Nobody without gifts

For five years of its existence, a project of Christmas presents for Ukrainian orphans and children in need, run by Caritas Czech republic, has belonged to the most favourite charitable projects in the country. This year, the interest of people has dropped, due to new customs rules at the Ukrainian border.The most needy. The situation of orphans and children in social difficulties is poignant in any country, including the most developed ones. But the situation in Ukraine is specific in several ways – first of all because their number is much higher than in any other European state, and the system of public care doesn’t have enough capacity to deal with it. “The destinies of these kids are often tragic. We met a little boy whose mother was a heavy alcoholic and he ran away from home because he couldn’t handle it. Before he was spotted by the authorities, he had lived among rubbish on streets for long months, hungry, without proper clothes, mistrusting everyone and everything”, describes Fr. Rostislav Strojvus, coordinator of development project of Caritas Olomouc in Ukraine, pointing at the fact that the destiny of this boy is just one of many in this society. This was the reason why Caritas Czech republic decided five years ago to help these children through a project “Gifts for Ukraine” involving the people of good will and appealing to their sense of solidarity.Gifts full of emotions. During the Advent season, the local office of Caritas Czech republic in Olomouc traditionally collects the information about concrete children from Ukraine – their clothes and shoe size, name, brief description of their situation and publishes it on its website. People can choose “their child”, buy all the necessary items, add something upon their own decision as a Christmas surprise, write a short message with a few warm words, wrap the gift up and carry it to the premises of Caritas in a sweet impatience, wondering whether the child would like it and write a few words back. It looks as a quite big deal of work and time to do all this, but on the contrary – this emotional “investment” is really what attracts the attention of the donors. An average value of one gift is 1000 CZK (40 EUR), but its real price is not about the money. It’s more about being generous to someone for whom this might be the first real present in life. Usually, it took only a couple of days from the moment of announcement until all the children were “booked” by those who decided to participate at this project of solidarity. This year, the situation is different. Due to changes in a customs procedure at the Ukrainian border, it’s not possible to transport packed goods, not even on the base of approved charitable activities. “We don’t want to risk that the gifts would end up blocked at the border for weeks and disappoint the children. That’s why we have decided to change our procedure”, explains Fr. Strojvus. Instead of buying and packing of their own gifts for orphans and children in need, the donors are invited to contribute financially with the amount of money equal to the value of the present and the items will be bought and packed in Ukraine, to avoid complications.Decrease of interest. Not surprisingly, the change of system has caused a decrease of interest. Out of 260 Ukrainian children on the list of Caritas, about 80 are still waiting for someone who would sponsor their Christmas gift. “We are sorry about this situation. We understand that the emotional element which was so important in this project, is missing now and giving money is not as satisfying as being able to give a bit of ourselves through personal involvement, but we still hope that no child in need will be left without presents. That’s why we have prolonged the project and those who are interested in it can contribute until the end of this year”, says Fr. Strojvus, expressing belief that in spite of unpleasant changes, the joy of children will be immense and their self-esteem will grow considering the fact that there are people who care.Spark of hope for improvement. The situation regarding changes in the customs process at Ukrainian border has affected not only the Caritas project of solidarity but has brought difficulties and complication also to other international humanitarian organizations working in Ukraine. Anyhow, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, as the promise has been recently given by the authorities in charge that the next year the rules will be revised and all the projects will have a chance to continue in their original well-established way. For now, their coordinators hope that the sense of solidarity will be demonstrated despite the obstacles. The list of orphans and children in need is available on the website www.darky.jsemvidet.eu.