Over the past one year, some of the Greek youth have been volunteering at the 'Support Centre for Children and Families', near the centre of Athens. Many children of all ages, belonging to poor families, come to this centre to get their lunch and some assistance with their studies. The Sai youth have been consistently supporting these kids with their studies and setting a good ideal of helping others selflessly.

 

On December 20, as Christmas was fast approaching, the Sai Youth had arranged a screening of the movie: ‘The Polar Express’ for the children. Most of the young children who attended the movies had never experienced watching a screening before, so they really enjoyed the movie! Throughout the entire movie, they were commenting about everything that was happening, and in the end of every action scene they were clapping their hands with joy! This particular movie has a very touching end where Santa Claus is gifting a little bell from his reindeer sledge to a protagonist boy, as he finally decides to believe in Santa. And that's when something truly magical happened. As soon as the movie was over, one of the volunteering teachers asked the kids to close their eyes and open their palms to receive a little surprise Christmas gift. On those little hands, she went on to place a little bell, identical to the one in the movie! But as she narrated the incident to us later, she said that she had never seen the movie before, and therefore she had no clue what a wonderful gift those bells were going to become! She had just brought them in her purse that morning, as materials for the art class! Of course, the Sai youth knew that this was simply a way of Swami wishing everyone a holy and merry Christmas!

 

Four of the Sai youth organised a special concert on December 21, 2021 with Christmas songs, both in Greek and English, which thrilled the young children! The singing was supported by the melodious accompaniment of a guitar, a cello and a santuri – an eastern traditional instrument. Most of the children had never seen such musical instruments before! Also, many of them had never even attended a live music concert before, so this beautiful arrangement of cheerful and touching Christmas songs left even the most mischievous children speechless! They just kept asking the band to go on and on, and in the end the younger ones approached the instruments to touch them and find out how they are played. To conclude, this was an unforgettable afternoon for all who attended it and filled us all with immense inspiration, bringing us closer to the true meaning of Jesus' birth in our hearts.