Kids Parlement | Children’s Day | 20211120 | Michel van der Burg | michelvanderburg•com | Reportage with Amir Jafari in front of the Belgian Federal Public Service for Justice building, Boulevard de Waterloo, Brussels, Belgium – Nov 20, 2013.
Amir Jafari (12 yr old student and Afghan refugee in Belgium) – the voice and face of the Belgian ‘Kids Parlement’ – on the arrival of the silent solidarity march for Afghan refugees in Brussels 20 nov 2013. First brief encounter with Amir just before his public protest speech demanding Belgium changes its asylum policy. Full reportage of Amir’s speech in post Afghans & Belgians « We want justice » (20131124). Protest at the Belgian Federal Public Service for Justice building, Boulevard de Waterloo, Brussels, Belgium – Nov 20, 2013.
NL – DUTCH
MB – Ja, ik heb uw brief gezien, en gedeeld op facebook.
( ‘Eén dag in mijn schoenen’ – Nov 15, 2013 in de Belgisch krant De Standaard.)
Dus, vandaag wordt er voor u geprotesteerd ?
JF – Ja , eigenlijk voor iedereen.
Voor iedereen is het vandaag een protest dag.
Omdat het vandaag kinderrechten dag is.
Ze hebben genoeg gezwegen.
Iedereen heeft genoeg gezwegen.
Kinderen , jongere mensen hier, iedereen heeft genoeg gezwegen. Maar vandaag ..
Er moet niet meer gezwegen worden !
Vandaag is kinderrechten dag.
En iedereen mag zeggen wat hij wil !
EN – ENGLISH
MB – I saw your letter, and shared it on facebook.
( ‘One day in my shoes’ – Nov 15, 2013 in the Belgian news paper De Standaard ).
So, today there is a protest here for you ?
AJ – Yes, actually for everyone…
Today is a day of protest for everyone.
Because today is Children’s Rights Day.
They have been silent for long enough.
Everyone has been silent for long enough.
Children, young people, everyone
has been silent for long enough !
But today, we must break the silence,
because today is Children’s Rights Day…
and anyone can speak up for himself.
Doctor Honoris Causa | Connect the World | 20211119 | 1-memo•com | At yesterday’s night at the opera in the Brussels opera house De Munt | La Monnaie , five new honorary doctorates were welcomed to the Vrije Universiteit Brussel community by rector Caroline Pauwels : the American science communicator Ann Druyan, artist William Kentridge, Brussels politician Pierre Kompany and world renowned immune scientists Antoni Ribas and Thierry Boon Falleur. The spotlight was also on the honorary doctors Koenraad Tinel en Simon Gronowski for their extraordinary friendship.
Partners were the Université libre de Bruxelles, Erasmus University College Brussels, Ghent University, the University of the Western Cape of South Africa, the Brussels Parliament, our university hospital UZ Brussel, the VUB Orchestra directed by Jurgen Wayenberg and guest conductor, composer, Dirk Brossé.
Here a short film of the group scene photographed at the closing of the ceremony.