“Fairy Tales of the World”: The second volume is finished!

Shortly before Christmas, the time had finally come; we received the freshly printed picture books with the Chinese fairy tale “The Two Melons”.

The story tells of two women, one good and one bad, of course – as befits a fairy tale. The good woman devotedly cares for an injured bird despite her poverty, while the bad woman has a high opinion of herself and thinks only about how fast she can get rich. Both are rewarded for their behaviour with a “treasure” at the end of the story. It is hiding in a giant melon.

The story makes it clear to young and old alike in expressive pictures how compassion, a willingness to help and selfless devotion to other living beings can be transformed into good a thousand times over.
The fairy tale from China appears in our book for the first time in a German translation. It has been beautifully illustrated by the Istanbul artist Elif Yemenici.

Like our first picture book, you can also obtain this new work from us free of charge. If you are interested, please send a short email to info@sariasstiftung2373.live-website.com and we will send you a copy by post. If you are interested in receiving several copies, for example for a school class, please contact us and we can arrange an appointment for you to collect them.

The Ethiopian fairy tale back in Ethiopia

What could be more natural than to introduce our beautiful picture book to children living in Ethiopia?
To achieve this, the SARIAS Foundation has organised and financed a book shipment to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. 100 of the storybooks were donated to the German Embassy School in Addis Ababa by airfreight.

There are 140 of these German schools abroad in more than 70 countries around the world. Only about every fourth pupil comes from a German family, e.g. if the parents are in the country in question for professional reasons. The others are local children or those from other countries of origin; all learning together with and from each other.

Of course, there have been and still are school closures for longer periods of time at the school in Addis Ababa because of the pandemic. So the primary school children were all the more pleased when they were allowed to return to school and found the new picture books waiting for them there. The books are distributed in the primary school classes, but will remain as stock in the school for future classes. This way many children can enjoy them for a long time to come!

We wish the children many happy hours enjoying the story and the illustrations.

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The 31st Berlin Fairytale Days

This year’s Berlin Fairytale Days took place from 5th to 22nd November 2020 under the motto of “Heaven and Earth – Fairy Tales and Stories from Above and Below”.

The uniting power of fairytales is vital in a culturally diverse society. They are an immeasurable treasure trove of experiences and life lessons. Each one contains values that all of humanity has in common, such as love, friendship, loyalty, courage and dedication.

The heroes of fairytales transcend boundaries and overcome obstacles between young and old, poor and rich, East and West and, as was the case this year, between Above and Below.

Due to the necessary measures that are currently in place, for the first time the festival took place online.

We should all stay within our own homes as much as possible. What could be more natural than settling down and immersing ourselves in the realm of adventure and other worlds?

Märchenland e.V. the organiser of the Fairytale Days, has put a great deal of effort into making sure we did not have to miss out on some wonderful fairytale time despite the pandemic. A lot of events can still be accessed in digital form by anyone at any time by visiting https://berliner-maerchentage.de.

For the second time, the SARIAS Foundation contributed to the success of the Berlin Fairytale Days with financial support and its very own event. Even though a great many things were different this year, we hope our viewers young and old still enjoyed these magical fairytales!

CD launch by Atilla Aldemir

In 2019, the SARIAS Foundation facilitated the creation of an exceptional CD recording: Johann Sebastian Bach’s legendary Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. Born in Istanbul, Atilla Aldemir is an award-winning violinist and violist, and the solo violist of the MDR Symphony Orchestra. He performed the pieces on a viola – the first time in its history – at St Agnus Church in Köthen. The CD was launched on 6th September 2020 during the Köthen Bach Festival at the same location as it was recorded.

Entry was free of charge, although donations to the Arche Children and Youth Welfare Centre in Köthen were requested.