#childrensrights — Public Fediverse posts

Abschied aber kein Lebewohl – A farewell, but not goodbye forever

(English below)

Am Pfingstmontag, 25.5.2026, fanden in unserer St. Concordia-Kirche zu Ruhla zwei Verabschiedungen im Gottesdienst statt.
In einer feierlichen Zeremonie wurde zunächst die Kantorkatechetin verabschiedet. Sie hat 20 Jahre lang mit Kindern und Familien gearbeitet und war zudem für die Kirchenmusik verantwortlich. Doch nachdem sie vor 25 Jahren in den Ruhestand getreten war, hat sie noch ein Vierteljahrhundert die Orgel bei Gottesdiensten, Hochzeiten, Trauerfeiern etc. gespielt. Dafür wurde ihr vom Superintendent des Kirchenkreises herzlich gedankt und ihr Engagement gewürdigt.

Die zweite Verabschiedung galt Pfarrer Reuther, der nach 22 Jahren Dienst in Ruhla Ende Juni 2026 in den Ruhestand geht.
Auch wenn sein Dienst in Ruhla endet, bedeutet das nicht das Ende des Bildungsprojekts in Ruanda! Der Ökumenische Eine-Welt-Kreis bleibt weiterhin bestehen und wird das Projekt in der gewohnten Weise fortführen. Mehr noch, Pfarrer Reuther bleibt Mitglied des Eine-Welt-kreises und wird die Leitung des Projekts behalten.

Beide Ruheständler hatten sich von den Besuchern und Gästen des Verabschiedungsgottesdienstes gewünscht, daß sie auf Geschenke verzichten, dafür aber eine Spende zu geben. Dafür hatten sie zwei Zwecke vorgegeben. Ein Zweck davon war unser Bildungsprojekt in Ruanda und wir sind dankbar für alle Spenden in Höhe von rund 800 Euro, die für unser Ruanda-Projekt gespendet wurden.

On Whit Monday, 25 May 2026, two farewells took place during the service at our St Concordia Church in Ruhla.
In a solemn ceremony, the cantor-catechist was first bid farewell. She had worked with children and families for 20 years and was also responsible for church music. However, after retiring 25 years ago, she continued to play the organ for another quarter of a century at church services, weddings, funerals and other occasions. The superintendent of the church district expressed his heartfelt thanks to her and paid tribute to her dedication.

The second farewell was for Pastor Reuther, who is retiring at the end of June 2026 after 22 years of service in Ruhla.
Even though his ministry in Ruhla is coming to an end, this does not mean the end of the education project in Rwanda! The Ecumenical One World Circle will continue to exist and will carry on the project in the usual way. What is more, Pastor Reuther will remain a member of the One World Circle and will continue to lead the project.

Both retirees had asked the visitors and guests at the farewell service to refrain from bringing gifts and instead to make a donation. They had specified two causes for this. One of these was our education project in Rwanda, and we are grateful for all the donations totalling around 800 euros that were made to our Rwanda project.

Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Rückblick und Ausblick zum (Un)Ruhestand – A look back and a look ahead at active retirement

(English below)

Nach über 40 Jahren ist es soweit: ich gehe demnächst in den Ruhestand. Aber die Arbeit des Ökumenischen Eine-Welt-Kreises für unser Bildungsprojekt in Ruanda geht weiter!
Ich werde dem Eine-Welt-Kreis weiterhin angehören und die Leitung des Projekts fortführen.
Gleichwohl ist diese Zäsur Gelegenheit gewesen, zurück und auch nach vorn zu schauen. Dazu hatte ich Gelegenheit, im Radio ein längeres Interview (Das Ruanda-Projekt, Autor: Djuana Mannel) zu geben und ich lade Sie ein, dieses mit Hilfe dieses Links anzuhören. Die musikalischen Einlagen wurden in diesem Podcast entfernt. Die ausführliche Sendung mit Liedern unserer Patenkinder wird zu folgenden Terminen beim Wartburgradio wiederholt: 12.05. 10-11.15 Uhr; 16.05. 15-16.15 Uhr; 18.05. 16-17.15 Uhr

After more than 40 years, the time has come: I am retiring soon. But the work of the Ecumenical One World Circle on our educational project in Rwanda continues!
I will remain a member of the One World Circle and continue to lead the project.
Nevertheless, this turning point has been an opportunity to look back and also to look ahead. I had the chance to give a longer interview on the radio (Das Ruanda Projekt, author: Djuana Mannel – in German only) and I invite you to listen to it via this link, in case you understand German. The musical interludes have been removed from this podcast. The full programme, featuring songs by our sponsored children, will be repeated on Wartburg Radio on the following dates: 12 May, 10.00–11.15 am; 16 May, 3.00–4.15 pm; 18 May, 4.00–5.15 pm (German only)

Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Grundschüler – Kinderrechte – Weltgebetstag – Primary school pupils – Children’s rights – World Day of Prayer

(English below)

Anfang März veranstaltete die Evangelische Grundschule in Eisenach eine Projektwoche zum jährlich stattfindendenen weltweiten Weltgebetstag. Dazu erreichte uns folgender kleiner Berichte der Schuldirektorin:

„Im Rahmen unserer Projektwoche zum Weltgebetstag haben die Kinder unserer Evangelischen Grundschule Eisenach einen besonderen Gottesdienst gestaltet, der ganz im Zeichen von Gemeinschaft, Verantwortung und globalem Lernen stand. Im Mittelpunkt standen dabei Kinder aus Nigeria, Ruanda und vielen weiteren Teilen der Welt.
Die Schülerinnen und Schüler setzten sich intensiv mit den Kinderrechten auseinander. Themen wie das Recht auf sauberes Wasser, auf Bildung und auf Freizeit wurden nicht nur theoretisch erarbeitet, sondern auch kreativ und persönlich reflektiert. Dabei wurde deutlich, wie unterschiedlich die Lebensbedingungen von Kindern weltweit sind – und gleichzeitig, wie viel wir voneinander lernen können.

Besonders wichtig war den Kindern ein positiver und wertschätzender Blick auf das Leben von Gleichaltrigen in anderen Ländern. Sie entdeckten Gemeinsamkeiten, entwickelten Verständnis für Unterschiede und erkannten, wie wertvoll Solidarität und gegenseitige Unterstützung sind.
Der liebevoll gestaltete Gottesdienst in der Annenkirche (in Eisenach) bot Raum für Gedanken, Gebete und Beiträge der Kinder, die ihre Eindrücke und Erkenntnisse auf vielfältige Weise zum Ausdruck brachten.

Die im Rahmen des Gottesdienstes gesammelte Kollekte von 228 Euro kommt dem Patenschaftsprogramm in Ruanda zugute und unterstützt unser Patenkind Dina und andere Kinder auf ihrem Weg zu einem selbstbestimmten Leben.“

At the beginning of March, the Protestant Primary School in Eisenach organised a project week to mark the annual World Day of Prayer. We received the following brief report from the headteacher:

„As part of our project week for the World Day of Prayer, the children at our Protestant Primary School in Eisenach organised a special service centred on community, responsibility and global learning. The focus was on children from Nigeria, Rwanda and many other parts of the world.
The pupils engaged intensively with the topic of children’s rights. Issues such as the right to clean water, education and leisure were not only explored theoretically, but also reflected upon creatively and personally. It became clear just how different children’s living conditions are around the world – and at the same time, how much we can learn from one another.

It was particularly important to the children to take a positive and appreciative view of the lives of their peers in other countries. They discovered commonalities, developed an understanding of differences and recognised how valuable solidarity and mutual support are.
The lovingly organised service at St Anne’s Church (in Eisenach) provided a space for thoughts, prayers and contributions from the children, who expressed their impressions and insights in a variety of ways.

The collection of 228 euros taken during the service will go towards the sponsorship programme in Rwanda, supporting our sponsored child Dina and other children on their journey towards a self-determined life.“

Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Durch euch ist mein Leben voller Glück – Thanks to you, my life is full of happiness

(English below)

Pädagogen, Wissenschaftler, ja, Menschen mit klarem Verstand, wissen, daß Bildung wichtig ist und einen entscheidenden Einfluß auf die Lebensperspektive eines jeden Menschen hat.
Wie heißt es so schön? „Grau ist alle Theorie“. So richtig diese Theorie auch ist, sie wird erst mit Leben erfüllt, wenn sie von jungen Menschen mit Leben erfüllt wird und sie das aus eigener Erfahrung bestätigen.

Mindestens einmal im Jahr schreiben unsere Patenkinder an ihre Paten einen Brief, in dem sie ein wenig von sich selbst erzählen, wie es ihnen geht und welchen lebensverändernden Einfluß die Bildung hat, die sie dank ihrer Paten genießen können.
Lassen wir sie selbst zu Wort kommen:

„Ich möchte Ihnen meinen aufrichtigen Dank für Ihre großzügige Unterstützung aussprechen. Ihr Beitrag hat einen bedeutenden Unterschied gemacht und mir geholfen, meine Ziele mit Zuversicht und Motivation zu verfolgen. … Ich schätze Ihre Freundlichkeit, Ihr Vertrauen und Ihre anhaltende Unterstützung sehr. Vielen Dank, dass Sie an mich glauben und mich so positiv beeinflusst haben.“

„Ich möchte Ihnen meinen aufrichtigen Dank für Ihre Unterstützung meiner Ausbildung aussprechen. Dank Ihrer Förderung kann ich die Schule besuchen und mich ganz auf mein Studium konzentrieren. Ich mache stetige Fortschritte und hoffe, dass ich mit Ihrer freundlichen Hilfe auch in diesem Jahr weitermachen kann.“

„Ich bin ein glücklicher Mensch, jemanden wie Sie zu haben. Ich schätze Ihre Hilfe, die mich zu einem klugen Menschen macht …“

„Ich bin Ihnen wirklich dankbar für Ihre Freundlichkeit und Unterstützung, die mir geholfen haben, meine Ausbildung fortzusetzen.“

„Meine Familie und ich … danken Ihnen von ganzem Herzen für die Liebe, die Sie uns entgegengebracht haben, um mir bei meinem Studium zu helfen. … Sie haben viel aufgegeben, um mir zu helfen, meine Schulausbildung fortzusetzen.“

„Sie haben mir bei all meinen Studien geholfen, und heute studiere ich ohne jeglichen Druck.“

„Mit Ihnen ist mein Leben voller Glück, und ich wünsche mir, dass wir noch mehr Gründe haben, zu lächeln und einander zu lieben.“

„Sie haben mir geholfen, härter zu arbeiten und mir ein klares Ziel zu setzen, um erfolgreich zu sein.“

„Ich bin Ihnen dankbar für Ihre Hilfe, die mich zu dem gemacht hat, der ich heute bin.“

Wir freuen uns, daß unsere Jugendlichen aus eigener Erfahrung spüren, wie wertvoll die Chance ist, die sie durch die Förderung ihrer Paten bekommen, und diese Gelegenheit für ein hoffnungsvolles und selbstbestimmtes Leben in Würde beim Schopfe fassen.




Educators, scientists, indeed, people with clear minds, know that education is important and has a decisive influence on every person’s outlook on life.
How does the saying go? “All theory is gray.” As true as this theory is, it only comes to life when young people fill it with life and confirm it from their own experience.

At least once a year, our sponsored children write a letter to their sponsors in which they tell them a little about themselves, how they are doing, and what a life-changing influence the education they are able to enjoy thanks to their sponsors has had on them.
Let’s hear from them directly:

„I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your generous support. Your contribution has made a meaningful difference and has helped me progress toward my goals with confidence and motivation. … I truly appreciate your kindness, trust, and continued support. Thank you for believing in me and for the positive impact you have made.“

„I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for your support of my education; your sponsorship has allowed me to attend school and pursue my studies with focus. I am making steady progress, and I hope to continue this year with
your kind help.“

„I am a lucky person to have someone like you. I appreciate your help which makes me a clever person…“

„I am truly grateful for your kindness and support which has helped me to continue my education.“

„Me and my family … thank you with a moving heart for the love you have shown us to help me in my studies. … You lost many things so that you helped me to continue my school.“

„You helped me in all my studies and nowadays I am studying without any pressure.“

„With you my life is filled with happiness and I wish we have more reason to smile and love each other.“

„You helped me to work harder and to set a strong goal of succeeding.“

„I appreciate you for your help that you give me that makes me the one who I am now.“

We are delighted that our young people can see from their own experience how valuable the opportunity they receive through their sponsors‘ support is, and that they are seizing this opportunity for a hopeful and self-determined life in dignity.

Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

**They don't mention that many kids who got #covid (then #LongCovid) ended up at this clinic! Expect more #failures from #BCPublicHealth when they have #eugenist #BonnieHenry calling the #PublicHealthSafety shots. I'm not surprised with this news at all.**

#Pediatric unit closing, #physicians say they are overwhelmed by demand.

A memo from the #pediatricians to their non-ER physician colleagues said that the Urgent Pediatric Assessment Clinic will close on Sept. 1.

The memo advises that patients requiring urgent pediatric consultation — within 24 hours — should be sent to Victoria General’s emergency department, where they can be assessed by an ER doctor with a subsequent on-call pediatric referral as needed.

For patients needing semi-urgent pediatric consultation — within four weeks — the pediatrician on call at Victoria General can assist with the referral and triaging.

https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/pediatric-unit-closing-physicians-say-they-are-overwhelmed-by-demand-11104220

#BCpoli #ChildrensHealth #CovidIsNotOver #BCNDP #BCNewDeathParty #CDNpoli #FailureToProtect #ChildrensRights #PatientRights #Medical #Health #FireBonnieHenry #VictoriaGeneralHospital #WearAMask #MaskUpSaveLives

Summary of "Metaeugenics and Metaresistance: From Manufacturing the ‘Includeable Body’ to Walking Away from the Broom Closet

I will start this summary by explaining the title. I usually skip that part. This time I am going to explain the title because the title is so long, and so annoying. In "Academia" (which is just a fancy way to say college), there is a joke about how professors choose titles for their papers. It's not a specific joke. But everyone likes to make fun of titles that go like this "short catchy title": "long title with complicated meaning". I choose this kind of title a lot, because I think it's fun. I don't take myself too seriously.

The first part of this title is "Metaeugenics and Metaresistance". Something-ics is a kind of science, or a way of thinking, like economics, or politics. Eugenics is a way of thinking that says there are good bodies and bad bodies, and that human beings have a moral duty to keep their bodies "good" and to only have children with "good" bodies. Eugenics also says that governments are responsible for making sure their citizens are only people with "good" bodies. Eugenic science was overtly racist and ableist.

Most people believe that eugenics is over. They believe it was a bad science that happened in the past, and that we don't believe in it anymore. The problem with believing eugenics is over is that it makes it hard for you to notice when it is still happening. When more black and Indigenous people die from a virus, some people understand that this is because of racism in medicine. But when more disabled people die, we think it is because their bodies are weaker - That they do not have "good" bodies. The truth is that disabled people are dying more not /just/ because they are vulnerable but also because we made public choices that endanger their lives.

We made these choices because we still believe in good bodies and bad bodies. We still believe that it is everyone's moral duty to make their body as strong as possible. We still believe that some people deserve to die because of the body they are in. This is metaeugenics.

For something to be meta- is for it to exist without being said or written out loud. It is important to be clear that when we say disabled people, we do not mean just white disabled people. Understanding metaeugenics helps us to understand why we are okay with so many disabled people dying. It also helps us to understand that black and Indigenous people are not just vulnerable to racism, but to ableism also, even when they are not disabled in ways that are obvious to us. Because we do not care about disabled people, we allowed black and Indigenous people to be put at greater risk from racism in public health. Metaeugenics can help us understand how racism and ableism work together.

Resistance means to work against something. In this paper I want us to think about the ways we can work against metaeugenics by paying attention to metaresistance. To notice metaresistance, you have to think differently about what you are seeing when you see people resisting something. You have to notice both what someone is directly working against, and also notice how that resistence “speaks” or does resistance against other things that are not clear - like metaeugenics. I will give some examples later.

The next part of the title is “manufacturing the includable body”.

The “includable body” is something disability scholars write about. When we talk about inclusion, we usually mean that society should be open and accessible to everyone, no matter their disability. But when we “do” inclusion, schools and workplaces usually set some rules about what a person must do or be or look like in order to be included. Some scholars that write about this are Tania Titchkosky, Sara María Acevedo, Joe Stramondo, Eunjung Kim, and Anne McGuire. When a disabled child has to “earn” their place in the mainstream classroom by graduating from certain therapies, this means they have been made “includable”.

This is one way we uphold metaeugenics. We make disabled people work to make their bodies “includable” in therapies before we will accommodate them in “mainstream” spaces. Disabled people are morally obligated to make their bodies as “good” as possible, and if they don’t, they are called “non compliant”.

If you know anything about inclusion, you might be a little confused. Inclusion is a right! In the United States, we have the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act which means disabled people have the right to accommodations to access public life, work, and school. Unfortunately, rights and laws do not work without people doing the right thing. Even if you have the "right" to be included, who decides what counts as inclusion?

The problem with rights is that someone else is always in charge of deciding what "counts".

The United Nations has the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). In my paper, I try to explain that when you put these documents together, they show a global metaeugenic attitude toward disability. The CRPD says that disability must be recognized as a natural part of human diversity, but that adult decision makers have the authority to determine the "best interests" of a disabled child. In the CRC, adults are responsible for considering the "best interests of the Child" and children are guaranteed the right to "develop healthily". What does this mean when the child is born into a body that the world declares is "unhealthy" or "disordered"? Basically, a disabled child has the right to be "fixed". Our rights comand us to manufacture an includable body for any person whose body is not "normal".

The final part of this paper's title is "Walking away from the broom closet". Ursula K. le Guin was a famous science fiction author. She wrote a book called "The Ones who Walk away from Omelas". In this book, Omelas was a Utopic society. A utopia is a place where everyone is happy and cared for. In the story, people find out that Omelas's happiness is only possible because there is a child, locked in a broom closet, who takes on all the suffering so that everyone else can be happy.

I think that in the real world, we have lots of broom closets where we make people suffer so that we can have our happy idea of normal. I think prisons are an example of broom closets. I also think that for many disabled children, the "intensive interventions" we force them to do in their "best interests" are a kind of broom closet. They suffer so that we can have our happy idea of a future without disability.

Attitudes toward children can tell us about attitudes toward the future. If we want to ensure our children do not have to be disabled, then we must also want a future where there are no disabled people. The disabled community is large and diverse. There are some conditions which are painful and some people want treatments that help them feel at peace in their own bodies. But that doesn't mean that you can eliminate disability. Disability is a natural part of human life. The society that wants to eliminate disability can only hope to eliminate itself.

I will end this summary with some stories.

On August 2, 2018, NBC News’ Health website published an article praising Google Glass
and researchers at Stanford University for the creation of a wearable app that may improve eye
contact for children with autism (Scher, 2018).
In preschool, [he] struggled socially with other kids. One hit him in the
face with a rubber mallet and another in the shoulder with a metal shovel.
“He didn’t see it coming,” [she] told NBC News. “When you don’t look
kids in the face, you can’t see their reactions or know what to expect.”
When he was 5, he was diagnosed with autism.
[N]ow 9, [he] started working one on one with a therapist using applied
behavioral analysis, a technique to improve social behavior, but [his
mother] saw little progress.
“Nothing really changed,” she said. “Until Google Glass.”

This child was assaulted by his peers. Because he was disabled, the solution was to put him in therapy. To use technology to change his behavior. To put him in a broom closet. So that other people could be happy.

In another project, researchers made a smart watch that would buzz to notify a child that they were behaving inappropriately. In this example, even "hand flapping" was considered inappropriate. At one point, "Child 5" was buzzed. He looked up and noticed that his teacher was too far away to stop him, and he continued flapping his hands. This child is my patron saint of noncompliance. His microresistance, written down in a scientific paper, is a testimony for all to see that the researchers are focusing on the wrong idea.

There are other examples, like the children who run away from robots designed to teach them social skills, or the children who scream at their therapists.

If we pay attention to where our participants are resisting our research, we can learn to recognize these broom closets, unlock the doors, and take these children out of Omelas forever.

https://ojs.library.carleton.ca/index.php/cjcr/article/view/1976

Hashtag soup
#SciComm #ScholarComm #STS #CDS #HCI #DisabilityStudies #HumanComputerInteraction #HumanRights #ChildrensRights #CRPD #CRC #Metaeugenics #Metaresistance #Eugenics #Omelas #UrsulaKLeGuin #Autism #Disability #DisabilityJustice #TechJustice #Technoableism #ColiberationLab