Wenn Dazugehören ein Traum ist

On 15 September 2021, the Allgäuer Zeitung reported on a girl from Füssen who is repeatedly excluded because of a rare genetic condition. The piece describes a friendly child who simply wants to be part of things — and who is turned away again and again.

Her mother, Melanie Matl, responded by writing the children's book „Die Reise der besonderen Sterne“ (The journey of the special stars). It sets out to explain, to reduce prejudice, and to spare other children what her daughter experienced. The printing was funded by an online donation drive.

The full article sits behind the publisher's paywall. Headline, date and publication are freely visible — we reproduce nothing beyond that.

We hold the print version as a newspaper cutting. In print the piece ran under the headline „Träume vom Dazugehören“ (Dreams of belonging) and was filed under inclusion; the author is given as Markus Röck and the place as Füssen. Different headlines in print and online are common in newspapers. The child's name, age and diagnosis appeared in the newspaper — deliberately, they do not appear here.

The children's book came first; the au pair agency followed years later. That path is described under about us (in German); all publications are listed in our press overview (in German).