There are many caravans all over the world for understanding, between Palestinians and Jews, for open borders (between Bamako an Dakar), for anything you want:
the caravan of peace, the caravan of dialogue, the caravan of culture is a coming together of all the world, citizens from each of the 193 countries in the world, one woman and one man, exactly half women and half men in that world reunion.
The world is one. Either that one world does it, or we go our separate ways to hell and drag the world with us.
We should communicate and understand the culture of the other, and we should question our own rules and values.
Which everybody in the world should also do, not only we.
Let’s try it with the caravan. Not only a weekend of understanding, or a month course of dialogue – no: one and a half years of world communication. Think about it: in one and a half years, some people will die, and some will be born.
Citizens of all the world, but not politicians, not religious people, not scientific people – only artists of all kinds and philosophers of life, who are curious about other cultures, other ways of thinking, other performances and don’t want to persuade the other of their opinion.
In Africa, because we all come from there. From Timbuktu to Kampala, from West to East Africa.
From West to East: you will find all the conflicts of our world. In French speaking and English speaking areas.
Even the rebels of Sudan said: if you come with the caravan of peace, we can negotiate without pressure. And the Ambassador of Sudan spoke at our press conference in Berlin at the Goethe Institute, which you can hear and see on video.
In 2001 we had the support of Wolfgang Clements, Minister of Finance and Economy. Herta Däubler Gmelin, Minister of Justice liked the idea of that caravan, to make a new sign of our civilisation at the historic places in Thad, beside the signs on the walls of the caves from 10,000 years ago, something more durable than our CD’s, which disintegrate after XX years. The Economics Minister, Clements, liked the idea, that Germany, which is still grappling with its past, can pave the way for the future. German industry can pay for the caravan, if 10 firms pay 100,000 Euro, VW, BMW or AUDI etc. The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung of the SPD financed a conference with 12 experts, for one weekend.
Look at the results on the website.
The Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer – refused support: he preferred 10.000 soldiers to artists.
OK.
After that I spent ten years in Mali, to realise the dialogue for myself. I had interesting experiences and wrote two books: “dieu est grand – malische Geschichten” and “Reden statt Schiessen”, which describes the putsch in Mali.
I am back in Germany, with my experience of the real Africa, I have the impression, that the need to realize this idea is greater than ever.
I won’t put my trust in politics, I don’t expect anything from economics and I won’t leave this job to religion – I put my trust in open communication.
It’s the hardest possible work.
And the only way which makes sense.

July 2021 – the initiators