A world without tears. Interview with Elena Melikhova, head of the VTB Bank charity program “A World Without Tears” On what basis are hospitals selected

10.06.2015 18:17

On June 10, VTB’s charity event “A World Without Tears” took place, dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Kaliningrad branch of VTB Bank. The Bank financed the purchase and installation of tactile and special sound equipment at the Kaliningrad secondary boarding school for children with disabilities, and also organized a holiday for students and pupils of the school.

The “World Without Tears” program is being held in the Kaliningrad region for the first time. The boarding school is the only school in the region where specialists teach blind schoolchildren to write and read using the Braille dot system. Since 2011, the school has been teaching children with musculoskeletal disorders. Here teachers, speech pathologists, speech therapists, educational psychologists conduct correctional and developmental classes, and medical personnel conduct treatment. In 2013, two preschool groups were opened at the school: for visually impaired children and for children with musculoskeletal disorders. Today there are 172 schoolchildren studying at the boarding school.

The Minister of Education of the Kaliningrad Region, Svetlana Truseneva, noted that this action is an excellent example of social partnership between educational institutions and commercial structures. “The charity event “A World Without Tears” in our region is aimed at making the educational environment accessible to children with disabilities. Today, education faces the task of ensuring that every child is socially adapted.” Svetlana Truseneva also emphasized that since 2011, the regional Government has allocated more than 11 million for the development of the boarding school. Over the course of 4 years, the educational institution built ramps, an elevator, purchased special desks for children with musculoskeletal disorders, and much more.

Deputy Head of the North-West Regional Center of VTB Bank - Senior Vice President Yuri Levchenko noted: “VTB’s charity program “World Without Tears” supports children’s healthcare institutions by directly financing the purchase of medical equipment. Special children study at the boarding school, so we gladly responded to the request to help purchase specialized equipment that is so necessary for schoolchildren.”

In addition to providing assistance to the Kaliningrad educational organization, as part of the “World without Tears” campaign, a theatrical performance was organized for boarding school students. The interactive performance became a real holiday for the children, and after the performance all the children received gifts.

For reference:

VTB Bank’s charitable corporate program “A World Without Tears” is aimed at supporting children’s healthcare institutions. The program has been in effect since 2003 and is long-term and targeted. During the existence of the Program, VTB Bank has provided assistance to dozens of children's medical and social institutions throughout Russia.

State Budgetary Institution of the Kaliningrad Region, a general educational organization for students and pupils with disabilities “Kaliningrad Secondary General Education Boarding School” was created in 1966. The boarding school implements programs of primary, basic general, secondary full education (including correctional), additional education of artistic, aesthetic and physical culture and health-improving orientations, taking into account the psychophysiological development and capabilities of students.

Movement of literature. Volume II Rodnyanskaya Irina Bentsionovna

2. A world without tears?

2. A world without tears?

The peculiarity of this society, which, according to its own attestation, exists for the happiness of man, is that man in his previous form cannot take advantage of happiness - all forms of his life turned out to be unsuitable material for the construction of a new social building. It turns out that in order to make a person happy, he must be radically changed. A utopian in this case would talk about “re-education.” But the corrosive anti-utopians show: the logic of the alteration is such that education and instilling the skills of “consciousness” alone cannot do it.

Milestones of human life - birth, education, work, children, death. Now all this must happen in a new way. A person needs shelter, food, clothing. Now it will all be different. So different that you don't recognize yourself.

First of all, we will have to come to terms with the fact that we find ourselves in a society of centralized eugenics, since a society that values ​​​​stability as the basis of social happiness and strives to exclude an unforeseen future will not agree to leave the quantity and quality of its members to chance. This even occurred to Plato, the author of the pro-utopia “The State,” and in Zamyatin, Huxley and partly Orwell we have the opportunity to read how this could actually be realized. By allowing marriages under a special party mandate - a moderate version of the regulation described by Orwell. Through selection and selection of parents: touching O-90, one of the heroines of the novel “We”, did not have the right to the desired child, because her height did not reach ten centimeters to the “maternal norm”. In the “brave new world” of the ironic Huxley, who has the courage to go to the end, the production of offspring is put on an assembly line and, like an incubator, is completely separated from the human couple. Huxley guessed that a totally planned society has a reason to make state orders for personnel even at their embryonic stage, without hesitation, fitting future workers to their place in production - so as not to have worries associated with their individual whims, with dissatisfaction with their position. In the most witty way, the English satirist pushed the boundaries of planning, designed, as we know, to rid our imperfect world of errors and imbalances. Therefore, if beautiful-minded classical utopias usually open with pictures of flowering fields and gardens, sparkling glass and aluminum phalansteries, then Huxley’s dystopia from the very beginning sarcastically directs our attention to the source of this harmony, if it were possible - to the Central Hatchery, where the methods of oppressing the embryos, Procrustean them molding produces serially usable subhumans. It is only at the end of the novel that the Zamyatin society realizes to insure itself against shocks by bioengineering, invading the body with a scalpel. In Huxley, the oversights of the Zamyatin system are, as it were, taken into account initially and man is rendered harmless at the initial point of his existence.

A world that has “nationalized” childbirth needs to curb eros and disarm passion. The risk and responsibility of a loving couple associated with the prospect of having a child can be eliminated pharmaceutically, and Huxley, who published his novel in 1932, turned out to be an amazing visionary here (with the advances in genetics, will his more ominous predictions also come true?). But the love itself of two people, which “roams freely for centuries” and at the same time “strong as death,” is much more difficult to control. Here, the benefactors of humanity have to resort to direct sanctions and bans. Long-term relationships are regarded as a violation of order and an insult to public morality, and sexual freedom is encouraged as the best remedy for love passion (Zamiatin and Huxley); in the stagnant and decadent world of “Invitation to an Execution,” the thoughtless, automatic debauchery of Marfinka, the hero’s wife, is a sign that they have already gotten rid of deep individual feelings. In Orwell’s “1984,” at the stage of aggressive approval of new mores, the erotic impulse is punished as a criminal offense.

After all, if these measures are not taken, if the notorious Lex sexualis is not introduced: everyone belongs to everyone else (“We”), or the principles of unlimited “mutual use” (a term from Brave New World), then it will not be possible to standardize the fate of citizens; some will inevitably happier than others, and envy will threaten the ideal of stability; and most importantly, everyone will be devoted to the chosen one or chosen one, thereby taking away part of their devotion from the United State. Of course, home and family in the old sense of the word are excluded here - a person has no right to be special and has no place to separate himself.

Collectivist work takes on conveyor belt forms (after all, Zamyatin and Huxley wrote during the craze for Fordism and Taylorism) and at the same time ritually pathetic - as a means of absorbing the individual into the whole. It is assumed that work has ceased to be a curse (earn your bread by the sweat of your brow) and has turned into an almost biological need, as told in the legend about the sad end of three “freedmen” excommunicated from work (the novel “We”). But at the same time, there is no trace of amateur labor, independence of creative concept - it is not for nothing that Huxley’s Chief Executive Mond admits that science has become “a list of culinary recipes.”

Art... This is what happens to art. It finally gets rid of its autonomy, from its “hateful freedom”, acquired in modern European times, and returns, as the “theurgists”-symbolists dreamed of, to some kind of nationwide action. State Poets (this is their official title from Zamyatin), these Pindars of the future, shake the square of the giant city with “divine brass iambics” and smashing trochees at the “celebration of the victory of all over one.” In Nabokov's works, skillful decorative artists arrange enchanting illumination at a cheerful mass celebration. One can say that the dream of art going beyond its boundaries, to the direct “creativity of life” has come true. With just one caveat. The central event of these artist-served celebrations is the execution of unfortunate madmen who have fallen out of common unity. In other words, art, which has become a cynical “technology of feelings” (Huxley), as if parodying the archaic, takes on pseudo-ritual, pseudo-carnival, pseudo-folklore forms, the whole point of which is to mobilize spiritual forces in favor of the monolith and drown out the voice of the individual human soul.

It would seem that the “new world” is forced to retreat before the phenomenon of death; after all, utopian orderliness is powerless to make happy with its benefits the one who leaves for another world. But even here she tries to take control of the situation, to prevent any gap in her totality. In “We,” the horror of death is contrasted with the enthusiasm of merging in a general march; in “Brave New World,” the fear of death is anesthetized by the comfort of “dying women” and is purposefully dulled from childhood; in “Invitation to an Execution,” death is ignored through its extreme vulgarization, turning into a trifle that always happens not “to me”, but to someone else. (But in the most life-like dystopia, “1984,” life is so terrible that death is not scary, and violence is forced to rely on something that, in its horror, exceeds the usual fear of it.)

Death is followed by the disposal of corpses; and here our publicists condemningly compare this kind of speculation by the projector Vermot from Plato’s “Juvenile Sea” with the well-known acts of the Nazis. However, from a sane positivist point of view, which, in fact, should be accepted in a finally “rationalized” society, such an industrial procedure does not contain anything inhuman and immoral. In Huxley's world, with its mild, far from exterminatory regime, loyal citizens are heartily glad that human remains can be completely, without loss, subjected to chemical processing. (Dombrovsky has a significant coincidence with both Platonov and Huxley: the doctor serving in the camp system, not a sadist at all, based solely on motives of efficiency, makes a rational proposal for the use of cadaveric blood as donor blood - fortunately there are enough raw materials.) In this way, a person is provided with not only a new type of dying, but also a new posthumous existence - with benefit for society.

One can assume in advance that this society, which has changed all the constants of human existence, is possessed by the pathos of self-government: it should be proud of the fact that it gave birth to itself. And indeed, in the worlds outlined by dystopians parental the principle is excluded - in one way or another. Orwell's hero, like countless of his peers, loses his mother in early childhood during the great purges; Cincinnatus Ts. from Nabokov’s novel, a child by birth, feels the “inauthenticity” of his mother when she appears before him, as if from oblivion, on the eve of his execution. In the novel “We”, education is, of course, state-sponsored, children do not know their parents, unauthorized motherhood is punishable by death; in Huxley’s most well-established “wonderful world,” children appear, as we already know, not from the womb of the mother, but “from the bottle,” and even the words “father” and especially “mother” are considered obscene. Truly a “rootless dog” is like this, not the old world!

In each of these cases, there are, as it were, their own explicable reasons for the separation from the parental root. But behind them there is a common plan - to start from scratch, breaking with blood tradition, breaking off organic continuity; after all, parents are the closest link to the past, so to speak, its “birthmarks.” “What should we do with our fathers and mothers in future communism?” - the heroes of the Chevengur utopia ask themselves...

An almost mystical instinct told Orwell even in spite of the historical experience that fed him - after all, in 1948, when his novel was written, Stalin was called father peoples - that the supreme totalitarian of “1984” should not be called “father”. Nothing patriarchal should penetrate into this system of fundamental fatherlessness. But the maternal principle is also subject to abolition - at the highest, symbolic level. The traditional veneration of the earth as a common mother is deliberately forgotten and the cult of synthetic products, not generated either by its depths or by its fertile cover, is established. Only “wild Christians stubbornly clung to their “bread”,” notes a representative of a society that has forever fenced itself off from Mother Nature with a wall of impenetrable glass (“We”).

On the eve of Victory Day, schoolchildren are given the task of writing a letter to a soldier of the Great Patriotic War. This task seems incredibly difficult to me, because I simply cannot imagine what you can write about to a person who, day after day, risks his life defending the country. Any words seem somehow insignificant against this background. But still, a task is a task... This is what Kirill did.

Letter to 1941

When I think about this, I want to write a letter to 1941. A letter to a soldier of the Great Patriotic War who defended his Motherland without thinking about honors. For example, this.

Hello, soldier!
Your distant descendant is writing to you. One of those whose peaceful life you are now protecting. The great-grandson of your colleagues who, together with you, run into the attack in the rain of bullets or stand to death, executing orders. They cover the bunker embrasure with their chest and blow up the enemy tank along with them in order to save their comrades. You are all true heroes!
I want to say thank you for defending our country from the Nazis. For the fact that all 1418 days they fought steadfastly, without retreating a single step. For liberating all of Europe from invaders and hoisting the banner of victory over the Reichstag.
On the eve of the 74th anniversary of the Great Victory, I tell you: “We remember everything you did and are proud that we are your descendants!”

Thursday, June 22, 2017

It all started with the story of 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, who works in a tiny restaurant in Tokyo. He makes the best sushi in the world and has been doing it all his life.

Movie about Jiro Ono with English subtitles:

The stories of such people make an ambivalent impression on me. On the one hand, the determination, the willingness to devote your entire life to your favorite business, to “marry your work” and the professional excellence that comes as a reward for these hardships are admirable. I can’t imagine how you can spend 60 years perfecting the art of making sushi, achieving incredible precision of cuts and perfection of shapes. I can’t imagine the depth of penetration into the process, the insane amount of time, the fantastic attention to detail.

On the other hand, it seems to me that it’s boring - for 60 years, day after day, making sushi, making sushi, making sushi... All life is an endless series of lumps of boiled rice, swings of a knife and the smell of fish. I also read about a man who planted trees every day after work. I bought seedlings, dug holes, planted, buried, strengthened, watered. Day after day for 20 years. He just wanted a big forest to grow near his village.

It seems strange to me, like many others, that such simple activities can be filled with such deep meaning for someone to devote their whole life to them, finding in themselves not only the strength, but also the interest, the desire to improve their skills every day and every hour .

I began to think about what makes people masters, about the meaning that can be found in any activity, and also about what success is. And I realized that the difference between mastery and success is that success is a point on the path of life. He may bring joy, but this joy is transitory, because somewhere in the neighborhood someone more successful may appear, and in a few days, weeks or months the joy of achievement will be forgotten and smoothed out.

Unlike success, mastery is a journey. There are ups and downs on it, but the one who chose this road follows it not because he strives for success, no matter how it is expressed, but because he likes to do it.

One of the people I admire is the brilliant American physicist Richard Feynman. He was a very versatile person, in addition to physics, he played drums, picked locks and deciphered Mayan manuscripts. One of my favorite quotes from Richard Feynman says:

I don’t know anything, but I know for certain that absolutely everything is interesting, you just have to take it seriously.

Feynman didn't pick locks, play drums, and do many other things because he wanted to be the best in the world at it or to make money from it. He did this because he was interested. His main “secret” was that he tried not just to repeat some actions, but to understand why it was necessary to do so. And he didn't work hard, sweating and panting as he picked locks or deciphered the Mayan astronomical calendar. He just played, enjoyed the process and satisfied his curiosity.

The path of the craftsman means paying attention to detail and enjoying the process. When you do something, concentrating on the activity puts you in a state of flow and fills you with pleasure. This is an incomparable thrill. And one more thing - you are never bored when you are in the flow.

The path of the master assumes that from time to time you become a fool, a blank slate, an empty glass, in order to gratefully accept new knowledge, without which it is impossible to continue development.

If you look at the path of a master from the perspective of a society focused on quick success, the lack of visible good results means that you are a failure and your whole life is meaningless. But this is a big misconception. If you do what you like, the best reward is not the result, but the process. And then it doesn’t matter at all how many hours you devoted to your favorite business - ten or a hundred thousand.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

I love looking out the window. It's almost like a TV because there's always something going on. People go about their business, birds flutter from branch to branch, cars drive back and forth.

My bed is right next to the window, and when I open my eyes, I see the sky. If I don't need to rush anywhere, I lie down and look at the clouds. They come in the most incredible shapes. One looks like a fairytale castle, and the other is exactly like a fairytale monster.

This summer we were in Sochi. Our room was located on the top floor and had a view of the mountains. Their tops were sometimes hidden behind the clouds. It was so great that I didn't want to leave.

I have seen the most beautiful clouds through an airplane window. When we fly somewhere, I try to sit by the window so that I can see better. The plane rises above the clouds, and a fluffy snow-white blanket is spread below. It seems that this blanket is so dense that you can run on it, and it will spring.

When I grow up, I will definitely live in such a way that there is a beautiful view from the window of my apartment, and so that my cloud friends wish me good morning every day.

Saturday, November 5, 2016

I live with my mom, dad and older brother. Dad works every day, and we only see him in the morning and evening. Mom does housework, so we communicate with her more than with dad. The older brother studies at a technical school, and in his free time from school he develops his channel on YouTube. More than eleven thousand people already watch his videos.

I love Saturday very much, because Saturday is a day off. This means that I can chat with mom and dad, go for a walk and do many other pleasant and interesting things.

My dad and I are developing our Minecraft server, I communicate with friends from other cities and countries, help them build their houses on our server and create items.

You can also go to visit your friends or invite them to our place. Then the adults communicate with each other, drink tea and cake, and we discuss our favorite games, watch videos on YouTube and play.

On Saturday I have more free time because I don't have to go to school, and I try to do my homework on Friday evening. So I can come up with ideas to implement on our server and write them down in my diary.

I also drink tea with my mom and dad every evening. Mom bakes delicious pies. When she takes them out of the oven, they are very hot, but that makes them even better. It happens that my older brother joins us. He also loves to eat delicious food.

On Saturday morning, my dad and I buy groceries at Lenta, and then we go to visit my grandmother. She always has a lot of sweets, and she allows you to eat them as much as you want.

Saturday is my favorite day. But it's not because Sunday is going badly. It’s just that when you go to bed after a Saturday full of pleasures, you know that tomorrow will be Sunday, another day off, which means you can do a lot, a lot of interesting things.

Friday, November 4, 2016

On Monday, October 31, 2016, Samara was covered in snow. He walked and walked, not paying attention to the fact that there was still a whole month until winter. And I was very glad that I had a car and didn’t have to walk to work, splashing through snow-covered puddles and shielding my eyes from flying snow flakes. After the lunchtime walk, I was even more happy because my feet were wet and I really wanted to get home as quickly as possible in a cozy and dry car listening to the music of my favorite radio.

Having finished working, I got dressed, walked to the car, which was covered in snow, tiptoed over the puddles, got behind the wheel, put the key in the ignition, turned it and... the car didn’t start. It was shock, pain, and disappointment.

I tried again but didn't get any reaction. The radio was playing and the air conditioning was blowing, but there was no normal starter noise. This was the first time in over four years that my ASX refused to start.

One might think about the battery, which undoubtedly had every right to degrade in the fifth year of operation, because I never removed it or even tried to check the density of the electrolyte. Only now the music was playing and the air conditioner was blowing at full strength, trying to warm the cool air in the cabin.

Coming out of my stupor, I called a colleague for advice. My colleague had no ideas, and neither did I. Apart from a dead battery, nothing came to mind, and the battery was clearly fine.

There was nothing to do. I called home, told the sad news and began to sweep the snowdrift off the car in the hope that the morning would be wiser than the evening, and overnight either the car would come to its senses or a brilliant idea would come to my mind. Having finished with the snowdrift, he took out a bag with documents, a bag with papers and lunch trays from the car and stomped towards the house.

At first I planned to go by tram. But the prospect of getting into the crowd did not inspire me, and I decided to walk, fortunately, it’s only about three kilometers to the house in a straight line. The walk was not very pleasant because of the wet snow and puddles, but after a while the boots got completely wet, and I stopped paying attention to such trifles.

I went up to the Moscow Highway along Gastello Street, turned right, walked to Hoffa and crossed the road at the traffic light. Then - I knew this for sure - it was a 15-minute walk to the house.

The next morning I rode the tram to work, determined to check all the fuses. To do this, I armed myself with an instruction manual, in which everything was described in detail.

I found a mobile auto electrician and called. They suggested that I check the battery because - they told me - these cars, when it runs out, have a special relay that blocks the starter from working, and it seems that the car simply won’t start.

I called a friend who knows a lot about cars and asked for advice. He offered to use the services of his serviceman and gave him his phone number. I called the serviceman and found out the cost of a tow truck, because dragging a car on ice is suicide. And then a friend called back and offered to come and try to start the car together. Of course, I didn't refuse.

A friend arrived, we tried to light a cigarette, but it didn’t work. We tried to start the car by towing - the same thing. There was only one last hope: that there was something wrong with my key, which had a factory immobilizer built into it.

The next day I took a spare key, drove to the car, inserted the spare key into the ignition, turned it and... the car started up half a turn.

I must say that some time ago my main ignition key fell apart into two halves: a screw came loose. But I carefully closed it, and it seemed to me that everything was fine with it. And on a happy day, when the car started, I went for a lunch walk, put my hands in my pockets. And in the pocket where the ignition key usually lies, I found a small plastic thing.

At first I didn't understand what it was. And then I decided to check if it was my key that fell off. It turned out that this is exactly what it is.

But now I know that the immobilizer chip can be cloned. This is done when installing an autostart system and such a service costs around 2 thousand.

Take care of yourself and watch the screws in the ignition keys)

Addition

Here it is, this cog

Today's conclusion will be:: Use keys for their intended purpose, do not use them to open bottle caps. And if it falls apart, immediately put it in order or take out a spare one, and put the broken one into storage.

My dad and I ride bicycles, create servers and do various interesting things, talk about everything in the world.

My mother and I walk in parks, most often in Gagarin Park. Sometimes we go to the cinema and eat ice cream. And if we go to the store, I help my mother choose groceries, carry or carry a basket and carry shopping bags.

On weekends we go out together. Most often we go to the old embankment to the river station. There we look at the ships, admire the Volga, walk and talk a lot.

Mom is very attentive and loves order. She very carefully puts things in closets and on shelves, and quickly finds interesting promotions and sales in stores. She also cooks deliciously and loves her dad very much.

I asked my grandmother about how her father, my great-grandfather, Vladimir Mikhailovich Korotnev, fought. She told a lot of interesting things. It turns out that during the Great Patriotic War, our soldiers defended their Motherland not only on the western, but also on the eastern borders.

Great-grandfather Volodya, after graduating from the Tomsk Artillery School, was sent to fight the Japanese fascists, who were constantly attacking the Soviet Union in Manchuria, not far from Lake Baikal. It was very scary when a huge crowd of samurai approached the border. And then, when after the battle they realized that they were defeated, they committed hara-kiri - ritual suicide - they ripped open their stomachs right in front of our warriors.

First, my great-grandfather was a battery commander, and then a division commander. They lived with their families in dugouts. Dirt floor, no flooring except bear skins. There was very little food, the proximity of Lake Baikal helped - fish (chum salmon) and red caviar were always on the table, but they gave a glass of milk for the whole family, and even then not every day.

My great-grandfather started the war as a senior lieutenant and ended as a captain. After the war he received the rank of major. He was awarded the medal “For Victory over Japan” and two orders of the “Red Banner of Battle”.

After the war, Vladimir Mikhailovich served in Germany for another three years as part of our armed contingent, maintaining order. In Germany, during a training exercise, he had an accident, received a severe injury, as a result of which he developed hypertension, he was transferred to Kuibyshev, and was soon discharged and given a second group of disability.

My great-grandfather died in 1962 at the age of 44.

Natalya Golubentseva, the puppeteer of Piggy and Stepashka from “Good Night, Kids!”, is able to organize a children’s party in any conditions.

VTB Bank's charity program for children's hospitals" A world without tears» celebrates its tenth anniversary. The very first “World without Tears” took place in 2003 at the Moscow Regional Children's Psychoneurological Hospital. Then the bank donated equipment for a Montessori class and a set of specialized furniture for children suffering from cerebral palsy to the medical center. Since then, VTB has been to the hospital several times, helping whenever necessary. In general, coming back and not leaving people in trouble is the basic principle of the “World Without Tears” program. A VTBRussia.ru correspondent met with Elena Melikhova, Evgenia Mamsurova and Alexander Mitroshenkov to find out how the most famous corporate charity program began and what it has become.

How to help?

In the summer of 2012, “World Without Tears” donated a bronchophonograph and a Himavat apparatus to the center, which help diagnose the disease and alleviate the suffering of children.

But the most important thing is why the program exists: hospitals know that they have us, and if they feel bad, we will come

“In 2006, “A World Without Tears” was held in St. Petersburg, the action crossed the borders of Moscow and the region for the first time. It became clear that the program needed to be developed at the federal level. And from the next year, 2007, we began to act like this: 4-5 promotions in Moscow and 10 in the regions,” says Elena Melikhova, deputy head of the advertising and marketing department, head of the department of sponsorship and special projects at VTB Bank.

“Charity is an area where it is difficult to build a strategy,” explains Evgenia Mamsurova. “But the most important thing is why the program exists: hospitals know that they have us, and if they feel bad, we will come.” We have developed warm human relations. The doctors tell us: “If anything happens, God forbid, come.” This may sound strange to Western people, but for us these words convey the highest degree of gratitude and trust.”

Adults cry, children laugh

“Already at the start, we realized: it’s unfair to give gifts only to doctors,” says Evgenia Mamsurova. “That’s why we decided to organize a celebration every time.” Today it is impossible to imagine a “World without Tears” without the indispensable Khryusha and Stepashka. The friendship between the charity program and the most famous children's program began in 2003.

And a year after the tragedy in Beslan, Evgenia Mamsurova called Alexander Mitroshenkov, the president of the TV company “Klass!”, where “Good Night, Kids!” is produced, and offered to take part in a performance for students of Beslan school No. 1.

“I was told that a serious problem had arisen: the children who were in that very gym stopped making the slightest contact, their emotions were turned off. And we agreed to go,” recalls Alexander Mitroshenkov.

The trip was difficult both physically and emotionally. They couldn’t land the plane, they flew from one airport to another. Then we were informed that the hotel where the TV crew was supposed to be housed was mined. We had to spend the night on billiard tables in a nightclub. But the most difficult thing was the concert. It was a professional challenge. They went on stage and started playing in deathly silence. Desperately, they pulled out the show with their teeth. “This trip became a symbol of the transfer. It’s not just fifteen minutes of broadcast,” says Mitroshenkov and does not hide the tears that have come.

The concert in Beslan is certainly a landmark project of “A World Without Tears.” But in the memory of the artists traveling with VTB employees, there are many other impressive episodes. Every children's hospital is actually an anomalous territory, where children get sick and even die.

“In “Good Night Kids!” the artists are very professional. Perhaps no one else can cope with our audience. Just imagine: in oncology clinics, children come to the concert wearing masks and with infusion pumps on rods. The unprepared will be confused. And Khryusha, Stepashka and Karkusha immediately begin to tell them something and show them. And the children start dancing around these rods with IVs,” says Elena Melikhova.

Despite the absolute perfection of the action, surprises occur here quite often. In Vladivostok, for example, very young children were brought into the hall and sat on low benches. Then the artists left the stage and sat on the floor to be at the same level as the audience. Another time, in Novosibirsk, the stage had to be set up... in the X-ray room. “It was a social hospital,” recalls Elena Melikhova, “there were abandoned children, children from families deprived of parental rights.”

It’s phenomenal: children see how the artists lead the puppets, how their characters move, move their paws, and wag their tails. But they don't notice the puppeteers. For them, Khryusha, Karkusha and Stepashka remain alive, and not toys. The fairy tale lives on and is not destroyed. And sometimes miracles happen.

“We didn’t really understand what had happened, and when we left the room, the doctors explained: for the first time in several months, the child spoke!”

— Elena Melikhova

According to tradition, after the performance, Khryusha, Stepashka, Karkusha and the hospital clown Vladimir Shchukin leave their microphones and go to the wards of the bedridden patients.

“At the oncology clinic, the artists came into the room of a nine-year-old girl. The girl, old enough to understand what was happening to her, was in severe depression. Actress Natalya Golubentseva came up with her dolls and began to talk. The girl answered once, twice. We didn’t really understand what had happened, and when we left the room, the doctors explained: for the first time in several months, the child spoke!” - Elena Melikhova recalls.

And a completely separate test is the “World without Tears” campaigns in Children’s Homes. “We saw this in Irkutsk, Petropavlovsk, Vladivostok. Normal, healthy, healthy children come to the concert. There's a show going on. And they start rocking on their chairs. Suddenly the whole hall is swaying. This is how they reassure themselves. This is called “self-sickness,” says Elena Melikhova.

And the biggest holiday, “A World Without Tears,” is traditionally held on New Year’s Eve. A few years after the launch of the campaign in December, Christmas trees and gifts were brought to all children's hospitals and they called it “VTB is coming back!” Moreover, the gifts were piled up in big piles at the entrance in branded bags. You should have seen how the eyes of the little spectators lit up during the concert. Sit, be patient and wait: when are the gifts coming?! Doctors say that the therapeutic effect of such a performance can hardly be overestimated.

The charity program “A World Without Tears” has existed for 14 years. During this time, assistance was provided to more than 100 children's hospitals in 52 regions of the Russian Federation from St. Petersburg to the Kamchatka Territory. The total volume of charitable assistance from VTB Bank amounted to about 300 million rubles.

In 2013, Penza Regional Children's Clinical Hospital named after. N.F. Filatova already took part in this charity program, then VTB donated medical equipment to the hospital for the otolaryngologist’s office. With the advent of the ENT unit, this hospital has become the only medical organization in its region that can diagnose pathologies of the larynx and vocal cords.

In fact, any children’s medical institution can become a participant in the “World Without Tears” program; all you need to do is submit an application. Participating hospitals choose what equipment, medications and supplies they need to purchase.