"With your decision, you can do a lot of good, just like the councillors who usually sit here," he emphasized in his welcome address.
Every year, around 300,000 carol singers throughout Germany go from house to house to collect money for a good cause. This year's motto is "Bring a blessing, be a blessing. We belong together - in Peru and worldwide".
Around 200 children from Salzgitter are going from house to house this year to bring Christ's blessing and collect money for disabled children around the world. Around 55 of them were present at the carol singers' reception in the town hall. They were accompanied by their (partly young) companions and by Father Dirk Sachse from the Catholic parish of St. Joseph.
In his welcoming address, Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel praised the commitment of the carol singers and said "You are taking responsibility for other children in the world who urgently need help."
Last year, around 300,000 carol singers in Germany were able to collect around 48.7 million euros in donations. In Salzgitter, this amounted to 23,425 euros. This enabled 1,965 projects in 114 countries to be financed.
Background information on the motto:
There are around 165 million children with disabilities in the world. A particularly large number of them live in poor countries. Disabilities are often seen as a disgrace there and many of the children affected have to live on the streets as a result. Article 23 of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child describes the right of children with disabilities to a fulfilling and dignified life. Other UN conventions provide further rights such as education, health and participation.
The 2019 carol singing campaign addresses these issues. The donations collected are intended to support projects that give children with mental or physical disabilities a perspective. One example is the Sternsinger project in Peru's capital Lima. The project is called Yancana Huasy. There, mentally and physically disabled children are helped to lead a largely normal life.