Маленькие, но сильные и добрые сердца на англ. яз

Strong little heroes with kind hearts
 
Have you ever looked into their eyes? Have you ever felt what they feel? Have you ever heard how their hearts are beating? I am pretty sure that the vast majority of us would probably answer "No" to all of these questions and we would never ‘be in their shoes’. Who are they? They are strong little heroes – boys and girls fighting cancer disease.

Nowadays we can not isolate ourselves from this very special, unpredictable and rather mysterious disease of the twenty–first century. The reality is that the word "cancer" is no more tied to the Zodiac but is more likely to be recognized as a serious threat posed to every one of us.

Being sensitive and open–hearted to people’s happiness and pain X company could not ignore this by far the most acute problem of the modern world. The study year begins September 1st all over Russia, and kids celebrate the s.c. "Day of Knowledge". Knowing that, a group of N.N.–based X company volunteers, together with some non–profits and a chocolate vendor company organized an unusual day for the children suffering from cancer. The Lesson of Open Hearts became a pleasant and fascinating surprise for 37 boys, girls and their families staying at oncological department at the N.N. cardio hospital.

For me it was not actually a doubtful question whether or not to participate in the event. My soul and inner voice told me that it was a must for me to go there and share my feelings, emotions and warmth with the children and their families.

Frankly speaking, my heart started pounding and legs turned into jelly when we came into the hall where we were supposed to hold our event. I believe, every member of our volunteer team was ready to face awkward silence and very difficult atmosphere there but the small brave and kind fighters for their chances to survive welcomed us with open arms and wondering eyes. Sure, being skinny, bold and as white as paper these boys and girls did not look like ordinary children playing somewhere in our neighborhood and taking everything light–heartedly. They have experienced already too much in their lives. If you look into their eyes or you will see real wisdom, love and strength which help them to get over difficulties and become closer to win over cancer every single day of their lives.

I know what it is like when you see that every new day brings a new challenge for the closest person. The only thing we can do to make this challenge manageable is to be near, share all our positive emotions and give sufficient proof of interesting, overwhelming and incredible life for our dearest and nearest who have become the cancer captives. We have to do it every moment and every day by day till the magic day when the disease is over.

Being on the same wavelength with the families in the hospital I was especially happy that parents were really encouraged by our event because their love, faith and care are is best help and medicine for their children.

It was a great pleasure for us to make the days of children brighter and funnier. X company employees presented the hospital with 25 plastic bags full of toys, constructors, puzzles, books and a wide range of school devices to the children. All this was collected by X company N.N. employees who preferred to stay anonymous.

Furthermore, you can’t deny the fact that the first and foremost present that we can ever get and give is our love, kindness, care and attention. Keeping up with this idea of the best presents we organized six educational and entertaining playgrounds for boys and girls of different age. While the smallest were painting with brush (supervized by TZ) and assembling and playing a robotics constructor (supervized by EK), their elder friends were creating their pictures using paint programs on the laptop (EF and AZ). The most mature children had an opportunity to make a presentation about themselves using presentation software and digital photo cameras (OZ and OM). An electronic microscope workshop led by VZ was available for everyone eager to learn something new. A funny song of friends from a famous cartoon movie (Bremen Musicians) became a real hit – IB played the synthesizer for kids. Even after perfomance children and grown–ups continued to sing it all together. The lesson ended up with a natural science movie playback (VZ and EZ).

Sparkling eyes and sincere smiles were the best feedback for us. We helped the children to switch off their pain and problems and switch on sunny and warm energy.

We called our event The Lesson of Open Hearts but we were not actually the only teachers for these brave boys and girls. On the contrary, I would say that we were their students. They taught us love, wisdom, strength and iron will to live.

If you are reading this line now you should also feel involved into this problem. Thank you for your open hearts! Doing something good for someone who needs it is not a complicated task but very natural and important help. I personally believe that we can make the world better and happier only being sympathetic and being together. Let’s do the good things more often! One day our kind deeds, thoughts and wishes will come back to us.


September 2nd, 2007