Viviane Boulos and her husband put a smile on the face of underprivileged children
It never crossed the mind of Mrs. Viviane Boulos, when founding the Lebanese charitable movement, that it will enter the Guinness Book of Records. The charitable action of Mrs. Tolan does not stem from the desire of fame or breaking records, but from a personal experience and the eagerness to put a smile on the face of the least fortunate children of the world.
First of all, Viviane is the daughter of Mrs. Laure Boulos who worked hard with Mrs. Tolan's sister in France to found "Amali" association that provided medicine to Lebanese people during the war. Thus, Viviane grew up in a home that appreciates charitable work.
Seven years ago, Vivian got married with an Irish young man, but did not give birth to any children. She started visiting orphanages with her husband where she enjoyed entertaining children. They "realized the importance of spending personal time with children and its impact on their lives". At the same time, the couple founded a tourist company that organizes tours for its members all over the world. Success in their career that consisted of selling a "'luxury product" contributed to the entertainment of the underprivileged children in the world.
The sudden pregnancy of Viviane and the birth of twins did not keep her from pursuing her charitable work. When the couple knew "they were expecting twins after such a long wait, they felt it was time to raise assistance to underprivileged children to a new level, and donate more of their time". Therefore, they founded Time4sharing.com in November 2000, the movement that organized a fantastic children's festival in a sports stadium in Prague. More than 47 orphanages from all over the Czech Republic participated in the celebrations, entertainment, tournaments and games, with the contribution of volunteers from Lebanon, Germany, Malta and the U.K. as well as the Czech Republic. The movement also took part in organizing the Special Olympic games for the disabled in Bahrain that involved more than 300 disabled children from various institutions in Bahrain.
Earlier this month, the movement created in Prague the longest human chain in the world, involving 812 orphans, which event entered the Guinness Book of World Records.
Commenting on this event, Viviane says "we have never aimed at entering the Guinness Book. what really makes us happy is the smile and joy of children. We work for their happiness. It's a pity people did not get interested in what we were doing until we entered the Guinness Book"
Viviane brought along a number of pictures from different occasions, and selected some of them for Al Mustaqbal. "Look at children's happiness, look at their laughter, this is life", she said. We asked if we could have a picture of her and her husband, but she spontaneously answered "'What for? Take pictures of the happy children". No doubt that Viviane's happiness shows on her face while looking at every picture of happy children, so that "everything seems perfectly well".
We asked her why having chosen this way of helping. "I prefer to make children happy directly, rather than through writing checks" she answered. "We are looking for a new role to play. And now, we take this opportunity to call on those who could join us in making children happy to contact us through the e-mail or call us on 03/227268. Viviane explains that the majority of volunteers come from her tourist company, in addition to some members of the company. The door is open to everybody, hoping that our work shall have a snowball effect and grow bigger and bigger, as children's happiness grows bigger and bigger.
The charitable movement has chosen the kangaroo as its mascot, because it represents maternity and donation. Viviane and her husband are planning a series of activities in Lebanon, Bahrain, the Czech Republic, the USA, Thailand and India. She maintains, "The happiness of the least fortunate children has no geographical boundaries".
June 17 2001
"The Longest Human Bridge Made of Orphans in the Czech Republic June 7 2001
Time4sharing.com, the worldwide charitable movement founded by Lebanese entrepreneur, Viviane Boulos-Tolan, entered the Guinness Book of World Records in Central Europe. The Charity created the longest human bridge in Prague, involving 812 orphans from all over the Czech Republic. The sports stadium in Prague where the festival took place was complete with famous rock bands, concerts, competitions and games for over 47 orphanages in the Czech Republic. Volunteers from Beirut arrived to join efforts with 60 other volunteers as a gesture of friendship between the two nations.