I have a dream
I have a dream: a dream of a better world. The driving force behind it is a question I constantly ask myself—how can I make this planet a little better in the short time I have left?
One could list countless examples of why change is necessary or why so many things are going wrong. But I’ve chosen not to single out one problem as the root cause. There are too many interconnected issues to tackle individually, and I believe everyone can find their own reasons to contribute to positive change.
Part of my dream is to build a community of people who share a vision for helping those less fortunate. People who want to shape this vision and invest their time in it—because I can’t do this alone.
Basically, the idea came to me in connection with two simple questions that I asked myself during one of the hardest times of my life: ‘What is the worst thing that could happen to me in life?’ and ‘Which profession in this world do I have the greatest respect for?’ My thoughts always centre on my children and the idea of what would happen if something were to happen to them? As a father of three children, it is precisely this fear that drives my dream.
I always remember a report about the everyday life of people in a hospice for children.I admire those people, those who accompany children and young people suffering from an incurable disease in an advanced stage together with their parents, siblings and relatives until they die. For parents, there is nothing worse than the thought of losing their own child to an illness before they die. And what must it be like for the people who work in such an environment every day and go home in the evening to get on with their own lives.
I ask myself how we can best help the affected children and their relatives in this situation. How can you make a child's last time on this planet as beautiful and pleasant as possible?
As I no longer have the imagination of a child at the age of 45, I thought it would make sense to consult my daughters' imagination and advice. Unlike adults, children don't know the limits set by life and the necessary capital requirements. I asked my daughter the simple question: ‘If you know that you have to die soon and there is a place that fulfills all your wishes and is also the place where you will die.’ ‘What would that place look like?’.
My daughter was so enthusiastic that she started to write a book on the subject entitled ‘Children's Hospice Book - With a big heart for you’ and the result surprised me, because in the end it became a book with all the wishes that a child can imagine:
This book has the following contents:
- Playrooms with different themes such as Lego, Playmobil and Barbie
- Creative rooms for painting, modelling, handicrafts
- A gym with all kinds of gymnastics equipment (my daughter is a member of a gymnastics club)
- Canteen open 24/7 for the children and all family members with food to order.
- Endless sweets and snacks with vending machines on every corner.
- One or more helicopters that can fly the children and family members to wherever they want to go.
- Indoor and outdoor playgrounds.
When asked how she imagines the building and the entrance to the hospice when you enter it for the first time, she described it as a huge aquarium that surrounds you as a tunnel so that the children and relatives can feel at ease and relax as soon as they enter the building. And my daughter is right. Here is a very good description of the effect aquariums have on people:
‘Their blood pressure dropped and their heart rate also decreased. The more fish swam in the aquariums, the longer the visitors watched the colourful hustle and bustle. The more time they spent in front of the aquariums, the better they felt. Their well-being definitely increased.’ source
This idea led to the plan to design the entire hospice as an aquarium with different water worlds and rooms for the children and relatives with a view of the various aquariums.
The foundation stone of the dream was laid and I couldn't get the idea out of my head. On the contrary, this dream has literally kept me going, as I myself struggle with depression in my private life. Not giving up and holding on to this life despite private strokes of fate, with the belief that I could realise this dream.
Over time, more and more ideas have been added to my dream to help those with more challenges in our society and it has now developed into a large project. In addition to the children's hospice, there should also be a children's home, a home for the disabled, a workshop for the disabled, a home for the elderly and a home for the homeless near the hospice. in the centre of all the buildings there should be a large canteen/cafeteria where everyone can meet at mealtimes and also independently of this.
The plan
I am lucky enough to have grown up on this planet in one of the countries that belong to the so-called first world. Compared to a very large part of the population, I was able to enjoy a very high standard of living. I was also lucky enough to have been able to turn my IT hobby into my profession and a working day for me is more fun than work. Working in IT, every day is different and offers endless opportunities to develop solutions in a creative and free way. The challenges are new every day and have already given me a few sleepless nights trying to solve problems in my head overnight. It is not uncommon for the best ideas and solutions to come to me after a short sleep. I have often had the experience of only being able to solve a problem after several attempts. Of course, the excitement was huge as soon as I was able to solve the problem using creative approaches.
And it is precisely with this same approach that I have decided to answer the core problem or the core question: ‘How can I realise this vision?’. Essentially, I have broken the problem down into the following subtasks, which must be tackled individually.
A plan is just a plan and it should be as flexible as possible to adapt to changing daily requirements. From my point of view, the following rough plan emerges:
- Creation of a homepage with details of the dream.
- Creation of a registered association.
- Creation of an online shop for merchandising.
- The vision compiled as a catalogue of requirements.
- Expansion of the homepage with visual representation of the dream.
- Creation of a rough architectural and construction plan - including publication on the homepage.
- Creation of a refined architecture and construction plan - including publication on the homepage.
- Draw up an operating plan and staffing requirements - including publication on the website.
- Cost breakdown - including publication on the homepage.
- Plot of land
- Construction of the building or buildings
- Interior fittings
- Personnel costs and running costs
- Find property/location.
- Securing finance.
- Planning permission and construction phase.
- Job advertisement and recruitment.
- Opening.
Logo and Name
Together with my daughter, we have already created a logo that best represents this dream, consisting of two hummingbirds. The hummingbird is the superhero of the bird world. Hummingbirds flap their wings about 80 times per second. In mating flight, they even reach 200 beats per second.The logo features two hummingbirds—one colorful, one black—flying in a heart-shaped pattern. .
The name Kune comes from the planned language Esperanto. The idea of Esperanto was to realise a language in the world that each of us should speak alongside our mother tongue. I have always been enthusiastic about this idea, as I believe that many of the world's problems could be solved or avoided with a standardised language. The word Kune means together in Esperanto and shows that my dream can only be realised together.
The realization
As a first step, I wanted to be financially independent so that I could fully focus on this dream. My daughter always said that the project would cost a lot and that I would have to be a millionaire to realise it. You're not wrong, of course, and so far that's also the reason why I haven't been able to focus 100% on it.
So the question is how to become independent as a first step in order to fully focus on this dream. A key building block for me is the company I currently work for. As an employee, I have shares in the company and will participate in its success accordingly. There is a good chance that this plan will work out.
But I don't want to have to wait until then and put all my eggs in one basket. After all, I'm already 45 years old. That's why I've decided to start now in my private time and put my dream online so that everyone can see it and share it in order to reach as many people as possible.
The association
The first step will be to set up a registered association in which anyone worldwide who wants to help me realise this dream can become a member. As soon as we have enough members, we will set up the association and start the project as described in the plan and work our way towards the goal step by step. Let's go!
How can I take part?
Everyone is welcome! Do you have ideas about the dream or would you like to get involved? Just get in touch with me at andreas@kune.koeln. I will create a list of names, e-mail addresses and private addresses of people who would like to become members of the Kune association. Let’s turn this dream into reality—together.
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