Children who have never even seen hot water

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Children who have never even seen hot water
Children who have never even seen hot water
Anonim

Before Christmas last year, my girlfriend called me asking if I wanted to buy a present for an eight- or ten-year-old girl. A foundation organizes a so-called winter camp, in the framework of which, between Christmas and New Year's Eve, fifteen young children living in extreme poverty are brought to Budapest for the winter for a few days: they try to give them a little Christmas atmosphere for those who do not have this at home.

If enough givers gather, they will also receive a gift. I don't know what a very poor little girl from Borsod can be happy about, in the end I bought cute notebooks, colored pencils and a super pen holder in addition to a plush rabbit, a warm hat and some chocolate.

I found out about the children that, with one or two exceptions, they were starving, and even now they couldn't eat properly, only a few bites at a time, because their stomachs aren't so used to it. One of the biggest stars in the camp was the bathtub, most of the children didn't even know the concept of hot water flowing from a pipe, here they made a bathtub full of bubble bath for them, it was hard to get them out of it.

The Santa Claus party is a great success every year
The Santa Claus party is a great success every year

When my friend wanted to caress the shoulder of one of the little girls, she pulled away in fear because she was being hit so much. The camp went very well, the children were obviously very happy with the gifts, everyone was satisfied with their package; and it turned out that the foundation helps children in need in many other ways besides winter camping.

I am talking to Ákos Tóth, head of the Age of Hope Child Protection Foundation, about the past year, floods, parties, cooperation, and their Christmas plans this year.

Besides the winter camp, did you have any other Christmas programs last year?

Yes, in fact, quite large-scale: on December 6, 2012, together with the ship A38, we organized a Santa Claus celebration for 140 children, where the Jókai Theater of Békéscsaba, the fairy-tale orchestra of Eszterlánc and the ball jugglers of Jamnastyx performed for free. For this program, we also organized a NIGHT OF HOPE charity party on the ship, where Ladánybene27 and the country's best DJs performed for free. This was the largest event in the history of our foundation.

Who did you support, who did you bring gifts to?

As part of our winter campaign last year, we were able to bring Christmas gifts to almost 600 children living in child protection institutions or poor families. In addition to the funds obtained from the SOSE foundation, we supported institutions and villages with a lack of funds during the winter months (Edelényi Foundation School, Bódvalenke, Péceli Family Helper and Child Welfare Service) with HUF 4.6 million worth of basic food, cleaning and sanitizing agents. This brings our long-planned CRISIS FOOD PROGRAM to life.

Then immediately, as soon as we could sit back a little, the news came that an orphanage in Somogy had burned down and most of the winter clothes of the children living there had been lost… We didn't really know what to do, because we had emptied our warehouses before the Christmas tour in the framework of Finally, we launched a quick one and a half day campaign on our Facebook page. The result of this was a minibus filled to the brim with clothes, which rolled into the yard of the Somogyvár orphanage late on December 25.

Then you can finally sit back?

Yes, well, partially, for a short time. In March, I was just going home to Sopron for a few days' rest, when I heard about the "snow situation" on the news - after a few phone calls, using the power of social media and the local media again, we were on our way to Győr with hundreds of kg of sandwiches, drinks, blankets, the Sopron Special Rescuers, and local friends towards. At the same time, our volunteers from Budapest set off with four well-packed off-road vehicles. They worked around Tatabánya and Komárom. In addition to directly helping and rescuing motorists trapped in the snow, we supported the "sandwich factories" operating in the area with raw materials, and also transported the finished sandwiches and volunteer snow workers near the highway. We saw it, we felt it, we were part of the unprecedented collaboration.

Age of hope team at the time of the flood
Age of hope team at the time of the flood

In our foundation's charter, it is also stated that we help in disaster situations, as thanks to our network we can be very efficient and fast. We couldn't watch the Danube flood situation idly either, we followed the flood from Győr to Szigetmonostor with hundreds of kg of food, special vehicles, water rescues, boats, aggregators, and machinery. Fifteen AGE OF HOPE volunteers worked these days. We delivered millions of forints worth of cleaning products and food to the affected villages day and night.

You mentioned that you also work with the help of volunteers. Where do they come from, how do they get in touch with you, what can be entrusted to them?

Everyone does their work here voluntarily, they are mainly university students, beginning teachers, social specialists and experienced child protection workers. As part of the fifty-hour school volunteering, many high school students applied to us both in Budapest and in the countryside. They can help in our 2013 winter campaign, organize a collection in their schools and come with us on our big Christmas tour. A French and a Romanian girl joined PHIREN AMENCA's foreign exchange volunteer program and will work with us throughout the year. Later, we will also send some of our best abroad.

What do you do the rest of the year when there is no Christmas or disaster?

We organize numerous programs throughout the year. In the spring, we exchanged 10 students from the Edelényi Foundation School with 10 children attending Burratino School in Budapest. In May, together with the Péceli Family Support and Child Welfare Service, we managed to organize a wonderful children's day for hundreds of children in Péceli. At the same time, our group in Sopron, led by Péter Rigó, organized a children's day party for forty children with the support of the Múzeum Café. The "Lords of Country Roads" motorcyclists came here, as well as to our summer camps, to the great delight of the children.

Péter organized so that twenty guys living in an orphanage could attend training sessions free of charge throughout the year. Our base in Western Hungary has become so strong that approx. we send a van every month for material donations, and several stores collect continuously throughout the year.

A total of 150 children attended our summer camps. In these, in addition to qualified teachers, social and child protection specialists, enthusiastic, experienced volunteers take care of the participating children. With the help of friends and supporters, we try to cut our costs, the programs are free for children

We were able to support the start of school for 200 children as part of our September school and stationery collection campaign. In addition, this year the cooperation with the Magyar Élélmiszerbank Egyesület was born, within the framework of which we can first distribute durable food to 36 families of the Ócsai Social Housing Park (continually expanding) for six months, on a monthly basis. We can also support the residents with clothes and toys.

Where does your income come from?

From donations, but our financial support is very rhapsodic, it is a problem to buy a winter tire, the cost of a service for our only asset: our minibus. We have no office, no warehouses, no employees. Throughout the year, we organized several charity parties (NIGHT OF HOPE) from Sopron to Debrecen. We will try to do our work from the amounts received here.

I often feel alone, there is so much to do, but when there is a situation, thanks to my friends, it is as if I have a hundred hands growing at the same time. Réka Sándorfi, who primarily deals with applications and administration, takes a lot of the burden off my shoulders. I feel immeasurable pride and happiness that we can be so effective with almost zero infrastructure. In addition to our foundation activities, we also spend most of our free time together, for example, we "relax" at the VOLT festival between two summer camps.

Did you organize the same winter camp as last year?

This year we also announced a nationwide campaign in winter, which will last until December 19. The goal is once again to make the Christmas of 600 children a little richer and more beautiful. Our Christmas tour lasts from December 19-21, our first trip leads to the temporary homes of families, from there we go to Berettyóújfalu and Told, to the Christmas celebration of the IGAZGYONGY Foundation led by Nóra L. Ritók.

The Christmas tour has already started this year
The Christmas tour has already started this year

With the involvement of the Edelény Foundation School, we also participate in the celebrations of the primary schools in Fái and Fulókércs. And yes, of course there will also be a camp, 15 TRUE PEARL children will come to Budapest this year for our winter camp.

What do you need this year? What should someone do if they want to support you, send money, volunteer, or just want to know more about you?

It's worth following us on Facebook, here on our page, as well as on the official website, we regularly provide news about current projects and programs. As part of our winter campaign, we are currently looking for donations of toys, baby care products, toilet and cleaning products, stationery and school supplies, durable foods, kitchen utensils, sweets, and children's clothes, which can be dropped off at our collection points.

We also need financial support, as we finance the winter camp, buy gas for the minibus, and organize additional children's programs. If you want to support us, you can do so on our account number, which can also be found here.

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