Prologue
2019 was the fourth year of STELP e. V.’s existence – and more eventful than any before it.
The first STELP fundraising gala we held in January at the Kursaal Cannstatt will remain unforgettable. Artists such as Max Herre, Philipp Poisel, Wolfgang Joop and Tim Bengel supported us for free, as did dozens of volunteers, cooks, technicians and suppliers. STELP incurred almost no costs on this evening; however, we were able to raise more than 100,000 euros at the same time – an incredible sum that enables us to alleviate the suffering of many people and save lives. One example is Yemen, where one of the world’s greatest humanitarian disasters has been unfolding for years. We have been running soup kitchens for over 1,600 schoolchildren there since last year. The regular reports from Mohammed Baza, our project manager on the ground, about the dramatic situation in the country never cease to shock us and make us think deeply.
“STELP finally has a home!”
We are equally saddened and angered by the conditions we found during a mission to Bosnia in December 2019. In inhumane camps, the refugees there are not only helplessly exposed to the icy winter, but also to the European border officials, who not infrequently use brutal force.
Despite the sometimes catastrophic conditions in the crisis regions of this world, however, it was important to us last year to carry out our work with joy. This was particularly easy for us when we built a playground in our village for refugees in Turkey. In our cooperation with the playground builder Kukuk Kultur e. V., we became children ourselves again: In just six days, we worked together to build a beautiful place to play and romp, offering many children shelter and distraction from the harsh realities of everyday life. This project still fills us with joy and pride today.
Another milestone of the last year makes us proud and above all happy: We moved into our first office in the middle of Stuttgart’s west. STELP finally has a home! It is the central contact point for our employees, interns, volunteers and all others who are driven by a common goal: We want to create a world in which all people – regardless of origin, age, sexual orientation or political and religious worldview – can live free of acute need and self-determined in dignity and security and can shape their future sustainably by their own efforts.
“We’re a bit amazed ourselves that all of this – and more – should have happened in just one year.”
Many other events, where joy and sorrow were often close together, marked 2019. We have recorded the most important ones on the following pages. We’re a bit surprised ourselves that all this – and more – should have happened in just one year. Despite many individual milestones, there was once again one constant that extended over the entire year and was and is for us the cornerstone of our work and success: the unwavering and ever-growing support of so many people from Stuttgart and the surrounding area.
It is only through them that we can make help possible on the scale that we have once again been able to demonstrate in 2019. Whether as donors, volunteers at home and abroad, partners or supporters from business and politics. Only together can we continue to plan and realize projects such as those we would like to present on the following pages.
Such cohesion becomes all the more important in times such as those that have emerged in recent weeks. It is only through them that we can make help possible on the scale that we have once again been able to demonstrate in 2019. We want to continue to leave no one behind, even if we now have another opponent who presents us with new and unprecedented challenges. Whether as donors, volunteers at home and abroad, partners or supporters from business and politics. But we will also tackle this task – courageously, with full commitment and above all: together!
The lecture
