About
This is an ongoing journey to different countries and regions in the Middle East looking for talents and interesting ideas connecting Europe and the Middle East. The motive behind is to open our horizons about the diversity of people and their cultures and learning from each other. The mission and purpose of the project.
The first journey started in October 2019 in Lebanon, it continued into Oman and ended after only ten days in Saudi Arabia due to the outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2020. Between pandemic waves, a short visit to Iraqi Kurdistan for two weeks was realized. The project continued in spring 2022 for a longer stay in Israel excluding the occupied territories (tbc).
Safa
The SafaTalents Journey was initiated by Katja Teuchmann. As a student of the Arabic language and culture, she started exploring the Middle East after she had ended her career in consulting. This adventure has become an ongoing journey of learning and connecting with people sharing different perspectives and ideas. Katja applies her love for story telling to different media. She conducts interviews for podcasts, writes personal stories and creates talent portraits. In 2018, she founded Safa East Venture.
Traveling to different countries in the Middle East and enjoying hospitality and friendship of so many people, made me aware of how little I knew before I started my own journey. This relates especially to women and talents. Now, I want to share some of the wonderful experiences I had the chance to make.
I always dreamt of creating a landscape of stories to show human potentials and competencies for a whole region.
In Europe, we somehow believe that we are living according to the highest standards and values. While this is true regarding our security and wealth, we have to ask ourselves where this comes from and on whose costs. Also, if we want to grow as a society, I truly believe that we have to expose ourselves to values that we never cherished in our culture or lost due to our way of living.
Safa
Friends
Many friends have supported the creation of this platform. People who care about our cultural relationships and development and people who like to support new innovative initiatives for a good cause. This is a big Thank you! Many friends have given their support mentally and emotionally, some contributed financially to the crowdfunding campaign. Building bridges between Europe and the Middle East is at its core but the human side – connecting hearts and growing talents – has come to the forefront.