After officially being upgraded to AEGEE-Dresden, the local has become quite famous for their successful Buddy Programme, their recent Regional Training Course (RTC) and just now for their latest event under the motto “Free Hugs for Ukraine”. Jorge Sánchez Hernández, president of AEGEE-Dresden, spoke to The AEGEEan about this idea and how it was carried into effect.
The reasons behind AEGEE-Dresden’s idea to do something about the current events in Ukraine are easy to understand. “The current and past issues happening in Ukraine are very present in some of our lives. We have a lot of friends from Ukraine, and we felt the need to do something to at least raise awareness and show them our support in times of sadness”, Jorge tells us . Especially since they are good friends with AEGEE-Kyïv and even plan to have an exchange with them soon, AEGEE-Dresden wanted to start an action to raise awareness about the topic.
Although an information stand or giving out flyers might have been an approach to such a street action, AEGEEans from Dresden chose a different method. They gathered to give out hugs! “Everybody likes hugs, and nobody likes war, so this was the best combination to bring up a sad topic but leave them with a nice smile after the conversation”, you can read on their homepage.
First, as so often in our modern times, a Facebook event was created and throughout the week, posts informed about the issues in Ukraine. Members of the antenna talked about the issue, prepared cardboards and markers, and flags were gathered.
On Saturday, 24th of January, the time had come! Four members of AEGEE-Dresden gathered in one of the main shopping streets of Dresden, joined by another girl from the Ukraine and started to give out hugs, spread europtimism and inform people if they had questions.
One of Jorge’s favourite moments was when people were unsure about hugging at first, but then, after hearing what the event was about, gladly came closer to get their hug – some of them running! In general, especially the young people were really open and liked the idea.
The biggest surprise for the members of AEGEE-Dresden was when they were approached by a journalist from Berlin who was already waiting for them! He had come to Dresden to film their street action – without them even knowing about it. Jorge explains: “Teachers had spoken about the street action to their students in class, and some came just because of that. We couldn’t believe the reach of our event!”
All in all, they “gave 438 hugs, raised awareness about the topic, and brought many smiles with it”, Jorge concludes. “It was a very fun morning, and we have many stories to tell.”
The members of AEGEE-Dresden are not done yet! They are planning to do more street actions after the exams period and will for sure organise more events about Ukraine. Their exchange with AEGEE-Kyiv, which will take place in May, might be a good opportunity for that, especially since they will have a session open to all the students and interested people in which everyone will have the chance to hear about what the Ukrainians have to say and to ask them questions. Moreover, ten PhD students from Kharkiv will visit Dresden in June and the antenna is already planning to do something as well. Stay tuned and await more news to come about this local. Or just visit them in person: “Meet us during our weekly meetings! Every Wednesday starting at 20h, the place is always written on our Facebook page”, Jorge recommends.
Written by Katja Sontag, AEGEE-Aachen