindi district, set up as a private initiative and funded entirely from donations, which was established in 2008 by organisers including Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Wacker under the slogan 'aid to self-help'. As part of this project, the charity "Gesundheit und Bildung für Afrika e.V" ("Health and Education for Africa") has taken on the task of helping children, young people and adults in one of the poorest regions of the world to have better prospects in life, through education and medical care.

 

Many families here were without drinking water, electricity, sanitary facilities, proper roads or schools and educational establishments. With plenty of initiative, creativity and patience, the two Rotary Club members Kronthaler and Wacker tackled these problems and provided a comprehensive feed network – of rainwater collection units, solid buildings and facilities for nursery and primary school classes with age-appropriate teaching materials and a library, through to the first computers and internet access. The primary school is now almost fully constructed, and the nursery and school are operating extremely well. The forestry project is also thriving. Spurred on by the commitment of Kronthaler and Wacker, the Munich dentist Dr. Helmut Prager and his wife decided to supplement the project with a dentist's clinic. Their first step was to organise a mobile dentist's practice capable of operating in the bush, and in just two weeks basic dental medicine was performed on 300 patients. The aim is to establish a fixed-location clinic, to ensure basic healthcare in the region with the help of several colleagues, working on a rotating basis.

 

For the future, there are plans to build an orphan intake station and a vocational training centre to provide practical vocational training to young people.

 

Desturi can draw on the support of many people these days: in Germany, there is the charity Verein zur Förderung von Gesundheit und Bildung in Afrika e.V., an association promoting health and education in Africa, which attracts loyal sponsorship from many, often long-term, supporters. On the Kenyan side, there is the Desturi Foundation, charitable trust, which acts as sponsor for the local activities and forms the bridgehead to Germany. In addition, many volunteer helpers on both sides are committed in various ways to supporting this joint project.