SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

The event took place at the Bled Festival Hall. My colleague and I responded to an invitation from the authorities. The hall was full of visitors who came from different institutions and places. The stage was set. It was decorated with flowers on all sides and the colours of the spotlights emphasised the theme of the event.  

Children of all ages came on stage; little girls in pretty dresses, boys too. My mind kept going back to the theme of the event, and I kept thinking about the questions that were going through my head: what are these children going to say? What are their stories, experiences and lives shaped by each individual's series of events? It was hard to hear about their bravery in the face of their trials, their world view, their perseverance, their hope and their realistic view of their illness. These were not fairy tales, but facts. My respect for them grew with each additional story. I thought about what I could do for these children that would bring them some joy and encouragement. 

I was sitting on the sofa at home and I took a crochet hook. I started making thimble puppets, which were brightly coloured, with hats, pants and dresses, but they didn't have hair like these children who were receiving therapy. The colours used, such as red, yellow, blue, white, green, orange and pink in all sorts of bright shades, brought joy, happiness and playfulness at the sight of the big spacious boxes full of dolls with the words La Vie Est Bellewhich means that life is good where children are waiting to be born. To make the dedication even stronger and to make it come from the hearts of all my friends, the dolls were given their names on white ribbons that were glued on each of them, such as Miro, Marta, Anže, Sebastijan, Nataša, Aleš, Nika, Robert, Janja, Maja, Igor, Sanela and Sedina. The sight of the dolls made made my heart and soul happy and lightened the weight of the life stories of children whose lives have barely had a good start.

At the initiative of our faculty, we invited the Zlata Pentljica Institute and organised a round table. The founders of the Institute, Ms Valerija and Mr Ivo Čarman, were happy to accept the invitation and came together with two girls who presented their illness and the journey they had to go through. They were very happy to receive the dolls they had made. Mr Ivo Čarman, who took over the boxes of thimble puppets, said, "These are made from the heart." And they were indeed made with a lot of positive energy and a desire to help children on a difficult journey and to offer them a little joy, playfulness and comfort in the difficult situations that have accompanied them in their lives.

                                                                                          Marta Smodiš