Not everyone is lucky enough to spend Christmas Eve in their family circle with their loved ones. For many, buying real butter alone is a great luxury, let alone baking Christmas cookies, eating carp with potato salad and unwrapping gifts. Thank God, Czech people like to help others, thanks to which Baby Jesus appears almost everywhere.
Following an old Czech tradition, we always place one extra plate on the Christmas table. It is for an unexpected guest who could for some reason appear at our door. Maybe because he or she doesn't want to spend Christmas alone.
Shopping mall full of surprises
The shopping mall in Prague's Chodov is full of luxury goods for exorbitant sums. Its leadership decided the mall would open its door to lonely souls for the second time this year - a hundred of them, to be exact. Last year, the event was a success. After closing time, over 40 people gathered who would have otherwise spent Christmas alone, often wkithout anything good to eat.
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Ježíšek na Chodově. Source: Westfield Chodov
The guests enjoyed a delicious dinner, a pleasant atmosphere, live music and a small program including an unexpected visit of Vladimír Kratina and Halina Pawlovská. Last year's experience has also shown that, paradoxically, the biggest challenge is reaching out to the guests for whom the whole Christmas event is intended.
The problem of lonely people often lies in the fact that only those closest to them are aware of their loneliness. Next door neighbors, caregivers, or even postmen.
"Everyone can sign up for our Christmas dinner. The final 100 guests will be selected by our team based on the specific situation each of them lives in. Hundreds of people with different fates, from different communities, will meet at the table and spend the evening together. The public can also help us with inviting guests,"
explains Marcela Hrdličková, director of Westfield Chodov.
Children's homes
The worst thing is when small children have to spend Christmas without their parents. And there is no small number of such kids in the Czech Republic. Only in the children's home in Dolní Počernice, around thirty children will be in the care of their care workers on Christmas eve, which, according to the director, is a significant increase compared to the previous year. Although children's homes all over the country are bursting in the seams, at least for the holidays, children get to go to their relatives' homes.
At the Children's Home in Dolní Počernice, preparations for Christmas started already in September, when children began to write their Christmas wishes. Christmas trees and Advent wreaths are usually ready for the first Sunday of Advent; the children are fully involved in the preparations. Kids in the children's home are divided into family groups of 6 to 8 in order not to miss out on a family atmosphere. Each group takes care of the household itself, as well as its own Christmas preparations.
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Děti v domově si zdobí stromečky samy. Source: Dětský domov v Dolních Počernicích
Christmas is celebrated twice in the home.
"For the firt time, they celebrate Christmas in the family groups, where it's done the same way as if they were at home, and for the second time on Christmas Eve,"
says the director Martin Lněnička.
Each group will also prepare a Christmas dinner. Children won't miss out on gifts either. Benefactors from the public and various businesses step in for Baby Jesus, and the children's home also buys each child a gift. The kids don't have big wishes. Mostly they want a Lego or maybe a musical instruments to practise on. The majority of them, however, would like to have a functional family.
And since Christmas is about generosity, we should not forget about those who are less fortunate either...
