           07/04/08 Tuteur House, Berlin Donors to *stars of tomorrow lit up the sky for the children of South Africa!  The "Night for the Stars of South Africa" event held at Berlin's Tuteur House on 7 April 2008 honored *stars of tomorrow as a "Place of Ideas" in the "Germany – Land of Ideas" site campaign sponsored jointly by the German federal government and German industry. Harald Pignatelli, a host for the rbb TV/radio station, was the MC for the awards ceremony at which Stefan Bruckner (campaign marketing director) and Ulrich Graf (Deutsche Bank representative) honored the future-oriented social commitment of *stars of tomorrow. Speaking to guests and the press, sports ambassador Arne Friedrich once again announced his active support of the work done by *stars of tomorrow in South Africa. Given the rapidly increasing rate of new HIV infections, it is precisely the country's children who need our support. His views were confirmed by the development partners of *stars of tomorrow, namely Save the Children Deutschland e. V. represented by managing director Kathrin Wieland, and CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg e. V. represented by board member Rainer Eppelmann. The official program of the "Night for the Stars of South Africa" also included two short films entitled "The Ball" and "The Sky in Her Eyes". These films are part of the "Steps for the Future" project run by South African producer and filmmaker Don Edkins, which compiles films that address the topic of HIV/AIDS. "The Ball" shows children making a football out of condoms, portraying in a humorous way the fact that the few condoms distributed in South Africa are often put to purposes other than originally intended. "The Sky in Her Eyes" shows a South African girl who finds new courage to live following the death of her mother from AIDS. Moved by the story of the little girl who could well be one of the children helped by the *stars of tomorrow projects, guests at the event lit up the sky with their donations. A blue screen had been covered with bank transfer forms, which guests could replace with self-adhesive stars contained in their invitations. Toward the end of the evening, the sky was shining with generous donations from our guests! Following the awards ceremony, soup and sparkling wine made for a congenial atmosphere, which in turn encouraged guests to tour the *stars of tomorrow exhibition and learn about projects run by *stars of tomorrow as well as about the critical social commentary in the works of South African "urban geographer" Ismail Farouk. Our sponsors were the main reason why the "Night for the Stars of South Africa" was a brilliant success. Once again we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Culpepper, Escortess, Elektra, dhs, Gravis, and Phoenix for their strong support. And a very special thank you to our donors, who joined forces with the *stars of tomorrow team to stand up for children in South Africa! more information |
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