To Berlin and Back Again
The 2014 Trek7 team got off to a quick start in Berlin. In just a few short weeks, the young foursome has seen and done a little bit of everything. They describe Berlin as huge, vibrant, multicultural and diverse, even in just how the city is laid out. “I love how we’re in Köpenick, and there’s […]
A Call for [More] Collaboration
More than 180,000 people move from a rural area to a city every day. In the next four decades, one out of every two people will move from the countryside to the city. This global migration will generate challenges beyond our comprehension – challenges that will stretch us to collaborate with others well beyond our […]
Finding My Place in Berlin
Around the time I first arrived, my team leader challenged me to find a spot in the city that could serve as a reminder of why I was here and be a place of solace on tough days. I love color, so it seemed natural to choose something vivid. Something that could stand in contrast […]
Words Have Feelings, Too
“It’s not the word’s fault,” my German teacher said, as he explained to us why you shouldn’t say the word Führer. “When someone says it [Führer], this is all we think about,” he said, drawing a toothbrush moustache on his face with his index finger and making the “Heil, Hitler” gesture. In the dictionary, Führer […]
Eager Hearts, Untrained Eyes
Our bags were loaded, ready to meet pressing needs on the streets. Before our group left the central Serve the City meeting point and headed toward Zoologischer Garten Bahnhof, we had been coached that it would take courage and respect to interact with people who were different from us. Obviously giving out food wouldn’t be […]
I Thought I Was Going to Help
I walk by two street people and their dog everyday on my way to buy Brötchen (buns) for breakfast. I dash into the store for the buns, a quart of milk, some sandwich meat and cheese, and then I scurry past them back to the comfort of our flat – safe and sound – to […]
Picturing Impossible, Possible
Does this look like a picture of a world-class, cosmopolitan city to you? Probably not. I shot this panorama from a local bridge where I like to run. It doesn’t reflect the modernity of Berlin like these photos of Berlin do, but, for me, it gives an unpolished glimpse of a city in progress. Berlin is a constantly […]