Sternsinger in Nidda: Children stand up for rights of the same age!

Sternsinger in Nidda: Children stand up for rights of the same age!

in Nidda, children are on the road as a star singer until January 12th to collect donations for their fellow human beings. This year's motto of the campaign is "bring blessing - be a blessing". The star singers were blessed and sent out on New Year's Day during a service. This service was designed by Tyson Unger (organ), Christina Merkel-Pavone (cantor) and Hedi Patzelt (readings). On January 13, the donations collected will be handed over during another service. The Nidda parish has been participating in the Sternsinger campaign for a long time, also during Corona pandemic. Four Nidda children were invited to Berlin in 2020 to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel, and in 2023 the group took part in an EU reception in Brussels.

The motivation of the children who participate in this campaign lies in the joy of playing role play, the motto "Children help children" and experience to help others in community. The approximately 20 children and adolescents who are active in Nidda made their crowns themselves and prepared for the campaign in the parish hall. This year the focus is on children's rights, including support, protection, nutrition and medical care. The children watched a film about children's rights as well as projects in Kenya and Colombia, where nutritional projects and medical care are offered for children in Turkana. The reports on the situation of children in Ukraine were also discussed.

a nationwide commitment to children's rights

As reported by the Weltkirche website.katholisch.de, tens of thousands of children will pull from door to door as a star singer at the beginning of the year to collect donations. The campaign takes place around the day of the Three Kings on January 6th, with the starting shot in Paderborn on December 28th. Almost 46 million euros were collected at the last star singing campaign, and Pastor Dirk Bingener, president of the children's mission work "Die Sternsinger", hopes to increase the donations in 2025.

The 67th action is under the motto "Lift your voice! Stern singing for children's rights". 35 years after the entry into force of the Child Rights Convention, the rights of children worldwide are still at risk. The topics include the right to health, education, protection in war and non -violent education. 250 million children do not go to school worldwide, and every fourth child is malnourished. The number of displaced children has doubled to 43 million in the past ten years, and armed conflicts violate the rights of children in many regions, including the Middle East, Syria, Sudan and Ukraine.

The Sternsinger support around 1,110 projects in 91 countries, including Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Israel and Vietnam. It is expected that at least as many volunteers nationwide are involved in the last campaign, which corresponds to around 8,300 parishes and groups.