“Share Your Smile*”: Vinnytsya Muslims Visited Little Oncology Patients On Eid-Al-Fitr

Muslims usually both receive guests and pay visits to their family and friends on the festive day of Eid-al-Fitr. This helps maintain interpersonal links and family ties, and also is a great opportunity to meet new people. Vinnytsya Muslims thought of charing their feast with other children when they were preparing presents for their little brothers and sisters in faith; they wasnted to share their joy with someone else on this special day. For that reason, they decided to visit the little patients at local oncology hospital and take their own kids along.

The visit was preparedvery scrupulously: coordinator of the group contacted the hospital medical staff todiscuss the details, and learned that it was better to schedule the ir visit for the afternoon, as little patients were getting their regular medical treatment in the morning; that candies and sweets are forbidden in their diet, so the Muslims should better bring the fruits for each child from the list provided by medical staff; that large toys weren’t good presents, as thehospital didn’t have enough free space to keep them.

Eventually, the Muslims came to the Hospital at about 5 PM, bringing along animators who held their contests gear to abilities of the little patients and brought individual presents for each child. Medical staff who facilitated the visit receives small presents, too.

Little patients were very glad to have an unexpected party that helped ring the changes in their ususl hospital life, and little Muslims gained good experience of compassion for their peers.

*note: “Share your smile with others, and it’ll return to you over and over again” is a verce of a children’s song from a Soviet cartoon, well-known in all the Post-Soviet countries