Stella Deetjen

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Tara Stella Deetjen (* 1970 in Frankfurt am Main ) is a German development worker .

Life

Stella Deetjen did her Abitur at the Kaiserin-Friedrich-Gymnasium in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe . After studying acting, she went on a backpacker tour of India for several months in the early 1990s. In the city of Benares she was confronted with lepers and decided to stay there and help. In the course of time, she built a street clinic, three children's homes, a day care center and 13 non-formal schools in the slums of Benares - first together with volunteers, later with the help of local Indian partner organizations. In 1996 the non-profit association Back to Life was founded. As further activities, four birth houses and several schools have now been built in the Mugu district of Nepal . Back to Life also supports several schools in the Nepalese Chitwan district. There are also social, agricultural and medical aid projects in both areas. According to the association, the programs now reach up to 45,000 people in Nepal and India, of which around 7,700 are students. Back to Life always calls the sustainable concept “help for self-help”.

In 2016 Stella Deetjen published a book about her time in India and the genesis of Back to Life with the title “Untouchable - My life among the beggars in Benares”.

Public appearance

Stella Deetjen uses the media to draw attention to her projects in need of donations. For this, she had appearances on talk shows (including Beckmann , Tietjen and Hirschhausen , Markus Lanz , NDR talk show , Planet Wissen, Kölner Treff, Menschen Hautnah, DAS !, 3 to 9 ), on the radio (e.g. on hr3 - Bärbel Schäfer Live , WDR 5 - curiosity is enough ), as well as at the Vienna Opera Ball 2007. Her appearance is striking, she wears blonde dreadlocks and often dresses in Indian saris . In addition, Stella Deetjen regularly gives lectures about the project work of the association Back to Life at Rotary and Lions clubs , foundations, schools and other events.

Prizes and awards

  • 2006: World Hope Awards
  • 2006: Elisabeth Norgall Prize
  • 2007: Golden picture of the woman
  • 2007: Women's Run Award
  • 2015: Holzisch Latern
  • 2015: Nomad of the year
  • 2018: Golden Lot
  • 2019: Environmental Prize Trophée de femmes national
  • 2019: Grand Prix International Trophée de femmes

Transparency from Back to Life eV

In 2010, Stefan Loipfinger criticized on his website charitywatch.de (work stopped in 2012) that the association had not provided sufficient information about the use of the donations in the past. Since 2009 the association has been providing information on the use of the donations received annually by publishing a financial report and an activity report (since 1997). The association has joined the “Transparent Civil Society Initiative” and enables all relevant information to be viewed on its homepage.

Newspaper articles (selection)

  • Voice of the outcasts - Frankfurter Allgemeine from March 9, 2006.
  • Star of the Forgotten - Frankfurter Allgemeine from November 26, 2010.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Portrait: Stella Deetjen - star in Benares at faz.net
  2. ↑ Radio Bremen : 3nach9 , broadcast on December 21, 2018 , accessed on December 27, 2018
  3. ↑ vdv-online.de: award winners
  4. ↑ Back to Life: Awards
  5. ↑ Back to Life: Awards
  6. ↑ CharityWatch.de stops work. Fundraiser Magazine, archived from the original on March 1, 2012 ; Retrieved January 4, 2013 .
  7. ↑ Back to Life eV at charitywatch.de
  8. ^ Back to Life eV Homepage of the association
personal data
SURNAME Deetjen, Stella
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Deetjen, Tara Stella (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German development worker
DATE OF BIRTH 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main