Inspired by our visits to Neuschwanstein Castle in an amazingly
gorgeous village in Bavaria Germany, our next Lily4Refugees Ambassadors name is
Ludwig. This inspiring story is out now and available in download stores!
Book blurb:
Ludwig, a little German dachshund lives with his family in Bavaria, in the
small village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen, close to the world-famous Castle
of Neuschwanstein above the hills. Because of his short, curved legs and floppy
ears, little Ludwig has been underestimated and laughed at all his life. His
owner, Peter, is a proud Bavarian businessman and Ludwig is the mascot of his
successful souvenir shop and sightseeing bus company. But Ludwig wants to be
more than just an adorable mascot for international tourists. Inspired by King
Ludwig II, the dachshund wants to be immortal for eternity and beyond. But no
one pays attention to his unrealistic wishes. After all, he is just a tiny dog.
Until the Covid-19 pandemic hits the world and changes everything in the small
touristic village. Ludwig’s family, like all other families in the area, is
facing unexpected and serious challenges during Lockdown. But this is the
opportunity for Ludwig to finally fulfill his desire and become a useful dog,
despite his limited skills.
My Voice for the
Voiceless:Ludwig’s inspiring and
empowering story shows that even in the most difficult times, there is no
excuse for complaining and letting yourself go. If there is a will, there is a
way! Don’t ever let discrimination and prejudice stop you from your dreams and
desires.
I hope you had the time to watch the documentary “Dance or Die” and
all the other great videos (dance performances and interviews) that I shared
about Ahmad Joudeh’s life journey in my previous two blog posts (Part 1) and
(Part 2).
If you have seen what I saw, you definitely agree that this beautiful soul is one of a kind. Ahmad Joudeh’s life story is not a Hollywood Fiction
film. It is the reality of a young and innocent boy born in a refugee camp and
living stateless for decades in Syria.
A little boy with a big dream made it from a refugee camp and a war zone to the international stage of the Eurovision Song Contest! From a stateless refugee boy to a proud Dutch. With his strong belief, passion, devotion, discipline, and love for dance, he made the impossible possible! Ahmad Joudeh is a global star and inspiration for everyone!
According to UNHCR in the previous three years, one million
children were born as Refugees. Many of these babies are born in refugee camps
across the globe and the world is witnessing this cruel, heartbreaking and
inhuman condition for decades.
When COVID-19 changed the world in 2020, my first thought and prayers
were with the refugees stuck in the horrible refugee camps. I asked myself what
happens to them now. Who is going to take care of their misery?
At the same time, I was annoyed by peoples ongoing whining around
me. All of a sudden, people were worried about their children’s education and
future. Unemployment, no income, insecurity,
fear, anxiety, depression, and mental illness became the new normality for
everyone. And I mean every single human being, regardless of birthplace,
nationality, passport, skin colour, gender, and religion. Everyone is in the
same challenging and difficult situation!
And my reaction was: "Good, now everyone knows how millions of innocent victims of war and refugees suffer for ages. Now they know how it feels like to be helpless and powerless about your own life decisions and choices. Now they know how it is to live day by day, night by night, worrying and not knowing what the next day will bring. Now they see how unhealthy the lack of perspective and uncertainty feels. Now they know how loneliness and social isolation troubles the mind, heart, and soul. Stop complaining about the Lockdowns. At least you have a warm and safe home with a roof over your head. What about the refugees serving in tents with no privacy and only limited access to basic rights such as education, health care, employment, and freedom of movement? Your worries and uncertainties are food, alcohol, and toilet paper. The refugees are struggling with hunger and the most inhuman, unhygienic, and unsanitary conditions for years."
Maybe now after 1,5 years living with a global pandemic, a few people will have a better understanding,
compassion, and empathy with refugees!
Watch my One-hour Zoom interview with this incredibly strong,
confident, talented, amazingly beautiful soul. Ahmad Joudeh is not only a refugee
camp survivor, war survivor, dancer, and choreograph, he is now a published writer with a
mission! He has my full respect, admiration, and love and I wish him all the happiness and success in the world!
Ahmad Joudeh's honest, eye-opening, educational, and inspiring memoir “Dance or Die” is a reminder
for everyone out there who lives a privileged life in every imaginable aspect but doesn't appreciate it in every possible way! Stop making excuses and do something meaningful
with your life!
Davis, American Lawyer, and diplomat who invented "Cheese..!"
One of the best inventions of all time in the creative field has been the photo camera. The very first was designed in 1685 by Johann Zahn. But the first photograph was clicked by Joseph Nicephore Niepce in the year 1814. It was thousands of years back that an Iraqi scientist Ibn- al- Haytham made a mention of this kind of device in his book, Book of Optics in 1021. And what we know today as the digital camera was invented by Steven Sasson camera at Eastman Kodak in 1975.
Capturing moments and freezing emotional and important life events forever in pictures is truly a blessing. But in my personal opinion and experience is pictures are not reliable sources. They are often nothing but a big and fat lie!
“Cheese!” That’s what many people say when they take a picture. According to my research Davies, an American lawyer and diplomat who served under Roosevelt suggested this during a photoshoot on the set of the film adaptation of his book Mission to Moscow in 1943. While having his picture taken, he said the formula to taking a good picture was saying "Cheese" as it creates an automatic smile. He also said: "I learned that from a politician, a very great politician. But, of course, I cannot tell you who he was." One theory is that former US president Franklin D. Roosevelt came up with the phrase!
Looking back at these pictures below taken between 1996 – 2004 proves my point. These were the toughest years in our life and yet I smile! I smile next to strangers that I met only once or twice in my entire life. When you take a picture with a celebrity it only takes a second. They don’t know you. They don’t know your story. You on the other hand believe to know them, because of their creative work, be it in the music or TV field.
But in reality, you don’t know anything about these people. And yet in the pictures, we look so tight and familiar! Some of them were more than two-minute acquaintances. I actually worked with a few of them and they became chapters rather than a single sentence in my life story. And yet today I would say they were all just passengers in my life story. So what I’m trying to say is: Creativity can also fool you. Be aware, that not everything that you see or believe to see is the reality!
In the late 90es and early 2000, there was no Social media. There was no Instagram generation with influencers. We took pictures just for us to capture a little moment of happiness. Because meeting creative and successful people (celebrities) is always exciting and inspiring. But trust me looking back at these pictures and knowing what I was going through; I realize that the other person was surely having his or her own difficulties and challenges as well.
In difficult times in life, we have no other choice than to keep smiling, keep shining, keep breathing, keep functioning, keep pretending, keep fighting and finally keep surviving! That’s the reality of life and not the shiny and glossy pictures that we see.
Boy Band "Worlds Apart"
Boy Band "Caught in the Act"
Singer and TV personality Peter Andre
Miss Switzerland 1995 Stephanie Berger
German Girl Band "Funky Diamonds"
Momo from the German Girl Band
Sandy from the German Girl Band "No Angels"
German Pop Stars Judge & Choreograph "Dee"
German Singer Gil Ofarim
German Boy Band "The Boys"
Miss Switzerland 1997 and Actress Tanja Gutmann
Swiss TV Host Sandra Studer
Swiss TV Host Sven Epiney
Mister Switzerland 2000 Claudio Minder
Swiss Artist Rolf Knie
The Swiss Circus dynasty Gregory Knie
American Actor David Hasselhoff (THE HOFF)
STAY TUNED FOR MY ZOOM INTERVIEW WITH MY SPECIAL BLOG GUEST
The best way to spread important and
profound messages around the world is to do it through books, music, and movies.
Back in 2015 during the
refugee crises in Europe, I’ve participated for the very first time as
lyricist in the UK SONGWRITING CONTEST with three song lyrics “Destination
Freedom”, “Blood is always red” and “My Angel of Love”.
Ever
since I was extremely busy with blogging, writing, translating, illustrating, and
publishing my children’s books and have neglected my love for song lyrics. But I’m
happy and excited to inform you that I have participated in this year’s contest. The song contest winner from 2015 and my lovely summer blog guest in August 2021, American songwriter Debra Gussin, has actually motivated me to give it another try.
I
have submitted two brand-new lyrics related to my Lily4Refugees project in this
year’s UK and International songwriting competition. My song titles are “80
million people!” and “My Voice 4 the Voiceless”. I’m
hoping that my voice/lyrics will be heard by professionals from the music
industry because my main goal is always to bring more awareness about this
delicate topic and the global crises.
Why?
Because refugees and asylum seekers around the globe need all our love and
support. Displaced humans, who have lost everything, are now innocently sentenced for life as refugees in
their new country. They have to struggle with the most horrible living conditions and
freedom becomes nothing but a meaningless word.
As I know from my own experience, becoming a refugee is a lifelong
emotional suicide. Uncertainty, anxiety, fear, and social isolation become
normality unless we bring more awareness and change the global refugee law
when it comes to integration and education. It is a long long way, but every
little step counts, if we want the next generation to suffer less than we did, than I did!
In my previous post, I shared the lyrics from “Destination Freedom” and “Blood is always red”. Both lyrics
were scored with6 from maximum 10 points which indicates that I the lyricist
have demonstrated real songwriting ability and understanding. A score
of 6 is regarded as a borderline semifinalist score and indicates that my songs
very nearly made it into the semi-finals.
About the songwriting contest: The UK
Songwriting Contest is one of the world's longest running and most popular
and successful international songwriting events. It was launched in London in
2002. No other songwriting event in the world was formed together with such
well respected and prestigious organisations. The UKSC judging panels have
featured Grammy, Emmy, CMA, and BRIT
Award-winning Gold and Platinum Album producers and artists. For
more information visit their www.songwritingcontest.co.uk or follow them on Instagram!
STAY TUNED FOR MY ZOOM INTERVIEW WITH MY SPECIAL BLOG GUEST
In 2011 while I
was doing one of my stupid low-paid part-time jobs that I hated from the bottom
of my heart, writing song lyrics became my way of self-therapy. I was working
as a Call Center agent for a national phone company and while customers called
and yelled at me because of their unpaid bills, writing song lyrics helped me to
survive the exhausting and long hours at work.
During my phone
conversations with rude and unpleasant customers, I began to write song lyrics
based on my memoir “Destination Freedom”. It has always been my goal to
produce songs or a musical based on my true story to bring more awareness about the global refugee crisis. Being creative made me survive this unpleasant
experience for a year! And I actually participated in the UK Songwriting contest with two lyrics of mine from 2011 in 2015 and my lyrics were both scored
with 6 points by the UKSC Judges. :-)
EXPLANATION OF THE JUDGES SCORING www.songwritingcontest.co.uk
Songs are scored
between 1 and 10. Most songs in the contest (around 80 percent) will not
receive a score higher than 6. Semifinalists and finalists receive a very high
score of 7, 8, or 9. The score of 10 is reserved only for the winning song in
each category.
A score of 4, 5, and 6
indicates that the writer has demonstrated real songwriting ability and
understanding, and songs with these scores will usually receive a Commended
Entry Certificate. The UKSC attracts a high standard of entries and the
majority of songs in this contest will usually fall somewhere in this range. A
score of 6 is regarded as a borderline semi-finalist score and indicates that
the song very nearly made it into the semi-finals!
STAY TUNED FOR MY ZOOM INTERVIEW WITH MY SPECIAL BLOG GUEST
Welcome to the second part of my special guest's blog series. If you haven't read the first part, here we go!
I’m happy and excited to
inform you that I had the pleasure and honor to speak to the talented Dutch
dancer and choreograph Ahmad Joudeh just one month after his incredible performance at the Eurovision Song Contest Second Semi-Final 2021 in Rotterdam,
the Netherlands. After watching his dance, I knew that I had to interview him for my summer blog series
about “Corona & Creativity”!
Ahmad
Joudeh has a God-given gift and dancing is his “safe place” where he feels like
the “Master of the Universe”. But Ahmad is more than just a passionate dancer
and choreograph. He is a wise man with a mission. Watching the documentary
about his life, “Dance or Die” is heartbreaking but also hopeful and
eye-opening. Hopeful because he is a symbol for young and ambitious refugees,
who want to be more than just a refugee for their entire life!
Ahmad’s
life story shows that with hard work, discipline, strong belief in yourself,
creativity, and talent you can make the impossible possible and achieve
whatever you want in life, despite obstacles by destiny and prejudice by
society.
I'm so proud of this young man for using his voice and sharing his incredible life story with us. He is not just a dancer and choreograph, Ahmad is now also a published writer.
Film & Television have always played an
important role in my life. Even as a kid I preferred to watch movies than to
play with kids after school. Thank God my mum always supported all my passions.
I remember that having a photo & Video camera was always a MUST in our
home.
I made my first home movie when I was just
twelve years old. It was a short “Thriller” full of blood (ketchup) directed
and filmed by me and played by friends my age. We had such a laugh. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed being behind the
camera. I not only took care of the story but also the editing afterward. I wish back then I
had the software’s that we have today. These days cutting a film is much easier
on the Computer with professional Editing programs. But I had to do it on VHS
with two Videorecorders. What an adventure! If “Youtube” existed in my
generation I would surely have become a successful and passionate YouTube
Filmmaker!
However later as a PR Manager in the field of
Marketing and Public Relation I had the opportunity to produce short PR Films
for Companies with International brands even without a degree in Filmmaking. I
was fully responsible for the whole production process. From the idea to script
development, dialogues, voiceovers, pre-production, casting, the shooting, and the final post-production including music, sound, and special effects.
Today I share my short PR movie
“Specialwedding” written, directed, and produced by nasSima design with you.
Acted by beauty contest Winners Tania and Claudio. My groom was actually Mister
Switzerland 2000. I financed the whole production with Product Placement and was
supported by a professional film team who took care of the filming and editing.
Plot Keywords: Love, romance, fantasy
Plot Taglines: When you fall in love the impossible becomes possible.
Genres: Romance, Love story
Summary:A handsome man arrives in a Hotel and falls immediately in love with a beautiful lady on the Cover of a magazine. The young man is swept away by her beauty and has to find this mysterious girl.A magical power leads him to her. But to his surprise, she is just a mannequin in a bridal shop window.Thanks to a magical necklacethat he has shebecomes human and alive. Without any hesitation, he takes her in a Rolls Royce to a romantic location and they marry in a little white chapel surrounded by friends and family.
Yes, the story is super cheesy and is too good to be true. So as you can imagine of course the short PR movie has an unexpected ending. It turns out that the entire time the young man was daydreaming. The beautiful lady indeed exists. She shows up in his hotel room and is a nagging and unfriendly housekeeper! But who knows true love is limitless and full of surprises…isn’t it?
Details
Country:Switzerland
Language:Swiss German
Release
Date:2002
Duration: 17
Minutes
Filming
Locations:Merlischachen Swiss Chalet / Berne city (Swiss)
