27.12.2007
The traditional New Year celebration took place at the Russian Children's Clinical
Hospital. The best-loved holiday, so longed-for! Unfortunately, many
children have to spend it at the hospital, far away from home. For
some patients of oncohematological departments and Kidney Transplantation
Center, it is not the first New Year at the hospital. And we always want
these children to feel the festive mood of the day. We hope that
we have succeeded.
Just as ever, Santa Claus with a bag of gifts arrived at each department.
In hospital halls, there were short shows with games, songs, verse reciting,
and merry-go-rounds at the New Year tree. As to bed-ridden children,
Santa Claus came right to their wards. A total of
eight teams, each with its own Santa, congratulated
the kids this year; the most "mobile" Santa even visited
our House of Hope cottage outside Moscow, and none of eight
hundred children at the hospital was left without a present.
As to departments where the most gravely ill children have
to spend many months (Center for Kidney Transplantation,
Departments of Oncohematology-16 and -27), there was a special
show for such patients: circus performers came with trained animals.
Smart and sly monkeys, then a well-bred dog dressed as a lion,
then a melancholic python as long as the wall of the hall...
When it became dark, the children, parents, doctors, and nurses
were all at the windows: as usual, the celebrations ended with
fireworks. They took place at three different grounds, and
so people could see the pyrotechnic show from the windows of all
thirty departments of our hospital.
We whole-heartedly thank everybody who helped in organizing
the celebration. So many people came to us with presents that
we accidentally missed some of the names. Please forgive us if we
haven't mentioned you here. We are whole-heartedly thankful to
Vyacheslav and Video International Co.;
Armen Popov and his friends;
Members of Podrugi, the club of politicians' wives, who regularly
make the most significant contributions to purchase of the most
valuable presents.
We thank Sergei and Alina; Elena; Albina Borisovna; Mikhail Matsakov; Anya
and Marina, Natasha and Andrei, Natalia and Elena, first-year students
of the Russian State Medical University, Svetlana, Ksenia;
Sveta and Vyacheslav; Yulia, Nikola Megrelis, Marina; Nikita and Elena;
Masha, Diana; Steel, Mikhail, Sergei, Alen, Edik from the Nico Trade Center;
Nikolai N. Kukharets and Pokrovski Sadik school;
Natalia Tolchii and editorial staff of the Shape-Mama magazine;
Irina Sh., Nikolai Nikolaevich, Ilya, and many, many others!
Special thanks to pupils and teachers of school No. 1311, who
not only collected toys for the little patients of our hospital
but also brought these presents in bright packages, with
a funny and touching message in each package.
And the staff of the ABN Amro bank not only bought wonderful
presents but also organized a team of young volunteers who
came to the hospital in turns for seven days (!) and helped in
arranging personal gift sets for each patient of the hospital.
We are especially grateful for their help, because this work
with presents is always difficult and sometimes bothersome.
Thank you!
Happy New Year!
