European Parliamentary exhibition in Strasbourg 22-25 October 2012

Dear friends,

First of all: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

With this email, I am probably asking a lot from you. But, please, bear with me. And please, forward this email to whoever you think might help you and us, or distribute our call any other way.


I am happy to announce our European Parliamentary exhibition, to take place in Strasbourg 22-25 October 2012. This exhibition will be hosted by MEP Diane Dodds from Northern Ireland (http://www.dianedodds.co.uk/).

Mrs Dodds is a strong supporter of IF and wants to help us in all ways that she can in the European arena. She is offering us this unique opportunity to have an exhibition in the institution that has increasingly more and more impact on our (European) lifes. Remember that this exhibition is taking place in the week of the first World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day (25 October 2012).

IF is an umbrella organisation, and it is important to involve our members inour activities, also in the development of this event. Therefore, we are calling for your input and creativity.

The coordination of this event will happen in Brussels, together with professionals and the Royal Academy for Fine Arts. I appreciate the efforts they have already put in this. After a couple of meetings and long thinking, we would like to propose the following:

The theme of the exhibition is:
“(Y)our Return on Investment”

The message we want to bring across to policy makers in the European Parliament (our first and most direct audience) is that it is not acceptable not to invest in people with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. Investment is not only money, it is also attention, care, education, employment. All too often, we see abandoned children, isolated adolescents, adults without a job. This is making a complicated life even more complicated. It is often shocking to see that this is happening because of negative stereotypes and discrimination. And even within the European Union. It is, of course, also confronting politics with their continuous focus on money, rather than people and human rights.

We need to show the alternative. We need to show them positive examples generating energy, a inclusive positive society, bringing across the best in people. Because not believing in the children with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, killing hope, is often literary, killing them.

The last two months, two students of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Io and Sharan, have been living close to persons with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus and their families.

Io was living in Mbarara, Uganda, to be Ambrose’s shadow. Ambrose is an occupational therapist with our project OURS Mbarara, following up children with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. He is creative and positive. He travels through Ugandan countryside, knows every child’s name and supports the families where he can. He is a person like you most probably also know one or more. Io’s pictures show this in a very positive way.

Sharan travelled all around Slovakia. She got involved in the Slovakian Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. Her focus was the families of children with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. Her pictures (i have only seen a few) show beautiful young people working together, playing together, walking along, discussing, and so much more. She shows the love in the families, among brothers and sisters and the fun they can have together.

Preparing for their trips, both students went to visit with Isaak, a Belgian toddler in Hasselt. Again, both showed a positive family, and a beautiful energetic and lively boy.

See the pictures below, we noticed that only something positive can happen if one wants to invest in the persons with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. Hence the theme.

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This is only a quick selection of the pictures, also my own selection. But you see the point, I hope.

Our call
We want to show what is happening out there in the world. We want to show what investments families, caregivers, doctors, friends etc are making and the enormous return they are receiving. We want to show children AND adults, from ALL continents, from as many member organisations as possible.

However, in order to make it possible, we also have to set some rules.

IF coordinates the creation of the exhibition. We will contract someone to make this a powerful and beautiful exhibition. The selection of pictures is on the strength of the pictures, not the location, the person in the picture or whatever. It is the person who composes the exhibition that will have all freedom to decide on the pictures. We commit to make this a qualitative exhibition, with good prints and a nice publication.

We need from each of you a series of pictures (max 10 selected pictures) in high quality (pref. RAW). Of course, you can send the pictures in a smaller format first, as long as the original pictures are in high quality, necessary for large, high quality prints.

The series should have one person as subject, as Isaak or Ambrose above.

The pictures need to be positive.

Please send in your pictures to the email address: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (for convenience reasons and possibilities to share with other people).

Deadline of the first batch of pictures is 30 January 2012. I apologize for the short notice, but the European Parliament set our deadline for the exhibition on 30 March 2012 – by then we need to have everything ready.

We also like to hear your feedback, tricks and tips. Of course we will keep you, or whoever you designate, informed about the process.

I hope you find the time and energy to send in qualitative pictures. Please involve professionals and creative photographers. The better the input from you, the better our exhibition will be.

Many thanks and good luck.

Lieven





Lieven Bauwens
Secretary General
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IF ivzw
International Federation For Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus
Consultative status special category with the Economic Council of the United Nations / Participatory status Council of Europe

Cellebroersstraat 16 - 1000 Brussels - Belgium
T: +32 (0) 2 502 04 13 - F: + 32 (0) 2 502 11 29
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