Hitting the (Snowy) Ground Running in Belarus

It has been a few years since I have had the honour of giving out the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, but I write this after a short OCC trip to Minsk in Belarus. My companions on the trip were photographer Jonty Wilde and a well-known blogger called Michelle Pannell  our objective was to get stories and images to feedback to all our wonderful volunteers in the UK.

We were whisked off in a minibus to a town an hours drive away and were ushered into a Social Centre. These centres provide care for children who stay for 6 months whilst plans for their return to their parents or places with foster families are put into place. All of their stories are sadly similar with poor parenting and alcohol addiction being the source of most of their problems.

Photo: Jonty Wilde

Although all of the places in Belarus are decorated in a style quite alien to our UK tastes, it was a warm and friendly place and we were well received. The children came in and soon spotted the colourful shoeboxes piled up in the corner a quiet excitement built up in the room. So with no more delays than necessary, I told them through the translator where the boxes had come from and how children wanted to send them their love. And here it was in a box!

It's extraordinary what a few small gifts do - the children lifted the lids, smiled and seemed unable to comprehend that there were more gifts under the treasures they could see on the top. I knelt down and showed them how to explore.

Masha was one of the older girls at the centre and I looked through her box with her and later discovered her story as we were given refreshments with the staff who told us the stories behind each of those eager little faces.

Masha gets something of her own at last.
Photo: Jonty Wilde

Although she is well cared for at the centre, we heard that Masha much prefers the freedom she had at her family home, even though this freedom meant she had to cook and keep the house.  Masha never really knew her father and he retains no parental rights. Sadly, her mother has a severe drinking problem and due to this cannot work to support her children adequately.

They are currently looking for a foster family for Masha, as her mother has failed to make the necessary improvements to be able to have her home. Masha’s brother has commenced legal proceedings to sever the mother’s parental rights. Despite this, Masha loves her mother and maintains regular contact with her.

All too soon we felt it was time to go. Having been given a little song from the children Michelle and I did a quick rendition of 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' to a rather bemused audience!

As a footnote to this story; after lunch we were shown around the centre and saw the children again in their dormitory rooms. In their natural environment, away from the eyes of prying foreigners we really did see the joy and heard the laughter that the little box can bring.