Sea of lights for inclusion in Frankfurt am Main

After a four-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic, lights and lanterns shone for the rights of people with disabilities in Frankfurt on the evening of 3 November. Elfriede Harth, co-organiser and active in the Rhine-Main Care Revolution regional group, provided us with a report.

Under the motto: "A LIGHT FROM CHILD TO CHILD", it is about a procession of lights and lanterns in which children with disabilities and their relatives are the protagonists and (can) be accompanied by all other people. The campaign was launched years ago by Nicos Farm e.V. and nestwärme e.V. in Hamburg.

For us at Care Revolution, the issue of inclusion is particularly important because people with disabilities are especially dependent on care and support. These people have the right to care: the right to be well looked after and cared for so that they - like everyone else - can participate fully in society. But the people who look after and support them, mainly their relatives or friends, also have a right to care: the right to be well looked after and cared for and to know that the people who are particularly close to their hearts are well looked after and cared for. The fundamental dual meaning of the right to care is particularly well understood here.

Germany ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities back in 2009. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to be done.

During the welcome address, we pointed out a few things that could be tackled at a local level. One father briefly reported on the difficulties he faces, even as a working father in the public sector, in reconciling the necessary care work that he shares with his wife, who also works, with his professional obligations.

Inclusion is important from an early age so that children learn from an early age that we are all fully-fledged members of society with our different characteristics and that we can live well together if we look out for each other and respect and value each other: in kindergarten and at school, in the sports club, on the playground, and so on. We must ensure that no ghettos are created and that all barriers that hinder and prevent people from living together are removed. Sufficient qualified assistants must provide the necessary support.

Families with disabled children need affordable, accessible housing. And mobility - public transport, flattened kerbs, ramps and lifts, etc. - must be organised in such a way that people with disabilities can get around. - must be organised in such a way that people with disabilities or parents with pushchairs etc. can get everywhere.

The situation of carers is also very important to us in Care Revolution. Parents who, as carers, provide the majority of care must have the necessary time to do so and society must remunerate them for fulfilling this responsibility in such a way that they have a guaranteed livelihood. This is about unpaid, vital work. It is unacceptable for the people who perform this work to become impoverished as a result. An unconditional basic income that secures their livelihood would be a solution.

We couldn't have had better weather! As the sun set at 5 p.m., we set off behind the samba band "Alles Blech", which had already accompanied us in 2017, 2018 and 2019. With around 120 luminous people, we walked and rolled through Frankfurt's Old Town to St Paul's Square, where St Paul's Church is located, where Germany's first parliament met 175 years ago, to the delight of the many people who were here at this time and who marvelled at and photographed us benevolently. Once we arrived at Römerberg, the square in front of Frankfurt City Hall, we had a pretzel in front of the Fountain of Justice to say goodbye.

A few hours later, the Hessenschau programme reported on our campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPDD67IQgPE

A few days earlier, an article in the Frankfurter Rundschau(https://www.fr.de/frankfurt/in-frankfurt-leuchtet-ein-lichtermeer-fuer-die-inklusion-92647686.html) and the Frankfurter Neue Presse had already referred to our action.