1989: 31 years old, 2 children, divorced; medical-technical assistant; from 1983 voluntary work in social welfare youth work; from 1985 in the welfare service of the Inner Mission Leipzig, specialising in social welfare family work. From 1991 distance learning and subsequent qualification as a qualified social worker, since then primarily active in youth welfare. Founded and worked with Women for Peace Leipzig in 1984 until 1990; worked at the Leipzig Education and Upbringing Round Table in 1989; member of the Leipzig Youth Welfare Committee from 1991 to 1994. Co-founder of school social work in Leipzig/Saxony
Gabriele Heide
There were state directives on child rearing that we found very questionable and worthy of discussion. And we organised community evenings in church congregations – in other words, we used the structures, so to speak, to talk to parents and say: it doesn’t matter whether you do it this way or not. It’s enshrined in law: Defence education. And it continues right through to school. There absolutely needs to be a certain amount of opposition to things that you don’t like at all. And questions need to be asked: Why do children have to play with tanks? Why do they have to sing the song “My brother (or my father) is a soldier” or “Soldiers have marched past” – why do children have to learn this in kindergarten? Why do they have to come home and say: “The Americans are going to bomb us with weapons and neutron bombs?” We wanted to publicise this madness very clearly in order to make more people aware…
Read more: in Friedensaktivistinnen…
The entire interview plus photo collection will be available in the Open Feminist Democracy Archive | OfemDA, which is currently being created. See here