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.
Laila is a young orphan dalmatian living in a refugee camp in Greece. She often feels like an outsider even though she loves being surrounded by humans and playing with children. Laila isolates herself from everyone because of the color of her white fur marked with black and brown-colored spots. She is heartbroken when other dogs and children make fun of her fur color and call her names such as ‘the spotted dog’ or ‘the plum pudding dog’!
But everything changes when a foreign lady opens an art workshop for refugee children. That’s the beginning of a joyful life for little Laila and all the refugees at the camp. All of a sudden their gray and hopeless lives find some color of happiness and life-changing events are around the corner…
Kayra Martinez, the founder of LWB4Refugees has been working
in the refugee camp of Nea Kavala, in northern Greece, near the Macedonian
border, since 2016. Since then she has fed and cared for stray cats and dogs
that were malnourished and neglected. Kayra and helpers ensured that the
animals received the necessary medical care. Kayra started to refer the strays
to their new homes in Germany, Canada, and Norway with the support of some
organizations and helpers.
Since then, Kayra and Bruni, a German helper from the very beginning, have helped to fly almost 80 dogs and cats from Greece to their new homes. These animals got a chance to have a wonderful life. This work would not have been possible without the incredible help and friendliness of the refugees who are housed in Nea Kavala and who have fed and cared for them.
Kayra and Bruni collect donations for the flight costs, care, and food for the dogs of Nea Kavala in order to bring them to their future
homes across the globe. 100% of all donations are used for these costs to bring
the dogs to their new homes and to support the animals in Northern Greece.
If you like to support Keyra and the forgotten animals on
the streets of Greece, visit this link!
Creativity means being
inventive and I had the chance to speak to this creative and
inspiring Lady about her love and support for refugees.
In 2015, Kayra
Martinez, the founder of "Love without Borders 4 Refugees", a flight attendant
for United Airlines based in Frankfurt, Germany, heard about the horrible
conditions in which asylum seekers were made to live in.
Kayra was inspired to
leverage her privileged lifestyle to make a difference and started organizing
collections of needed items like coats and warm clothing in her Frankfurt
community, and later decided to volunteer in the refugee camps and housing
communities in the north of Greece.
It was at the Nea
Kavala camp that Kayra had the brilliant idea to give the children art supplies
so that they could draw and paint. From the first session, Kayra noticed how the
creative process seemed to calm the kids, so she began regular art workshops
for the children in the tents in the camp. She shared what she was doing
with her friends through social media when someone suggested to her that she
sell the paintings. Over time, parents joined their children, and Kayra
expanded the program to include adults who were interested. She began selling
the pieces on behalf of the artists, returning all of the earnings to the
individuals that created each piece sold.
Love Without Borders for Refugees seeks to support refugees in
Greece regain stability and autonomy over their lives. Using art for
self-expression and as a tool for economic independence is like therapy. The refugees
have a platform through which they express themselves, share their experiences,
and forge relationships with both a local and global community.
“In a process of
self-empowerment these soulful individuals heal the trauma of recent years
through the self-reflection, self-expression, and storytelling power of the creative process.” Kayra Martinez
Kayras main operation consists of facilitating art workshops and
the sale of refugee-created art. With the donations of generous individuals
around the world, she purchases art supplies from local, Greek vendors such as canvases, watercolors,
pencils, markers, calligraphy paper, and sketchpads to adults and children in
the refugee camps.
Kayras volunteers host workshops in their homes and the tents of
the artists in the camps. With the help of volunteers she met in Greece, she is
also hosting exhibitions of refugee art across the United States, and around
the world. The creations are then transported by volunteers to cities around
the world where they organize exhibitions and sell the art. One hundred
percent of the profits from the sale of each piece of art is returned to the
artist. Many
of the pieces sold are from children as young as 3.
With her
non-profit-organization, registered and operated in the United States, Kayra is
educating the public about the struggles refugees face; to humanize the refugee
experience; and to generate compassion and empathy for all people in this
world. She
spread awareness of the conditions faced by refugees and the continued state of
the refugee crisis in Europe and the Middle East.
In addition to her art
program, her volunteers coordinate other aid programs including the
distribution of material and financial aid to meet the immediate and unmet
needs of these and other displaced individuals. These include providing
sleeping bags, tents, and temporary quarters for those refugees with housing
insecurity; providing unspoiled food for those without, and locating missing
persons.
If you live in the United States and like to
support “Love Without Borders 4 Refugees”, please visit theLWBRefugeeArt Etsy shop.
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!
Creativity allows us to view and solve problems. It opens our minds. Especially in difficult and lonely time’s creativity is the best self-therapy and healing solution for our heart, mind, and soul. Creativity is the ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions, and possibilities. During this horrible global pandemic crisis, everyone was challenged in one or another way, which gave me the idea to feature a few creative guests in my summer blog series Corona & Creativity.
My next guest in my blog series 2021 is the lovely and talented American Author C.L. Schneider. She lives in New York's Hudson
Valley. Her debut novel was The Crown of Stones: Magic-Price, the first book in her epic fantasy
trilogy. The Crown of Stones is a gripping account of one
man's struggle to accept who and what he
is. It's the journey of a flawed hero, a fallen race, and a land at war. A page-turning tale of prejudice, betrayal, secrets, and
lies.
Her new series, Nite Fire, is a gritty, action-packed, urban
fantasy featuring shapeshifters, dragons, parallel worlds, and various
creatures of myth and legend.
Welcome back Cynthia! You've been featured in my blog series back in 2017. So tell me what means creativity to you?
Creativity is the act of making something from nothing,
of giving life to your dreams. It’s the unlimited expression of thought and
emotion.
What is your favorite creative activity? Writing.
What is your favorite color? Red
Did you discover a creative activity or new
passion during the corona Lockdown?
Unfortunately, no. My creativity took a hit during
lockdown, at least the first half. I’m
the kind of person who is deeply affected by the emotions of others. There was
so much pain in the world, so much loss and anger. It was hard for me to focus
on channeling my own emotions into writing when the whole world was hurting. I
didn’t stop writing, though. I did what I could, when I could, and eventually I
pushed through it.
Do you think creative people are happier in
general?
The act of creating, of letting your imagination go free,
is a huge mood booster. It’s also therapeutic. I believe creative people who
are free to follow their passion, without it being stifled, can glean happiness
from living a truly creative life.
Would you say creativity is kind of a
self-therapy?
Absolutely. It allows you to express what you’re feeling
in a medium without restriction or (in that moment) judgement.
Would you say that creative people are more
driven and disciplined?
I think creative people are definitely driven. Once a
project gets in your head, it can be all-consuming. Hours pass and you don’t
even realize it. Disciplined…? That’s a little tricker. When a creative
person’s focus is locked on bringing something to life, some days nothing will
pull them away. Other days, we look for every little distraction to do anything
but create.
The meaning of “Creativity” is the use of imagination or original ideas to create
something; inventiveness! Creativity is going beyond the usual, stepping
outside of the box. It can be defined in many ways, such as how a person
explores ideas or uses different ways to solve issues and how one experiences
life. So what was your original idea or what did you create during lockdown?
You can list more than one.
I managed to write and publish the first
novella in a new series. It was something that had been kicking around in my
head for years but kept getting pushed to the back burner. Though it takes
place in the same world as another one of my series, in some respects it’s
different than anything I’ve written before. It felt great to finally devote
time to the idea and bring it to life. I also tinkered with some short stories.
I’m not sure if I will finish/publish them or not. I’m not a short story person.
I generally find them harder than a novel where I can take time to build the
world and develop the characters. But when everything was in turmoil, for some
reason, I found myself gravitating to the shorter creative works as an outlet.
While you may have
natural creativity skills, there are also skills that can be learned
and developed over time. Would you say your creative skills are natural or
trained?
I think my writing skills are both. I had an early and
natural talent for writing, but through years of research, reading, and crafting
stories, I’ve honed my skills to what they are today. But the learning, the
training never stops. Every book I write teaches me something new.
A new study from researchers
has found that women are engaged in creative fields like art, music, and literature at higher rates than men and are generally more
creative than men. What is your thought on that?
I know a lot of men who are creative and highly passionate
about their art. But art comes from emotion and women (as a whole) tend to be
more in touch with their emotions. We generally feel them more intensely and
are quicker to share them. So, from that perspective, perhaps we are quicker to
channel them into art?
Do you think being creative and productive is also related to
season? For example are you more creative in the summer or in winter?
I’m not sure. All I can say is, personally, summer is
harder for me simply because there are more distractions.
Thank you Cynthia for being my blog guest again and best of luck with all your creative activities and projects. If you like to know more about C.L. Schneider, follow her on Social media or visit her website!
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)
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