Lily Amis: Writer, Blogger, Lyricist and Multilingual Content Creator sharing stories about books, music, travel, culture and inspiring people around the world.
Smiling is something that most people take for granted. But we should never take anything in life for granted. Those who can walk, talk, speak, eat, hear, smell, and touch are blessed. Being healthy means you are a rich person.
Smile Train was founded in 1999. It provides free corrective cleft surgery in 87 countries. Changing the World One Smile at a Time. A baby with a cleft is born every 3 minutes. These babies can experience isolation and often face prejudice in their communities. No child deserves to feel like an outcast. You can save a child’s life with the gift of cleft treatment
I'm delighted to raise awareness for Smile Train UK with my Lily4Humanity project and my upcoming release MY VISION, Lily Amis feat. Thir13een.
Ernst Jakob Christoffel and his sister Hedwig in 1908
Lily4Humanity is delighted to raise awareness for an organization with a great history of humanity.
The Beginning: Turkey
In 1908, Christoffel set out for Turkey and founded a home in Malatia for blind
and otherwise disabled and orphaned children, with the support of only a
handful of friends. The mission societies to which he had applied before saw no
commission for helping the blind in the Orient.
World War I
Christoffel’s work came to an end when the First World War broke out. In 1919,
he was expelled and Turkey remained closed to him, as to all Germans.
From Turkey to Iran
As soon as the ban was lifted, Christoffel set out for Turkey again, but the
house in Malatia was lost. Attempts to start again in Constantinople (later
Istanbul) resulted in renewed prohibition, so Christoffel went to Iran. In 1925
and 1928, two homes were set up in Tabriz and Isfahan, respectively, for blind
and otherwise disabled young people.
Persecution during World War II
The Second World War destroyed everything, and the threat of deportation was
imminent. Christoffel did not want to leave his charges on their own. In 1943,
he was arrested and spent three years behind barbed wire, but his will remained
unbroken.
Return to Iran
As soon as he had access in 1951, Christoffel returned to Isfahan. Despite the
fact that he was ailing and 70 years of age, he went on helping the disabled,
poor, and abandoned in the name of Jesus Christ. Pastor Christoffel died on 23
April 1955. His tombstone in Isfahan names him the "Father of the Blind,
Deaf-Mute, Physically Disabled and Orphans".
The commitment of Pastor Ernst Jakob Christoffel to the education and
rehabilitation of persons with disabilities laid the foundation for an organisation
that is today one of the leading international development organisations for
persons with disabilities worldwide.
Over time, CBM’s policy has widened from serving blind people to
giving all persons with disabilities access to basic healthcare services. There
are one billion persons with disabilities in the world. Most of them live in
developing countries. About 2.5% of these people are covered by CBM’s
programmes.
Last Friday we met the head
of Communication from CBM Swiss Michael.
We had a Zoom chat back in July regarding my Lily4Humanity Creativity Contest and my song release MY VISION.
But I had so many questions
and it was easier to meet in person and Michael answered everything. So the
first reason why I chose CBM Swiss is because my mum and I, we both had eye
surgeries in recent years. Mine was actually in July and August 2022. As
you know from my previous post, I also had two eye surgeries as a kid and had to
wear eyeglasses until the age of 12.
Life is hard and challenging as it is
and I honestly wonder how people with disability especially blindness handle it
with all the daily obstacles. There are many charities that support VISION but
when I read about CBM's history, I knew that with Lily4Humanity and my upcoming
song release, I have to support this charity and raise awareness about their
incredible work.
The history of CBMand
its founder Pastor Ernst J. Christoffel,
born in 1876 in Germany, is
inspiring and fascinating. The founder’s idea of an inclusive world in which
all persons with disabilities enjoy their human rights and achieve their full
potential is exactly my vision of humanity. In my next post, I will share
Pastor Christoffel's life story.
Now back to our meeting with Michael and my
Q&A:
How many operations (cataract surgery) are
performed per month?
10
000 (Ten thousand)
How much is the cost of a cataract surgery? For adults 50 CHF, for children 180 CHF because they
have to undergo the surgery under anesthesia. People
assume that Cataract is only a problem for elderly people but the truth is that
2% of these numbers are actually children under the age of 18.
When was the first surgery? It was in 1966. Ever since CBM has made 16
Million surgeries possible. It is almost twice the size of Switzerland’s
population.
How much percent of a donation goes actually to
the surgery?
From
100%: 82% goes into surgery, 14% into Communication,
Advertising & Fundraising, and 4% into administration.
What
I like about this charity is in contrast to other Christian organizations, CBM actually really works for humanity. They don’t care about nationality, gender, age and
religion. Humanity is the best word to describe their philosophy.
The other day I was on my way to an appointment
sitting on the bus right behind the bus driver. A female passenger got on the
bus and knew him. So they greeted each other and I heard the following
conversation. I wasn’t eavesdropping, they
were speaking loudly.
Bus driver: How
are you?
Female passenger:
I can’t complain, I’m fine.
Bus driver: Good.
There is no point in complaining anyway, right?
Female passenger:
I’m in good health, so I’m ok.
Bus driver: You are rich when you are healthy.
Female passenger:
At least today the weather is nice; it’s not an ugly day.
Bus driver:There are no ugly days. Every day is beautiful, even the rainy days. Ugly is what humans are doing. Ever since COVID, I got rid of my TV, I get out of the house and enjoy every single day. In Asia and America, people don't complain about the weather all the time like people do here in Switzerland. The mainstream media is terrible and influencing us way too much. You can’t find honesty anymore.
All this time I could only hear the bus driver’s voice. I couldn’t
see him and I was wondering how old he was when he ended his shift and got off
the bus for lunch break and the next driver got in. A grumpy female driver in a bad
mood. Now I could see the wise driver. A random man with eyeglasses in his late
fifties. I couldn’t hold myself back. I looked at him and said: I love
your attitude. He was surprised and just smiled back at me.
And I thought to myself, "What if God is just one of us? A
stranger on the bus?" Do you recognize the lyrics from a song title? Here we go:
My takeaway from this is that sometimes God speaks through people and reminds us that we should be thankful. The lady who he was talking to needed his uplifting and positive attitude. For me it was a confirmation, that there is still hope in our shallow, selfish, and Godless society.
One of Us Song by Joan Osborne Lyrics
… If God had a
name what would it be?
And would you call it to his face?
If you were faced with Him in all His glory
What would you ask if you had just one question?
… And yeah,
yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah
… What if God
was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' to make his way home?
… If God had a
face what would it look like?
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in Jesus and the Saints
And all the prophets?
… And yeah,
yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah
… What if God
was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' to make his way home?
… Just tryin'
to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody callin' on the phone
'Cept for the Pope, maybe in Rome
… And yeah,
yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah
… What if God
was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' to make his way home?
… Just tryin'
to make his way home
Like a holy rolling stone?
Back up to heaven all alone
Just tryin' to make his way home
… Nobody callin' on the phone
'Cept for the Pope maybe in Rome
Yeah, October is here! Really love the colours in fall. Do you feel the Christmas spirit as we do? I’m working for weeks on my next song release. “MY VISION” which is the third song connected to my Lily4Humanity project. It will be out on November 13th, right in time for Christmas!
However, no matter what faith we follow,
we should thank GOD every single day and be grateful for our blessings, and
never forget that there are people who struggle and suffer more in life than we
do.
Being able to SEE is a blessing that most people take for
granted. But did you know that there are 1.1 billion people with visual
impairments worldwide? Of these, 43 million are blind, and 295 million people
are severely visually impaired. For at least 1 billion people, vision
impairment could have been prevented or treated!
Being able to SMILE is something that most people take
for granted as well. But did you know that cleft lip and palate is a common
birth defect? It occurs About together in 1 of every 1,000 babies, somewhat
more in males than females. 20% have a cleft lip only, 30% have a cleft palate
only, and 50% of children with a cleft lip will also have a cleft palate. Most
of the time, a cleft is caused by genetic and environmental factors coming
together in a way that can't be predicted or prevented.
“My Vision” is an awareness song for two great charities
close to my heart.
CBM SWISS was founded in 1908 by the German pastor Ernst
Jakob Christoffel, who built homes for blind children, orphans, physically
disabled, and deaf persons in Turkey and Iran. Initially, CBM's efforts were
focused on preventing and curing blindness, but now they cover other causes of
disabilities as well!
SMILE TRAIN UK gives every child the chance to smile!
Smile Train was founded in 1999. It provides free corrective cleft surgery in
87 countries. Changing the World One Smile at a Time.
My GOAL is not only to raise awareness for these two great charities but hopefully also
to encourage people to donate to CBM SWISS, support people's vision, and gift
them eyesight and a brighter life and future. And to donate to SMILE TRAINand
gift a smile for those who can’t smile.
What is better than helping people with disabilities?
Instead of spending/wasting money on useless Christmas gifts, think twice about
your gift ideas this year. You could help so many people and change their lives
and future. You can also make gifts in your friends and family member’s names
and surprise them with your original gift idea of blessing people with eyesight
and a smile.
You
probably wonder what my motivation is and why I support these two charities.
Well, I was born with a misalignment of the eyes. Squinting is not just a
cosmetic defect, but a serious visual impairment. I’m so grateful to my mum for
all the sacrifices that she made, which made it possible for me to get early
surgeries and treatment.
Shortly after the two pictures above – I was about 2.5 years old - I had my first eye surgery at the Camden & Islington University College Hospital in London. 1.5 years later, I had my second eye surgery at the age of four at the Eye Clinic University in Giessen, Germany.After the second surgery, we had to stay in Giessen for an entire year because of the weekly therapies, and I was forced to wear eyeglasses. I still have these eyeglasses. :-)
m
so grateful to my incredible caring mum for all the sacrifices that she made, which made it
possible for me to get early surgeries and treatment.
I
also had eye surgeries in the summer of 2022, which made me realize once more how valuable
our eyesight is.
Did you
know that with only 33 dollars, you give a person the chance to wear
eyeglasses? With only 55 dollars, you give a person with a cataract the
chance to get surgery! A life-changing and precious gift that will change someone’s destiny
forever! DONATE NOW!
