In 2019, we took our maiden voyage to our Sister City Darmstadt, Germany as Citizen Ambassadors. We traveled with 31 High School students to be welcomed by city leaders, which included a Q&A session with the mayor and a council woman, experiencing first-hand how leaders from different political parties can work together. Our journey took us to a local food company with hands-on demonstrations, an epic field trip to a UNESCO World Heritage site, the fossil pit, and ESA, the European counterpart of NASA for a in-depth tour. We were invited to open up the local festival with dances that represent our culture, delighting the VIP’s of Darmstadt and its citizens with a boot-scootin’ boogie and a folkloric dance! The Lord Mayor of Darmstadt mentioned SOS and our terrific Ambassadors in his opening speech and we even made it into the local newspaper!
SOS continued our journey with middle school friends and chaperones through Germany by visiting Heidelberg, Rothenburg, Munich, Nürnberg, Chemnitz, and Berlin. Along the way, we experienced Germany from culinary delights, to street art, architecture, cultural and historical highlights.
One of the greatest impacts I saw from a teacher’s and humanitarian point of view were the lessons learned at Dachau, a Memorial at a former concentration camp. Students walked away with an understanding what a travesty the Holocaust was and really became educated to make sure history does not repeat itself. Students made a commitment to honor diversity and cultural differences in our community and to honor the victims of the Holocaust.
This trip was an emotional journey for me. I hope one of these days you’ll join me on the next trip to Germany.
- Marion Torres, SOS Trip Leader