Helping The Kindergarten of Hope

We were really excited when we first heard about this campaign and had various activities in mind that we could participate with,  and after the first brainstorming we decided to look for something that not only helps our local community but can also be a great opportunity to bring our team together and strengthen our bond with each other as well. After doing research on what part of our local community need help with the most, it did not take us too much time to find the Wessley János Kindergarten or so called ” the Kindergarten of Hope”.

Some of us had already heard about them as they have been referred to – falsely- in Hungarian media as a Kindergarten for homeless children. It is of course not true, as it is against the law to let children live on the streets but they are taking care of children coming from the poorest part our society, from families that desperately need support and has been frequently forgotten by local authorities. After first contacting them, we got to know more about what they do and we realized that they operate a primary school and a high school, a homeless shelter, a small hospital for homeless people and a shelter for young mothers as well. All the aforementioned activities are being done under the wings of the Hungarian Evangelic Brotherhood and the Shelter Charitable Association. They are doing everything they can to support as many individuals and families in need as possible but it is a hard task to help everyone as their funds are limited, every year the association is on the verge of termination. After consulting with their representative and asking what do they need the most we were told that they always need seasonal clothing for all genders of all sizes, books and toys for children and school equipment since we’re very close to the start of schooltime.

Many of us at Blaguss DMC have children so we checked our homes in search of children clothes, toys and books that are in good condition and we could donate to this association, also everyone checked their adult clothes as well. At the end, we managed to collect -within a relatively short time- a decent amount of clothes, toys and books along with some school equipment as well. Finally, yesterday on the 28^th of August, a part of our team delivered all our donations to the headquarters of the association (it is the same site where the kindergarten, the schools and the homeless shelter is located). It is one of the worst neighborhoods of Budapest that most of us usually avoid but this time, we went there with excitement filling our hearts, finally we could meet some of these wonderful people who -against all odds- fight for their community every single day and never give up though it is a continuous struggle. One can learn a lot from spending just a few minutes with them and can see many things in different perspective after it.

Though it is not a good experience to see how some of us has to struggle to make ends meet, it is an exercise that we must do from time to time in order to stay humble and be able to keep our feet on the ground. It is also important to spend time and communicate with the less fortunate parts of society and help in anyway we can, first and for most, not letting them to be abandoned and to lose their dignity. This is a task that we have to embrace more and more in the current state of our planet.

We at Blaguss DMC will keep trying to stay dedicated to this mindset and we’re very much looking forward to participate in similar campaigns. This has been a great opportunity not just to help others but to bring attention to matters that are more important than work as well. Last but not least this has improved the co-working skills and the social sensibility of our team as well.