Pinewood donates to Hamogelo tou Paidou
May 31, 2012
On Saturday May 12th, students from 10th and 11th grade visited the foster home “Χαμόγελο Του Παιδιού” in Kalamaria, as we have been doing so for the whole school year.
On our last visit though we donated to Χαμόγελo, a sum of 320 euros, from the treasuries of 9th through 11th grade and the High School Student Council. The money is going to be used for the children’s personal expenses. With these donations, all the high school students, along with the rest of the school send their regards and wish for the best to the kids at Χαμόγελo.
In our visits, we spent time with the small kids playing, reading stories and interacting with them. The children at the “Kid’s Smile“ home always want to play games with us or to sit in our lap and listen to stories or watch cartoons with us and they would never say no to a hug. Physical contact is essential for them, so it is really hard not to bond with them. Some questions that really touched me and also astonished me were ”Do you love a girl from your school?“, “Will you read to us a story?” , “Do you live with your parents?” . But the one question that always broke my heart was “Why are you leaving? Will you come back?” . The answer was always “yes” but now as the school year is coming to an end I feel that I won’t be able to answer “yes” to their question. Or maybe I can, because every year more and more students volunteer to pay visits to Χαμόγελo του Παιδιού.
It is really remarkable to see these children being so energetic and lively even though they have been through some very harsh situations but still manage to recover – maybe not fast – but they do recover and I feel proud of myself by contributing in their recovery. After all it could be one of us in their position…
Argiris Doumas
HSSC President