Responsibility and International Exchange : Engagement and Networking in Southeast Asia
In October, representatives of the KAAD met sponsored students in Thailand and intensified the networking and dialog work both there and in Indonesia.
In Bangkok, Dr Anselm Feldmann , Head of the Asia Division, held talks with scholarship holders and long-standing partners. He then travelled to Jakarta, where he held further talks with President Fr Dr Hans Langendörfer SJ , who was making his first trip to Asia as KAAD President, Secretary General Dr Nora Kalbarczyk and Julia Breker from the Asia Department. In Thailand, Anselm Feldmann focused on meetings with partner institutions and scholarship holders, as well as discussions about study conditions, career prospects and the situation in Myanmar in the run-up to the upcoming elections there. The stops in Thailand helped to strengthen the KAAD's existing cooperation in the region and to combine academic, social perspectives. In Bangkok, Anselm Feldmann met with representatives of Assumption University and Mahidol University on October 20 and 21 - both are long-standing partner universities of the KAAD. Particularly impressive was the discussion about how Myanmar students can continue to be supported in times of political violence and instability and what forms of support can be provided in this situation. At Mahidol University, the focus was on the meeting with Professor Chartchalerm Isarankura-Na-Ayudhya , Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, and Dr Sineewanlaya Wichit , Deputy Dean for International Relations, Network Development and Student Affairs. The thematic focus was on research, promoting young talent and alumni work, particularly in the field of public health, in which the KAAD, in cooperation with the Bettina Kattermann Foundation, has been awarding annual scholarships to outstanding students for eleven years. At a dinner with third-country scholarship holders from Myanmar, it became clear that education is more than just imparting knowledge: it offers support, community and hope in uncertain times. The scholarship holders expressed their desire to organize a seminar in Bangkok next year , an example of how third-country funding creates academic spaces that cannot currently exist in their home country. Another meeting led Anselm Feldmann to Father Andreas Bordowski OP , head of the German community in Bangkok. After the earthquake in Thailand and Myanmar, he initiated an appeal for donations for those affected, sending a strong signal of solidarity. After the meetings in Thailand, KAAD continued its dialog work in Indonesia. Together with Nora Kalbarczyk and Julia Breker from the Asia Department, Fr Langendörfer traveled to Jakarta to visit partner institutions in the run-up to the upcoming academy abroad in Indonesia and to meet Anselm Feldmann there. Several KAAD alumnae and alumni who are now working at the university took an active part in the discussion. The KAAD Academy Abroad 2025, which focused on issues of global food security and social responsibility, then took place in Semarang. (Read More) After their conclusion, Fr Langendörfer and Anselm Feldmann continued their meetings in Jakarta on October 27. This was combined with thanks for the outstanding voluntary commitment and for the preparation and implementation of the academy abroad.
The close exchange with the Indonesian alumnae and alumni made it clear that cooperation and trust are not just a topic, but a lived practice of the partnership between KAAD and its partners in Indonesia.
In the "tunnel of friendship"
