Sunshine in Winter

by Amalia Anicescu, Year 12

On the 11th of December, soon after the crack of dawn, an enthusiastic group of IBSB teachers and students, departed Bucharest for the city of Baicoi, located in Romania’s Prahova county, accompanied by members of the Light into Europe charity, to meet the children from the social centre, Raza de Soare (Sunshine).

Our minibuses were filled with various, colourful gifts, sweets, surprises, and scented fresh fruits that we could not wait to offer to the wonderful children we were about to meet.

Upon our arrival, the little ones and teenagers there welcomed us warmly with a spectacular performance, which included beautiful Ukrainian songs and wellchoreographed, traditional dances. As expected, we were overwhelmed by their joy, kindness and, of course, awe-inspiring talent! Several of them rushed to hug us and promptly introduced themselves, to our delight, as we were all eager to greet them as well.

Our team quickly divided responsibilities, and set about the activities we had organised for them. Some of us had the chance to observe how skilled the children were in arts and crafts, as we watched them create formidable designs on paper stockings; others coordinated games, such as ‘Pass the Parcel’, ‘Hit the Target’ or ‘Pin the Nose on Rudolph’, where the juniors were able to prove how well they could strategise and use their intuition in order to win the various competitions we had prepared; and a couple of teachers even encouraged the children to join a football match.

The highlight of the day came towards the end of our visit, when we all gathered to dance to some of the most iconic party songs. The children’s dance moves surprised us all, as their high spirits and blissfulness warmed our hearts and provided us with a feeling of joy, which would linger on in our hearts in the following weeks.

We were all excited to gift them their presents at the end of our mini party, since we were able to see their faces light up with happiness as their names were called out, inviting them to step forward to accept their presents from Santa.

To further show the kindness of their souls and immense generosity, our new friends even gave us a little gift made by them as we were about to leave: beautifully decorated tree ornaments. I’m certain that we will all fondly remember our time there while decorating our Christmas trees this year, grateful for their hospitality and the memorable day they offered us.

Here is a short description by another student who joined us on this incredible outing:

When we arrived at the orphanage, we were filled with a sense of excitement and emotion. It was incredible. The children performed dances and speeches for us, leaving us all in tears with big smiles on our faces! During the day, we arranged a variety of activities, including pass the parcel, ping-pong, and sewing and making snowflakes. The children loved it! We ended the day with some more dancing and then gave them each presents from Santa, donated by the students and parents from our school, which they absolutely loved. It was a day filled with emotions and definitely changed us. It really was an incredible experience to be able to help the children have a good Christmas.