DEC 2014     > Projects-index   >Homepage

“Love without borders”:
the TOS in France joins forces with the TOS in Ukraine

Our Featured Project shows photographs of a touching initiative of TOS members in France to bring comfort to both Russian and Ukrainian children, victims of the continuing military skirmishes in eastern regions of Ukraine. When a delegation of Ukrainians was in Paris for the TS European Congress in early August, the French members handed over 175 hand-knitted teddies for them to take home to bring comfort to some of the many children who have had to flee their homes with their parents.

The ten-member Ukrainian delegation led by Mrs Svitlana Gavrylenko receive teddy bears from the President of the French TOS, Mr Michel Chapotin, with Tim Boyd, our TS International President, displaying a message of brotherly support to the Ukrainians back home.

Mrs Galina Burlach, coordinator of the TOS in Ukraine, reports on the distribution of the teddies under the title, “Love without borders”:

“Our French friends-theosophists, sympathising with the situation of military tension in our country, made 175 soft toys by hand for our Ukrainian children. They presented them to our delegation in Paris. Tim Boyd and Michel Chapotin formally handed the toys over to us.  We were delighted with these remarkable multi-coloured teddy bears.

“All ten members of our delegation had the honour of carrying these gifts home and distributing them to our branches and groups.  The bears have gone to eight cities – Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Odesa, Kryvyi Rig, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk (HPB’s birth place). Now groups of children have received these messengers of love.

“We specially prepared for our meetings with the children.  We told them about France, about the people who made these gifts with loving care. In the city of Kryvyi, our member Petro Skoryk gave each child a picture postcard of the Eiffel Tower with the inscription on the back, “With best regards to the children of Ukraine from a group of French Theosophist volunteers.” Smiles, enthusiastic, bright-eyed children, words of gratitude... Let these smiles be seen by those who have created this miracle – the ТОS workers of France. We send them warm words of appreciation from the other participants in this initiative, the ТОS members of Ukraine.”