Children at Barovlyani Cancer Hospital

Teenagers at the hospital

The Fantastic Christmas Outing

Everyone would agree that Christmas time is very special for all of us, especially when you can make it special for those who due to various reasons might not be feeling well or happy enough in the anticipation of Christmas holidays.

The event on December, 28th, 2006 was particularly memorable for children from the Children's Oncology and Haematology Hospital at Barovlyani. The Association "Children in Trouble" with the help of its partners arranged an outing to the Circus for teenagers, undergoing treatment from cancer, little children and their mothers (30 altogether) to see the fantastic Christmas show which all the kids were looking forward to. Funny clowns, breathtaking gymnasts and acrobats tumbling in the air, the fascinating trio of a Bear, a Rooster and a little Poodle dancing together – all of this made the children, who sometimes struggle to force a smile, burst into laughing and brought a lot of joy into their lives.

Vlad Tumanovski (6), suffering from sarcoma, decided to become a clown after having seen the hilarious trick of a 4-year-clown with joyful and very clever dogs helping him jolly the audience. "I also want to make all children smile!"- Vlad exclaimed. Anastasia Zavidova (8), suffering from leukemia, said with her eyes sparkling: "I was fascinated when at the end of the show a Father Frost and Fairy Frost turned up and took the Christmas tree out of the magic box. I thought I had got into a real Christmas fairy tale".

This event could only have happened thanks to the kind support of our partners' and friends' from the UK – Chernobyl Children's Project and its coordinator Linda Walker, to Henry and Anne Leigh from Ray of Hope, to Glenn Turrington, David Brupbacher and Ray Walker from Brentwood Link of Chernobyl Children Life Line, to Steve Burrows and Keith Van Assen from Richard Tyrrell Fund who have donated money for the numerous outings for the children suffering from severe oncological diseases.

The children, their parents, doctors and psychologists from the oncology hospital express their deepest gratitude to the people who helped arrange such a fantastic visit to the Circus and they believe that the boost of positive emotions the children got there will contribute to their recovery from cancer.

Christmas presents at the "Old New Year" 

The Christmas and New Year 2007 celebration was slightly longer for children undergoing the treatment from cancer at the Republican Centre for Children Oncology and Haematology than for everyone else, when the Grandfather Frost and Fairy Frost from association "Children in Trouble" came to visit the children on January 14th.

In fact, according to the Julian's Orthodox Calendar, the guide for religious holidays in Belarus, January 14th is known as the "Old New Year" day. So it was a very pleasant surprise for 170 children in the hospital to whisper their cherished wishes to the Grandfather Frost and to get presents from the Fairy Frost. Along with play stations, computer games and Barbie dolls, the most common wish the kids asked for was a good health and soonish recovery from the disease.

The presents and fruit for the children were arranged with the help of Chernobyl Children's Project (UK) who kindly provided financial support, as well as  toys, which were delivered by the convoy in December, headed by the Project's aid coordinator Mike Allison.

There were a lot of happy smiles in the hospital that day and let us hope that the children's wishes come true.                                                    

 Irina Zuyonak