The Elves from Sweden Visit Lithuania

Five Elves, the helpers of our loyal friend Mr. Bengt Nilsson, arrived to Lithuania for a holiday visit on the 10-12^th of December. They brought bags stuffed with gifts that were carefully prepared by Swedish students. They arrived, not only to bring the Christmas gifts to children, but also to share their endless love and attention with the little ones.

 

Though the guests arrived at Vilnius on a very late Friday night, they were up and ready for their visits to the sick children on early Saturday morning. We all went to the Clinic of Kaunas Medicine University, where sick children were impatiently waiting for the Elves. The Elves timidly knocked on the doors of the first wards. Upon entering the wards, each of them were filled with the happiest Christmas songs, sincere conversations and laughter. Anita, the Senior Elf, asked the children to keep their fingers crossed for her juggling demonstration (she learned to juggle only a few days before the trip to Vilnius, and was very nervous about doing it right. The support received from the children was so strong that everything went well, and soon the children tried to juggle themselves.

 

The Swedish Elves visited all the children that were hospitalized at the Clinic of Kaunas Medicine University. Walking from one ward to another, and giving pleasant surprises, sincere joy and unforgettable moments to the children, took four hours.

 

After visiting the Clinic in Kaunas, we moved towards Ignas’ home, where Ignas, as usual, welcomed us with a big smile. Holding the gifts in his arms, the boy told us about his first grade classes and surprised us by his ability to calculate. The Senior Elf looked at his exercise books and noticed that both Lithuanian and Swedish children studied from similar books. We were all fascinated by the apple pie that Ignas’ sister had baked for us. An entire hour flew by without noticing. Though we did not feel like saying good-bye, the Elves had to return to Vilnius, because children at the Children’s Hospital of Vilnius University were also impatiently waiting for them.

 

The Elves realized that they were really welcomed there, because children were standing at the windows and waving at them. Again, we got to experience lots of warm emotions as children were receiving gifts. We listened to some beautiful Christmas songs, and, together with the children, kept our fingers crossed while the Senior Elf daringly juggled.

 

The day was almost over, but the Elves were not tired yet and did not want to miss the chance of visiting Old-town of Vilnius. The tour guide, Gražvydas, took us to the most beautiful sights of Old-town and shared interesting stories about our capital city. The Elves even got to see the main Christmas Tree in the Cathedral Square, and while we were admiring the tree, we all felt that Christmas was so near...

 

The Elves spent the night sleeping in the drifts of snow and in the morning they all gathered in Rugutė’s Home for a cup of hot tea. The Elves enjoyed Lithuanian chocolate, admired children’s drawings and listened to stories about the fund Rugutė. We were glad to offer each of them the choice of Captain Ships made by children… we believe that the Captain Ships will help them cross the Baltic Sea when they come for their next visit.

 

Time flew by like an instant, and soon we were off to find the right path to Klaipėda, where two cute children, Domantas and Davidas, live.

 

On our way to Klaipėda we received a text message from Domantas, saying how much he was looking forward to the Elves’ visit. Once we entered his yard in Gargždai, we saw him waving to us through the window.

 

Domantas welcomed the Elves in a very special way – he read a poem and played Christmas carols by mellodica, an instrument we had never seen before. Anita the Senior Elf attempted to play it as well. Everybody was charmed by the goodies on the table, because everything, from the boat-shaped sandwiches to the pie and the cupcakes, was made by Domantas. Anita, the Senior Elf, asked Domantas if she could bring a couple of cupcakes to Santa Claus in Sweden. Soon we got to try a new game, trying to guess, what was invented first – a hanger or a comb, the Antarctic or a refrigerator…

 

We wished that the time spent with Domantas would never come to an end, but we had to hurry up to see little Davidas.

 

Davidas welcomed the Elves, radiating energy and joy. The boy attentively listened to stories about Santa Claus in Sweden, enjoyed his gifts and juggled together with the Senior Elf. He also read a Christmas poem for us, accompanied by his sister Elmira. The time spent in our little friend’s home passed by very quickly. In the end we received the most special farewell gift from Davidas – warm and very sincere bear-hugs.

 

Sadly, the Swedish Elves had to catch a ferry to go back to Sweden, and it was time for us to say good-bye. After the wonderful weekend spent together, we knew that we would meet them again next year to, once again, bring smiles to the sick children’s faces.

 

 

We sincerely thank the whole team of Elves: Stefan, Anita, Ieva, Ebba and Alexander, for making this long trip and for warming the hearts of our sick children. Thank you for the memorable weekend spent together. It will remain in our hearts for a very long time.

 

We cannot find the right words to thank Bengt and Lena Nilsson, for being our friends, for their beautiful ideas and for their meaningful work on behalf of sick Swedish and Lithuanian children.

 

We send the most special thank you to the students of different schools in Sweden, who prepared the gifts for Lithuanian children. We also thank all those who organized the Elves’ trip to Lithuania. The trip provided so much joy to our sick children.

 

We thank the personnel of the Oncohematology Center of the Children’s Hospital of Vilnius University, and the personnel of the Clinic of Kaunas Medicine University, for warmly welcoming us. We especially thank the head nurse Janina Arcišauskaitė, for warming the Elves with her flavorful tea.

 

We say thank you to Amberton Hotel, for providing accommodations to our guests.

 

We say big thanks to public entity Žaismė, and to the tour guide Gražvydas, for their sincere communication with us, and for showing the most beautiful locations of Vilnius Old-town to our guests from Sweden.

 

 

Photo Gallery - The Bridge of Friendship Sweden-Lithuania / 2010