Following the successful conclusion of the PASCAL autumn school and hackathon in Ghana at the start of December, Jülich’s agrosphere research team and Geoverbund ABC/J are looking to continue and expand on their project in Africa. There are plans for an Africa Day in the second half of 2019, which will serve as a platform to present ongoing and recently completed research projects.

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Today is the last day of our PASCAL project in Accra. While the group is still working hard with Dr. Jirka Šimůnek and Dr. Roland Baatz to get to know the software “Hydrus” and to implement their own data to model water flows and contaminant transports in soils we ask some participants to give us a short feedback on the week. For us it was a pleasure working with you guys. We really enjoyed your interest in the subject and your enthusiasm at the courses. Hopefully we will meet again soon. 

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Von Erhard Zeiss und Marcel Bülow

After a short stop in Amsterdam we made our way to Kotoka International Airport in Accra. Our first impression touching African ground was not just the temperature around 30 degrees Celsius and a humidity of about 80 percent which hit us hard exiting the air conditioned airplane from the 5 degrees cold Netherlands. But the warm welcome of the Ghanaian people.

A small “band” – one man with a digital piano playing and singing in the arrival hall of the airport – certainly contributed to this impression. In the row to the obligatory temperature scan (fever?) and the visa check we were well entertained – in particular when the singer started a song on Amsterdam when the Dutch cabin crew entered the hall and began dancing to the African vibes.

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This post is about someone we haven’t introduced till now. Our “new kid” is Bianka Fernengel from the Human Resources department.

Bianka steps in for Alissa. She is the first team member who already has African experiences. This is what she told me:

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Erhard Zeiss is the second colleague from corporate communications who told me how he prepares for the upcoming trip to Accra.

When I talked to him I recognized that Africa has been in his mind for a long time. What he reports to me sounds like the first sentences in an adventure story:

“When I was on Tenerife in September we went up to the Teide, Spain’s highest mountain. From up there you have a wonderful view on the neighbouring islands of La Palma and El Hierro. The tour guide pointed to the horizon: ‘And there’s Africa over there!’, he told us. Just a little more than 200 kilometres away. I have never been closer to the ‘black continent’.”

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When German housewives or househusbands expect visitors, they wash the curtains, vacuum and bake a cake. Well, it’s quite similar with the colleagues of Corporate Communications when a guest from Kenya is due to arrive very soon.

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The audience falls silent, the curtain is drawn, and there she is, on the stage, in the spotlight: Forschungszentrum proudly presents Sophia Mbugua, the winner of our journalistic scholarship! At the End of April we had 42 interesting applications – and believe me, it was real hard work finding the best candidate for the job. In the end it was Sophia who was one step ahead.

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Not a home match, but a challenge: About the first communication activites for the project.

To tell you the truth: When we got the message that PASCAL had won one of the main awards of the DFG Ideas Competition for International Research Marketing we were excited, but we were also a little bit worried. To make the project known to the African geo-science community as well as to the media – this wouldn’t be a home match for us. No, not at all. 

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