The Advent Calendar

According to the United Nations' assessment, around 385 million children worldwide live in extreme poverty. This means they live in families with incomes below the international poverty line, which currently stands at about $1.90 per day. It is important to note that poverty varies from region to region and is influenced by factors such as economic conditions, educational systems, and social support systems.

This book is dedicated to all children growing up in the shadow of hardship and poverty, who begin each day with a spark of hope and a smile in their hearts. Find the strength and courage to follow your dreams, and may this book be a source of joy and inspiration on your journey towards a better tomorrow. In my thoughts with you, today and forever.

Snow had been falling relentlessly for days, blanketing the entire city in a thick layer of white. It had not been this cold in years, this winter, the mercury had plunged to fifteen degrees below zero. The streets were nearly deserted, and the cold northerly wind had been biting at faces for weeks. Yet, a few passersby wandered through the city, occasionally encountering two figures standing beneath the bare branches of leafless trees. Under their festive white attire, the trees looked like stripped ballerinas poised to leap at any moment.

Bright lights from the ice rink illuminated the joyful skaters. To the rhythm of music fading into the snowflakes, a multitude of children in colorful coats twirled around the rink.

Candied apples! Buy my candied apples! the little girl cried out.

Whenever a passerby approached, she would hold out a metal tin to give them a closer look at the apples. Glossy red and coated in sugary glaze, the apples beckoned with their rosy allure. Yet, on this day, it seemed that no one was interested. The icy wind carried the aroma of roasted chestnuts, and people preferred to stop by the blazing metal barrel instead. While waiting for the vendor to shake the chestnuts in the iron scoop, they warmed their frozen hands by the flames.

How wonderfully this world smells! Lena thought as she inhaled the mixed scents of chestnuts and rum tea.

Her eyes never left the children skating joyfully in endless circles. One day, she too would have such white skates and perform pirouettes on the ice. From a distance, she had already identified who was who among the children. But among them all, one stood out. It was Natasha, with eyes as blue as a mountain lake. No one skated like she did. She was so graceful, a true princess on the ice.

Lena realized that with the weather like this, she wouldn’t sell another apple, so she closed her metal tin and headed home.

At the corner, she passed by the man roasting chestnuts. She gazed wistfully at the red coals in the barrel, from which red and yellow sparks flew. The smell of charred chestnuts penetrated her nostrils, making her involuntarily close her eyes. The man scooped a metal shovel full of hot chestnuts into a newspaper cone and handed it to the eagerly waiting woman. He took a coin with his frostbitten hand, turned it over with his finger on his palm, thanked the woman, and

slipped it into the inner pocket of his coat. He rubbed his hands vigorously and blew on them twice before holding them out over the fire to warm up. The woman unfolded the newspaper cone again and cleaned one of the chestnuts with her fingers. Her fingers became