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Students in the Urals Bring Christmas Joy to Orphans
Written by UPF - Russia
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Yekaterinburg, Russia - Christmas and New Year’s Day are a special time of the year, combining spirituality and joy. Perhaps that is why so many people feel the need to help those who are in a difficult situation in December and January.
For the past four years, students of Ural Federal University in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg have been visiting an orphanage near the town of Kamensk-Uralsky, hoping to let the children know that others care about their situation. The students do all the preparations themselves: writing a script, sewing costumes, collecting gifts and organizing transportation.
Twenty-three UFU students visited the orphanage on Dec. 19, 2013, to bring Christmas joy to the children. This year for the first time representatives from the Ural chapter of UPF-Russia joined the project, bringing with them gifts for the orphaned children that were hand-made by fourth-graders of Yekaterinburg School no. 163. In response, the orphans created their own gifts to be brought to the Yekaterinburg fourth-graders. There is an Oriental saying: "When you close up your palms, they will contain only a handful of sand, but when you part your fingers, a whole river of sand will pour out of your hands." How wonderful it was that children and young people could feel the truth of this wisdom through participating in the volunteer project!
UPF-Russia’s Ural chapter and volunteers from Ural Federal University already have worked together. For several years the two groups have cooperated in a local half-marathon organized by UPF which is called “I choose life. Run for the other.” This event seeks to promote a culture of healthy lifestyles, family values and peacemaking.
UPF-Russia would like to express its appreciation to Elena Gareeva, Elvira Ebert and the other UFU students for their sincere contributions to events that show love and kindness, promote personal growth of all participants and contribute to a culture of peace in the community.
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