– Two Senate committees in the Kingdom of Belgium have voted and approved a proposal to introduce the right to grant euthanasia for terminally ill children. The proposed law, which still has to go to a vote of the full parliament, would make Belgium the first country in the world to remove the age limit for the procedure. Opponents question whether terminally ill children can reasonably decide to end their own lives. Some argue that it’s too much pressure to put on a child.

Elke Sleurs, Belgian Senate member for the N-VA party and President of the Committee for Social Affairs, told Euronews: “Some people say that it is a choice between euthanasia or palliative care, but that of course is not true. It is just a final option that a minor who is terminally ill will say, ‘I have too much pain now, there is no way that we can relieve the pain, I would like to die now.’ And that is the possibility that we have given, in certain circumstances.”

Francis Delpérée, Belgian politician and a member of the CDH, said: “We are talking about an underage child who is at the end of his or her life. The question we are asking is whether, at a time like this, we can burden him or her with another psychological issue: “Daddy, Mommy, you gave me life, I am asking you to take it away now.”

Belgium is already one of the world’s most liberal countries when it comes to euthanasia, making it available to adults who are not even terminally ill. The Netherlands allows the practice for children as young as 12, but only five cases have been recorded since 2002. In Europe, euthanasia is also legal in Luxembourg.

– In a joint statement by the religious leaders in Belgium, a little positive note sounds. They are calling for an unconditional respect for life. “We are made for life,” they say. “Putting an end to life is an act that not only kills an individual but also the social fabric of our society and families, who are in the grip of growing individualism.” The declaration opposing euthanasia was signed by the heads of various churches and faith communities in the Kingdom of Belgium:  Andre-Joseph Leonard, President of the Bishops’ Conference Belgium; Albert Guigui, Great Rabbi of Brussels; Robert Innes, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Anglican Church in Belgium; Geert Lorein, President of the Federal Synod of Protestant and Evangelical Churches in Belgium; Panteleimon Kontogiannis, Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and Semsettin Ugurlu, Chairman of the Executive of Muslims in Belgium.

– For other news: A group of alcoholics in Amsterdam that was causing a public nuisance has been put to work by cleaning the city’s streets. The group of men suffering from a chronic level of alcohol addiction usually find it impossible to hold a job but have been persuaded to work under an imaginative scheme that sees them paid in beer and cigarettes. For a day’s work each one is rewarded with half a packet of rolling tobacco, five cans of beer and 10 euros. To keep the workers motivated, the beers are handed out in three doses: two in the morning, two at midday and one in the afternoon, once the work is done.

The project, run by the Rainbow Foundation, is financed by the Dutch state and donations. Gerrie Holterman, head of the organization, told AFP: “This group of chronic alcoholics was causing trouble in Amsterdam’s Ooster Park: fights, noise and disagreeable comments to women. The aim is to keep them occupied, to get them doing something so they no longer cause trouble at the park” she explained.

Split into two groups of ten people, the alcoholics work three days a week. The average day starts at 9:00 in the morning when each one is offered two beers and a coffee before heading off to clean the nearby streets. For lunch, the team gets two additional beers as well as a warm meal before going out again for the afternoon shift. At around 15:30, the shift is over and each gets one last beer. 45-year old Frank admitted: “We need alcohol to function, that’s the disadvantage of chronic alcoholism. When we leave here, we go to the supermarket and transform the 10 euros we earned into beers.”

– Greetings to my UE High School teacher Ms. Gigi Kierulf, also to my SNT-Brugge professors Ms. Eva Van Tieghem, Ms. Sofie Warnier and Ms. Alelie Ayala of Canada.

Though I do not celebrate birthdays, I would like to thank everyone for the best wishes on my special day. I prefer to spend the day with my charities. But I do appreciate the lovely messages of love and care. Thank You So Much! I love you all.