Newsletter, December 2008

Dear friends,

In the New Year 2009 we wish you good health, success in your work and happiness to your families, pleasant surprises and interesting meetings!

The last months of the past year were not that easy for us, but with your help we managed to fulfill the treasured dreams of many patients and to obtain remarkable gifts for all the children. Someone received a long-awaited toy; the others met their favorite fairy-tale characters or began a journey.

Already on the 10th of December, a train of festivities began for our children.

As well as in the past year, we were invited to a show in the entertainment center "Olympia". The children enjoyed everything: an interesting performance and tasty refreshments, gifts and special prizes for carnival costumes.

Another remarkable event was the participation of our children in the opening of New Year's illumination on Nevsky Prospect, the main street of St. Petersburg. The children congratulated townspeople on the coming New Year and switched on the festive lights of the State Duma building with their own hands.

It’s very sad to meet the New Year in a hospital. Therefore, we arranged a New Year’s celebration for the children being treated in the Scientific Research Institute of Oncology directly in their department. The children were visited by artists, received many gifts, and participated in cheerful competitions. There was much joyful laughter and many happy faces.

On 25th of December, a New Year's Celebration for all the patients of Children's Hospice was arranged in the Baltic House. Characters of a known Russian cartoon serial «Smeshariki» met the children at the entrance and made their heads turn with a cheerful circle dance. The show went on with a performance on the stage. Conjurers, acrobats and a dancer performed their art before children and at the end Grandfather Frost and Snow Maiden appeared. They congratulated the children upon the New Year and invited those of them onto the stage who had prepared a New Year's rhyme or a song. The evening ended with a traditional New Year's pie, tea drinking and friendly get-togethers.

There are many talented children among the patients of Children's Hospice; therefore we always try to participate in various city competitions. On 27th of December, the awards for the best drawings presented at the city competition “What makes me joyful?” took place. Our children prepared remarkable drawings and won first prizes.

Beside the New Year's festivities the children attended a performance in Big Puppet Theatre. This theatre is the first theatre in our city equipped with a special lift for people using wheel-chairs. After the performance many parents gave high praise to the lift and expressed the hope that such devices will appear in other theatres and museums as well.

The excursion to the Botanical gardens, where the blossoming southern trees were shown to the children and where they were allowed to pick ripened fruits from a tangerine-tree, also left unforgettable impressions.

We have already told you about the cartoon animation lessons organized by our volunteers. During these lessons our children not only think up a story but they also have the possibility to convert it into a cartoon.

Senior children and teenagers can learn the ABC’s and even the secrets of photography. On the walls of the children's department of Scientific Research Institute of Oncology there is a whole exhibition of "author's photos”. One of the cartoon films was shown at the festival "Multivision" and won approval from spectators.

We told you about the joyful efforts which filled Children's Hospice life in December. Our cordial thanks to everyone who helped us throughout this year and especially to those people, who have been supporting us for a longer time. Thanks to your great efforts every young patient of Children's Hospice experienced a real feast this year and his life was filled with magic and joy.

We are happy that we can share our small successes and achievements with you and to tell you about the typical situations which face our employees on a daily basis. We hope that what you have read touches both your heart and your soul. Please share this joy with your friends and pass this newsletter on to some of them. If any questions arise, don’t hesitate to contact us. We are always happy to hear from you.

Yours faithfully,

Fr. Alexander Tkachenko, Children’s Hospice, December 2008.
Detski Hospis/Children’s Hospice