Prosto Tak means “Just Because” in Russian. Prosto Tak is the name of our site’s monthly community service day. The name is based on a soviet cartoon with just that name “Просто Так.” (Prosto Tak) The Cartoon story is simple, a donkey receives a bouquet of flowers from a little boy and decides to pass them on. Yet it beautiful portrays the transforming power of kindness. You can watch it on youtube: Просто Так.
Our first Prosto Tak took place in October. This event was started to get us all involved in the community and we allow the students to be a part of it as well. We believe that this is just the beginning of our involvement in the community. We hope to have many more activities like this connected with our center in the future.
In October Prosto Tak took place in a local orphanage for kids with special needs, literally down the street from where our center is located. We have supported this orphanage in the past with goods- toys, clothing, furniture etc. But this time we were able to serve them by giving them quality time. We provided the kids with a morning of fun with some love and cuddles thrown in.
This is Maria, she is 15 years old, but plays with kids all day. She is so smart, but has little hope for her future because of her condition
A few other Prosto Tak events have included: Visiting men at a local rehabilitation center, feeding the homeless a warm meal on a cold winter day, visiting single moms, widows and women with disabilities for Women’s Day, a very important holiday for the women of this country, and our most recent Prosto Tak was playing with a group of under-advantaged children for Children’s Day.
For Children’s Day we had a lot of fun with the kids. Many of our volunteers and students dressed up in costumes and played games with the kids. We sang songs and danced, we played different games, fed them ice cream and hot dogs and just tried our best to make these kids feel important and loved!
Prosto Tak is also a great opportunity for our students to see how they can give to others without having much money or resources. Many of them come away from these experiences with more understanding of what people actually need and want. Many times our volunteers come away with more than the people who we “gave” to.
Most of the time for Prosto Tak, we simply give our time to people who are lonely or don’t get a lot of attention in their lives. Many people think that they need to be rich to give something to someone else or they think that all people need or want is money, when the truth is that what many people need is love and what they want is someone who will spend time with them and give them some attention. This is a gift that we are happy to give once a month and hope to do more of in the coming days, weeks, months and years of our time overseas.
