Christmas charity
Representatives of 38 countries accredited in Ukraine and the wives of ambassadors stood behind the counters in “KyivExpoPlaza”
This year’s Christmas Charity Fair, organized by the International Women’s Club of Kyiv, took place in “KyivExpoPlaza.” It is the 12th fair of such kind organized in Ukraine. Among the participants were 38 embassies and foreign missions accredited in Ukraine, which have widely presented their countries. Ambassadors and their wives were standing behind the counters, offering visitors to taste national dishes and drinks, purchase ethnic clothing and consumer goods, and also lovely handmade trinkets. Thus, if you’d come up to the booth of the Canadian Embassy you could have some milk, elk meat, and maple syrup, Belgium offered handmade chocolate, Peru suggested to buy warm jackets and hats, the United States – peanut butter in glass jars and books, India tempted with local food, and Greece – with olive oil and feta cheese. The variety was astonishing. And all of this was at prices lower than in stores!
The employees of the embassies were well prepared for the fair: many baked cookies and cakes, conjured over jams and sauces, and even presented hand-made jewelry.
“Czech beer, becherovka, and also Czech sausage are in great demand. We offer guests of the fair Czech glass, including expensive handmade porcelain with gold, so much liked by many Ukrainians, gingerbread houses and jewelry made of Bohemian glass – we got it from the Czech Republic and here in the embassy made all the decorations by hand,” said to The Day Martina POCUCHOVA, wife of the Ambassador of Czech Republic to Ukraine.
Behind the counter of Pakistani stand there was the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Ukraine Ahmad Nawaz Salim Mela together with his wife. “We present textile handicrafts, onyx products, and traditional pottery, in particular, the well-known Pakistani blue pottery. We also offer national food: rice and samosas,” listed their range of product choices the Ambassador’s wife Shalra Salim Mela. According to her, textiles and blue pottery are in great demand among Ukrainians.
In general, in “KyivExpoPlaza” there was no room to swing a cat because of the great number of people who came to the fair. “This year we have three times more space than we had previous years, when the Fair took place in the premises of the Kyiv Chamber of Commerce. Last year’s event was attended by about 5,000 people. This year we expect up to 10,000 and have already printed 15,000 tickets,” told The Day Babette REEFMAN, vice-president of the International Women’s Club. According to her, last year they managed to collect over 1.5 million hryvnias for a variety of charitable pro-jects. “Each organization may submit their projects for a grant. We consider all requests sent to us. Among our priorities there are projects related to children and adults with special needs and also those related to women,” explained Mrs. Reefman.
By the way, all the 15 projects that received funding last year were also presented at the charity fair. “This year’s International Women’s Club gave us a grant for the translation program ‘Watch and Learn!’ for teaching language and reading skills to children with Down syndrome. This is a unique program yet not presented in Ukraine. We have translated it and then, with the help of all-Ukrainian action ‘Silver Coin,’ we raised money, printed 500 copies, and sent them to the families with children with Down syndrome,” told The Day Tetiana MYKHAILENKO from all-Ukrainian Charity Organization “Down Syndrome.”
“The projects may be big and very small. This year we received 56 applications. A special committee selects projects for funding,” explained Mirjam HEMMERLING, head of the Charity Committee of the International Women’s Club of Kyiv. Some organizations apply with their project ideas every year and receive grants from the International Women’s Club.
“This year we implemented a project of repairing kids manipulation admission office at the National Cancer Institute. We completely changed the medical furniture, equipment, and surgical instruments. The doctors asked us to make the manipulation admission office as a kind of mini surgery room, so that some simple surgeries could be performed right at the first appointment with a doctor,” told Larysa LAVRENIUK, director of the Charitable Foundation for Children with Cancer “Crab.” “At the fair people are getting lots of positive emotions, they can socialize, taste dishes of various national cuisines, buy gifts and souvenirs, and at the same time, without even being aware of that, they get involved into charity activity.”
