No
matter how old we are, where we are from and what we do, we
all want to believe in Santa Claus and we all wait for him to
visit. The most faithful believers are the children. As we celebrate
the Christmas holiday, the feeling of happiness grows stronger
than normal, but so does the feelings of loneliness and disappointment
for less privileged members of society. When you are alone,
and do not have your family and friends with you, it is very
hard to watch everyone else having a good time.
This holiday season, the Belarus Red Cross Youth volunteers
decided to create a miracle for abandoned, sick and disadvantaged
children. The activity Tree of wishes, also called New Year
for everyone was organized in six cities in the country: Baranovichi,
Brest, Grodno, Kamenets, Lida and Mogilev.
Putting wishes on the tree
The idea for the programme was born during the sub-regional
Youth Forum held in Kiev in November 2006, with 55 participants
from Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Latvia and Turkmenistan. Here,
the Belarusian volunteers decided to bring the Christmas spirit
to vulnerable children.
To achieve this goal, they organized a campaign in the shopping
centres before the holiday. Christmas trees with pictures of
disadvantaged children such as orphans, children with physical
disabilities, cancer patients and children from families in
need were put up in the centres. A child’s Christmas wish was
written on each picture.
Volunteers dressed in Red Cross t-shirts were attracting the
attention of shoppers by distributing fliers and explaining
the goals of the campaign, thus encouraging shoppers to buy
presents for the children or make a donation. Collection bags
for presents and tins for cash contributions were placed nearby,
so that everyone had a chance to make a child’s wish come true.
“We were surprised by how modest the kids’ wishes were,” says
Vladimir, a Baranovichi Red Cross Branch youth volunteer.
“They asked Santa for sweets, oranges, and books. But more importantly,
every child wanted to meet Santa,” he adds. Therefore, after
collecting the presents, the volunteers decided to not just
send them to the children, but to make a real miracle happen.
Red Cross Santa
Volunteers dressed up as Santa Claus went to the hospitals and
orphanages to meet the children and to hand out the presents.
They also prepared songs and poetry readings to entertain the
children. Even though this was the first time the volunteers
played Santa, the children really believed that it was Santa
who came to visit them. The volunteers and children sang together,
danced around the Christmas tree and played games. Alexander
Pirojkov, a volunteer from Brest, shared his impressions after
visiting the children in Brest ontological hospital:
“All the boys and girls were so happy and amazed when they saw
us entering the hospital. They all started to shout: “The Santa
Clauses are coming!” And after seeing these small patients,
I can say that it was not the presents that made them the most
happy, but that their dreams to meet Santa came true”.
Even though the primary target of the activity was to help most
vulnerable children, the campaign also helped to improve the
image of the Red Cross in Belarus, where the public strongly
associates the Red Cross Society with medical services only.
Campaigns like this one therefore have multiple functions: helping
the vulnerable, fundraising and increasing public awareness
about the Red Cross work.
Increasing the trust
The volunteers also noted that it was quite challenging to change
the suspicions of many Belarusians, who are not used to fundraising
and donating for the most vulnerable. “When the shoppers saw
us and the photos on the Christmas trees, they were very curious
about what we are doing. We were happy to explain that we were
Red Cross volunteers collecting money and gifts for vulnerable
children. Almost everyone felt like helping out, but fear and
doubt that money and gifts would not actually reach the children
stopped a few from donating”, explains Alexander Pirojkov.
However, despite some difficulties 2,538 presents (dolls, toys,
books, balls etc) and more than 250 kg of sweets were collected
with a total value of at least 6,100 CHF, and 1,050 CHF were
fundraised. This Christmas, the Belarus Red Cross volunteers
created a holiday miracle for 878 vulnerable children, aged
from 6 moths to 16 years. Who knows, when these children grow
up they might wish to make a miracle come true for someone else.
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| The youth volunteers were credible Santa Clauses for the children, who were glad to get presents but more happy to meet Santa. |
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| These children from Mogilev were some of the 878 children who received a visit and presents from the Belarus Red Cross Youth Santa Claus this holiday. |
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