CURRENT MISSION

Appeal for support of a film project on people with disabilities worldwide

ABOUT ME

my name is Dennis Klein and I’m a teacher in a junior high school in Rottenburg. I’m 32 years old and apart from living my vocation as a teacher, I have been spending 16 years of my free time helping in curative education, e.g. organizing leisure and other activities for young people with the aim of raising awareness and changing the image of people with disabilities, leading away from exclusion towards inclusion and the recognition of diversity and differences. The resulting friendships with people living with all sorts of disabilities gave me intense insights into their individual realities and the interaction between people with disabilities and their social and political environment, ranging from inclusive approaches to severe discrimination.

For this reason, I want to head out on a journey leading me through 20 different countries, and within 11 months interview people with different disabilities on their life and social integration. Doing this, I also want to spotlight the respective awareness in society to see if public campaigns have contributed to break down barriers and stereotypes so that people with disabilities are recognized as full members of society.

The film project’s key focus is on the human being and the human condition. People with disabilities from all over the world shall have an opportunity to speak up in front of the camera and tell us about their life. The disabilities will not emerge as suffering, but as challenges imposed on individual beings, showing the individual ways of coping and understanding. To gain a authentic insight into the individual environments and life situations, I plan to work and participate in specific projects for several weeks.

My journey will lead me to the following countries: Turkey, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Argentinia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico, USA, and Spain.

The whole project is financed at private expense. All participating people and projects will be provided with the results and the film. All potential revenue will be given to the NGO Centro Maya Servicio Integral in Guatemala, which I have been financially supporting for 6 years now.

My journey started in Istanbul on September 9th, 2013 and ends on July 25th, 2014, in Frankfurt, Germany.

PHILOSOPHY

Stand up for everyone´s rights!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

To see, that I really exist, you should google me (haha)

dennis klein rottenburg realschule

visit my webside: inclusion-around-the-world.info

https://www.facebook.com/dennis.little.186

youtube: humme1bumme1

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Only experiences on couches of friends worldwide...

Interests

Music, concerts, climbing, trekking, eating, playing, swimming, dreaming, fighting (on concerts), protesting, changing, learning, understanding, dancing, cooking, beeing...

• concerts
• dancing
• education
• environment
• cooking
• music
• rock climbing
• swimming
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

I just listen to the music field, which I call side stream. Music for both ears, cause life is too short, to listen, to bad music. I work as a DJ in Germany. So give my some desks and a crowd, and let´s make party with quality!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

? I saw aliens and the parallel universe yesterday...

Teach, Learn, Share

As a teacher, for sure, I know everything!