The Idea
It’s been a tradition for a while that as the Christmas season is approaching, we in Budapest Locals attempt to pass on something from our luck and blessings through small acts of charity. In 2018, we were looking for ways to ‘personalise’, or better to say, make our charity-doing a bit more personal; as sure the kids in the children’s homes we usually reach out to are happy when they unwrap a long-awaited present we got for them, but where is the connection between us in that? So, as usual, Anita had an idea: to give them something different, something that lasts – a memory, an experience. And what could be a more perfect Christmas treat than spending a fun, joy-packed day in our wonderful Budapest? 😊
The Day
And that was exactly what happened. In the morning of 14thDecember, we (Kinga and Detti) headed to Szátok, a small town in the north of the country to pick up 13 children from the local Margaréta Children’s Home and take them out for the day in Budapest. Little did we know then that some of the kids going on the day-long tour would be so poorly dressed that they didn’t even have a proper coat; nor had we foreseen the occasional nauseas, singing and shocking family stories the bus drive and the day in general was coloured with…
But after successfully handling these unexpected surprises and the ride to Budapest, the day officially kicked off in our beloved Strudel House. There, apart from enjoying heaps of delicious strudels and hot drinks, the girls could test how good of a wife they would make by stretching the strudel dough (very good ones, indeed 😊), and we also had some comfortable time for getting to know each other more. Once all warmed up, we continued with taking in the most stunning sites of the city: the St. Stephen’s Basilica, the Parliament, the Castle District and Heroes’ Square were our main destinations, with a filling-warming, hip lunch of goulash and burgers included, of course.
The conclusion, and probably the most popular part of the day was the Pinball Museum, a remarkable but less known amusement corner of more than a 130 ready-to-use pinball machines. Playing, laughing and eventually fooling around together with the kids decided that saying goodbye a few hours later was incredibly difficult…
The Lesson
At the end of the day, what can, could we say? Once the kids were gone, it was difficult to talk or to think about anything else; for it was a lot more than just a day spent with kids from miserable background. Their smiles and hugs warm our hearts anytime we think about it; but their stories about never-seen family members, torn-apart and addicted families echoed in our minds for a long time too, as did many seemingly casual sentences reflecting deep-rooted self-doubt, lack of perspective and hope for change.
By now, we have digested that we, or anybody alone could not change the future of these kids completely; but there are things we can do. The lesson we’ve learnt on our fun Budapest day was that some of the most valuable things we can give are not gifts nor organized programmes. They all happen by simply being there for them: dedicated attention, talking, kindness, inspiration – and in the end, hope.
