812 orphans link hands Time 4 Sharing.com, a Lebanese based international charity organization founded by Viviane Boulos-Tolan, successfully entered the Guinness Book of World Records in Central Europe for creating the longest human made golden gate bridge in Prague.
The human bridge involved the participation of 812 orphan children from over 47 orphanages in the Czech Republic, who linked their hands at a sports stadium in Prague to form the record creating bridge. Taking place at a festival on June 1, at least 10 representatives from Beirut, along with 60 others from the Czech Republic, Germany, Malta and the UK, took part in the event.
“Overall, this has been the largest Time 4 Sharing.com event so far. We have successfully prepared 12 events since we started our work, and this week we also sponsored events in Beirut and Bahrain,” said Boulos-Tolan.
Time 4 Sharing.com was established in November 2000 under the auspices of Platinum, a time-sharing company owned by Boulos-Tolan. The charity organizes many events for underprivileged children in Lebanon and around the world.
“It is such a pleasure to work with the children. Our focus is mainly to donate our time which is so personal and enriching,” said Alyah Rafeh, Events Coordinator of Time4sharing.com.
For most people . family is taken for granted and the holiday season invokes warm thoughts of togetherness . However for those without family , the holidays can prove incredibly lonely . Time4sharing one of the newest Lebanese volunteer movements , is trying to bring a little holiday cheer to orphans who don't have the privilege of spending Christmas or Ramadan with their parents . " when you are fortunate enough to have family , especially at this of year , it's rewarding to make other people feel special , "said Alyah Rafeh , spokesperson and coordinator of the organization .
Viviane Boulos founded Time4sharing last month . The organization has so focused on working with children in orphanages and relies solely on donations .
At the beginning of December , 20 volunteers took 38 children from an orphanage in the Jeita area to Sun City where they rode horses , swam , and played in the club grounds .
Rafeh explained that the idea behind the day trips was for " people from more privileged backgrounds to share time with those less privileged ones. Everyone has time to give."
When donated time is as important as donated money, the organization depends on people coming forward to help. "Many of the volunteers have heard of us through word of mouth, and through our website," Rafeh said, highlighting the increasing importance of the internet for such groups.
The Time4Sharing Goodwill Bus will be taking children back to Sun City on Saturday 23rd December,2000. Rafeh and her fellow volunteers seem to be riding on the success of their previous visit, knowing that the children, many of whom lost their parents during the war, will make their efforts worthwhile. "The kids had a wonderful time," said Rafeh, "You could tell by the smile on their faces."