From meetings to the dream and the dream to reality. There is always a focal point for every dream. I still remember that day in Port-Gentil, the economic heart of Gabon, where I am a German teacher. Just a few days Franziska separated from their departure. One year internship in the coconut tree, a center of the Salesian sister, enough of the young Germans to daily work around completely familiar with Gabonese children, boys and girls.
Stay of Franziska had something special: In a very short period she visited her parents Thomas and Uschi, then her sister Lena, with whom I could talk about Africa and Germany. You could read in their eyes, that Africa was really worth discovery. Very happy said Frank and Lena before my senior year students about Germany. Curious eyes saw two real German in a city where German is not to find every day.
Franziska's departure hurt. As we have since maintained that enthusiasm?
I thought: We have a device, in which almost all are familiar: the Internet. So that we can create an email partnership. My students, Frank and Lena found the proposal interesting.
The appetite comes with eating
So I started thinking how we could achieve this email relationship. As the appetite comes with eating, I had the idea of an online magazine, which could be much bigger than a mere mail partnership. I shared the idea with Frank in these words: ". I have a dream" Toll was Frank the project, and we immediately started to write the first lyrics. We wanted the work is not complicated: four pages that were enough to plan the first issue. This first edition was in July 2008. After sending the first we received many suggestions from friends, colleagues, acquaintances und Unbekannten. Diese Anregungen waren der Grund dafür, an den Traum zu glauben.
Aber die große Aufgabe bestand darin, Mitarbeiter zu finden, und Material zu haben, um unsere Arbeit zu erleichtern. Wir versuchten Kontakte zu knüpfen mit Deutschlehrern in Gabun, Kamerun, mit Bekannten in Deutschland, Österreich. Einige reagierten mit Begeisterung, andere mit bloßen Versprechungen. Eine dritte Gruppe blieb einfach gleichgültig. Wir begannen also, die online-Arbeit mit Zweifel und Hoffnung zu erproben…
Auf unserem Weg fanden wir einige Unterstützer: Die Deutsche Botschaft, die uns mit einigen Materialien half, erlaubte uns auch, Kontakte mit Thomas Frahm und Julia Gestrich vom Goethe-Institut Kamerun zu knüpfen. Through them we won people from Cameroon.
This was the first online contact with Leumassi Leopold, John Bapack, William Chantcho with which we published twelve issues before we met in Yaoundé in May for the first time (unfortunately without John Bapack). Other contributions we received from Côte d'Ivoire, Belgium, Cameroon, ..., often of unknown readers who wanted to share their experiences.
A pleasant surprise came from Germany by Walter Böhme, who promised his support now and then as Webmaster of the magazine, she realized. With Maryse Mangama, who teaches at the University of Omar Bongo in Libreville, we won a nice fellow. Not forget Gottfried Samoth from Germany and Anna Rabanser from Austria, which belong to the team.
Many thanks to all these employees, supporters and readers.
Evariste Fosong
