IX Детский культурно-спортивный фестиваль "Надежда"

Rostov-on-Don: We must not lose HOPE!

Letter of thanks from the Sorokins adoptive family (Family orphanage)

http://hopeww.ru/rostov_blag.html

"HOPE is my compass on the earth ..." - are the words of a famous song. Compass is known to be a device to help get geographical bearing. In every person's life there are moments when he or she nees such an orientator. It is especially important for children and adolescents to find their compass, because their entire future live will depend on this.

On May 21, 2011 in the “Druzhba” children's summer camp the IX sport and cultural festival took place, the one which gave hope to children and adults from different social groups.

HOPE Festival is the only children’s sport and cultural event, held in Rostov region, which joins a large number of orphans, handicapped children and volunteers. This significant event annually brings together state and public organizations, volunteers and representatives of socially responsible business for the benefit of children in difficult life situations.

The main goal of the Festival is to give care, warmth and joy to orphans and handicapped children, to give and strengthen the hope that they are not alone, that their future will definitely be bright.

On that day the sun gave light, summer-bright colors, and hospitable gates of “Druzhba” opened for more than 100 children and more than 50 volunteers. Among them 82 children were orphans taken into foster families in Krasny village and Rassvet village, Aksay district, Aksay town and Rostov on Don city, and inmates-disabled children of the Children’s house of Gorny village, Krasnosulinsk district, 40 people were the volunteers of Hope Worldwide, 10 people were the volunteers of All-Russian Society of the Voluntary Fire society of Aksay department and the volunteers of Leroy Merlin Rostov-Mega company and Avangard autocentre- the official dealer of Opel and Chevrolet in Rostov-on-Don.

After welcoming the participants of the Festival, children were divided into 8 mixed teams (to prevent unhealthy competition) named "Hedgehogs", "Golden Orange", "Friendship", "Bearded" "Friendship Forever", "Victory," "SpongeBobs", "Sports Team" and with the help of coordinators-volunteers they enthusiastically followed the route of festival grounds: Merry Start, state inspection of traffic safety “Safety island” with a zebra, VDPO "Fireproof," “Football".

In the midst of the holiday the camp was overfilled with positive emotions. Children were running, shouting, laughing and bursting balloons, swaying on swings, thinking, communicating with each other, playing football, doing creative work. And adults ... were doing the same! You could feel the spirit of struggle and the team spirit , the joy of victory and the sadness when everything finished. After all, every year for the children the festival is a long-awaited miracle. And small children had an especially strong belief that next year, when they grow up, at the Festival they would be able to use a fire extinguisher to fight the fire, to score, to play " the Running Chapaev", to demonstrate skills in Wushu and rap, to dance a ballroom dance, to find new and faithful friends. Because the next festival in year 2012 will be the Tenth Anniversary of the HOPE Moscow Children's Sports Festival.

Opinions of participants of the festival:

Tatyana Sorokina, a foster mother (permanent participants in the Rostov Festival, in year 2005 along with the children from the Nedotyukins foster family they participated in Moscow Children's Sports Festival.

"We express our deep and sincere gratitude to the volunteers with whom we have been since 2002. Your holidays help us live; as soon as the door closes we are waiting again for our HOPE to come …"

Irina Nedotyukova, a foster mother (participated in the HOPE Moscow Festival in 2005, and has always participated in Rostov festivals):

"We liked communication, participation and attention of both volunteers and sponsors of the festival.

Opinions of children about the Festival: all children liked it very much, after the event they were discussing it for a whole week. The boys liked football and the fact that there were people to play football with. They were impressed by the presentations of firefighters who showed them how to fight the fire, they liked friendly volunteers. They liked competitions connected with the fire-extinguishing, many friends, gained new friends, the fun of jumping in bags and throwing darts”.

Anna Kulishkina, a foster mother (participated the first time):

"We liked to watch the children participate in contests, the holiday was very well organized, children of all ages were interested and involved in games and competitions, we especially loved the "fire fighting" show. Sasha and Sergei came out and participated in extinguishing the fire.

In our house there are still talks about the festival, and our 9 year old Kirill said that next year he would grow older and would also fight a fire with a fire extinguisher.

Our children liked the contests with darts, football, everyone liked to dance with the Zebra and to participate in the Traffic Safety Rules Quiz.

And we finished the food we got at the festival at home in the evening".

Svetlana Ievleva, a foster mother (repeated participants):

"I liked the management and work of the initiative group of volunteers of Charitable fund HOPE worldwide very, very much, as well as warm and friendly relations between the participants. We want to participate again.

We express special thanks to the initiative group of volunteers of Charitable fund HOPE worldwide, Rostov-on-Don”.


The volunteers took each smile of each child as their gratitude. The most precious were the smiles on the saddest faces. Maybe at this moment the children saw a light of hope that may change their lives. For each volunteer this event is also significant. They acquire something important by helping others, reveal the qualities of mutual help and compassion coming closer to understanding the most important values in life, discover new talents and develop them in the name of good.

Opinions of the volunteers:

Tamara Dudnik from Leroy Merlin: "The festival was very well planned. I liked that the children were under supervision. There was no need to worry about my six-year-old nephew. The atmosphere was positive! Children actively participated in competitions and games. I would like to participate in such festivals more often."

Victoria Vdovchenko, a student (participated for the first time): "The joy of children, open hearts of volunteers, the nature, children were provided with food and gifts”.

Alexander Slastenov, entrepreneur, coordinated the "Keen Eye” ground (has participated in the festival since 2003): "The atmosphere was joyful".

Elena Zhestkova works in a design firm, helped to prepare the grounds and put on aqua-make up (has been a volunteer since 2006): "I liked the new “Fireproof” and the state inspection of traffic safety “Safety island” playgrounds, as well as the children's nursery group under supervision of Lisa Ovcharenko (speech therapist, participated for the first time) "

Alina Kolosovich, a future lawyer, coordinator of a children's team (participated for the first time): "In the beginning I worried: what if I don’t handle this? What if I can’t find contact with children, but Hooray! Everything was just perfect! Excellent organization, a great programme, a positive mood and a good will of the participants."

Karina Popova, a state employee, an assistant of the "Merry starts” ground coordinator (has been a participant since 2003): "I was particularly moved by great involvement of new volunteers”.

Global goals of the event were the following ones:

Building of an integrated personality and social adaptation among orphans and handicapped children, improving their mental and physical health and spiritual development, promotion of healthy lifestyle, and finding new friends among all participants, as well as interaction of people of different social groups.

There is a strong desire for this event to be able to launche a reaction of hope, goodness and love in the society – the values that give us life, the values which are being lost in our modern consumer society.

The following participants took part in the festival:

68 children from the Sorokins, the Nedotyukovs, the Karpenkos (Aksay district) foster families; the Kulishkins and the Ivlevs (Rostov-on-Don)
20 children from the Children’s house in Krasnosulinsk district, Rostov region,
12 volunteers’ children
59 volunteers.

Charitable fund HOPE worldwide, Rostov, expresses gratitude to everybody who is not indifferent to the fate of children who are in difficult life circumstances:

Board of Education of Aksay district
The sector of guardianship of Aksay district
Board of State Inspection of Traffic Safety in Rostov region
Aksay district branch of All-Russian Voluntary Fire Society
Children's health camp "Druzhba"
Leroy Merlin Rostov-Mega company
Vanguard Autocenter- an official Opel and Chevrolet dealer
LLC "Pragmatika-Market-Yug”

Special thanks to all volunteers! Thank you for your work! Thank you for your hearts!

"It will take a hundred years, and will not make any difference how much I had money, what kind of house I lived, what my car was ... But the world may be different due to the fact that I was important in the life of one child" R . Bach.

http://hopeww.ru/news160.php

Foto https://picasaweb.google.com/rnd.HOPEww/IX

Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHQJJhhoOTQ