An unforgettable trip to Denmark
Continuation of the fairy-tale

The members of “Aratta” had a dream to take children to the beautiful country of Denmark in the year 2005.

The charitable association “Aratta’s friends” (Aratta’s Venner) was founded last year. It’s chairman Leif Broni and especially his deputy Susan Preisler promised to do their best to see our children in Denmark and show them their hospitality.
The spring brought wonderful news; Danish authorities give 20000 crones to provide a holiday for Chernobyl children.

There were preparations all through summer. We made a list of children whose parents work full time in Aratta and a list of children whose families are supported by Aratta. Our branches were overjoyed as 8 children were chosen from Makoshyno, Gorodnya and Shchors.
We prepared all the necessary documents, insured our children with the Insurance Company “Universalnaya (Universal)”, filled in the application forms and sent them to the Danish Embassy.
Our friends and supporters collected the money, which we needed to fund the trip. Vivian wrote and sent emails to different companies and institutions. In case they didn’t answer positively Susan backed up her letters with phone calls and met with potential sponsors in person, all her efforts produced positive results.
Even the poodles contributed! Susan is a member of the Poodles Union. She breeds, trains, grooms and clips these beautiful dogs. Se is a real professional.
Two intelligent ladies with dogs earned 11,000 crones during two days work at the market. It was a local record!

Danish friends found a lovely place to house the children. It was a cozy camp in a wonderful forest near Horsens.
Leif Broni hardly believed that the real sum would be collected. Together with his wife Nina, cousin Henning and a dog Mr. Broni he took part in the preparations.
John supervised the increased finances, as he was the chief bookkeeper of “Aratta Friends”.
The date of departure and kind of transport were changed but at last everything was ready!
Children were looking forward to seeing this magical country, as they were searching for relevant information in the library, on the Internet, in books and in encyclopedias.
We left Ukraine very early in the morning and traveled in a big bus “Setva”.
The bus was our house for 2 days and 2 nights. We found ourselves very comfortable in the bus: it was equipped with a snack bar, we played different games, we made beds, looked out the windows as we traveled across our dear Ukraine, then Poland, Germany and at last Denmark.
The scenery, buildings, doors, toilets and shops changed with each passing country.
It was very interesting to compare and to learn something new.
The first thing which surprise, the children was the cleanliness and order abroad. Everything was cleaned and painted. There were lots of flowers everywhere and the flowerbeds were well cared for and there wasn’t any mud or dust.
We arrived early and had time to eat, organize ourselves and prepare for the meeting.
Our Danish friends welcomed us warmly.
Vivian and John along with their wonderful daughter Maria showed hospitality and invited everybody to their enormous old house. We had a hot dinner and were given packets of sweets, carefully prepared by Susan and her team. We had a walk to the dense forest, and started a collection of photos of beautiful tree stumps. We formed our first and very favorable impressions of Denmark. It was clean and beautiful everywhere, everything and everybody was working. A nut-tree full of nuts was growing in the garden of Vivian and John. Having tasted the nuts we went to the forest camp, where we were to live for eight days. The road led high into the forest along sharp slopes and we reached the top, where the scouts’ camp was located. The garden was filled with gravel. Everything was clean and romantic.
There were two buildings in the camp. One building contained the spacious dining room and well equipped kitchen, storerooms and play room.
The second building was divided into two parts. Boys and our doctor Vasiliy occupied one part; the girls and teachers occupied the second part.
We tested and checked whether the swings were strong.
The boys were keen on playing football.
We went to the neighboring town to attend a service. The church was neat, modest, as Protestant churches tend to be. According to tradition the priest was a woman. We got acquainted with her during our last visit, that’s why we were greeted as old friends. The service was beautiful, quiet, but of course incomprehensible to us, as it was conducted in Danish! Everybody was observing us, peeping secretly at our group, as the priest announced our arrival and explained that we were allowed to come to the altar to receive communion.
After the long trip we were grateful to the Universe that it kept us safe, that our journey was enjoyable and interesting and that we arrived unharmed at our destination.
We are grateful to those who worked hard and provided us with money, food, and humanitarian aid for our wonderful children.
Interesting programs were scheduled for us every day:
There was a Fun Fair where children could choose clothes and toys for themselves and for their relatives.
In the Aquatic Centre we could get to know everything about sea animals, touch exotic fishes, watch life under the water and even in Antarctica, where funny penguins in tail-coats showed themselves in their beauty.
Wherever we went the playgrounds were well equipped and we were able to check our physical skills.
We were queuing to go to the swings. Leif was taking photos to record our wonderful adventure for posterity.
Everyone had so eagerly anticipated this trip of a lifetime and there was to be no disappointment! There was a trip to the famous Legoland Building. Children all over the world dream about such an experience. Our children were brimming with excitement at the various attractions, canoeing, pirates and other more extreme attractions. In prairies we found ourselves in a quarry, baked rolls in the fire with a real Indian! Went by lift to the top of the 40-meter Observation tower where we ate tasty ice cream and “prepared ourselves to be cosmonauts” using complicated training-machines.
Our excitement didn’t have any limits. The day flew by but we still had strength to present a concert to our Dutch friends on our way back!
We’ll keep in our memories the visit to the Motherland of Hans-Christian Andersen.
We went to Fun Island, Odens. Our guide was Aratta’s friend Henning Lexbo. He professionally conducted excursions to places of historical interest. He told us about Hans-Christian’s life and creative work in the museum. Everybody was enthralled to be surrounded by the personal effects, of this unusual and mysterious writer’s life. “To travel is to live ”. We remember and adopted these words as our motto, as we are the travelers!
The library containing all of all his fairy-tales, translated into 150 languages, amazed us. Of course we were happy to find books in our Ukrainian language!
The sun symbol of Andersen’s museum, which he carved out by himself nearly 200 years ago, was duplicated in many places.
Odense is a pleasant and cozy town.
We paid a visit to the Zoo where we had to walk for quite a long time to see different animals, as the enclosures were enormous. The comfortable conditions were created not for the visitors but for the animals. Our children were very surprised to see in the Zoo such familiar domestic animals as cows, hens, pigs and goats. It turned out that not all Danish children know them as closely as our children.
On Saturday Henning was again our guide. He told us excitedly about the history of Horsens, where Leif and Nina Broni live now. Once Henning lived there also. The outstanding explorer Bering and the descendants of Russia Tsar family also lived there years ago.
The name Horsens originates from the English word “horse”.
As in most of Europe people here like and carry on the old traditions. Annually the citizens of Horsens organize the festival to recreate things as they were in the Middle Ages. They turn out electric lights, disconnect telephones, spread straw around, wear ancient garments and ride around on horses!
Many people want to feel the spirit of old times, to taste the dishes, cooked according the old recipes, to play games, and to dance as their ancestors did.
We were also happy to join in the history celebrations of the cozy town of Horsens.
Later we had a solemn evening with our sponsors and “Friends of Aratta”.
Susan had been teaching us all week how to behave at the table, not to jump up but to wait on each other and to put a moderate quantity of food into the plates.
We managed with the task excellently and all the guests remained glad. The rest of the evening became a Ukrainian concert. Everything was “like a real adult’s concert”: with a compare (master of ceremonies), national costumes, singing and songs on discs. Everybody without exception took part in the concert but of course the children from Makoshyno distinguished. They are real professionals. They presented a national dance, songs, acrobatic exercises, jugglers and even an “Eastern dance”.
The audience was captivated and surprised by our talents and we then played the Ukrainian game “Brook” with great pleasure.
So, we managed to gladden our friends. We know that we aren’t worse off than they are at all and we may even be more sociable and open to each other.
Before our departure on Sunday we found ourselves unexpectedly in the tropics. As we know the tropics are in Africa, Asia and in America. So we were everywhere and it was rather interesting, and funny to see exotic plants and animals in Northern Europe!
Now we value and understand that our climate is wonderful. It’s easier to live and to breathe than in thick, moist, humid and stuffy atmosphere.
We got to know and experience new things and were able to make comparisons when we returned to our own, usual and not so bad world.
We got our last presents and treats and packed our “SETRU” on Monday. Because of our bags bulging with gifts we hardly had space to sit!
The bus again was our home for two days and two nights. We were traveling with joy in our hearts as we gazed out the windows as we made our way back across Europe. We arrived at the border where each of us had our identity checked, and had our passports stamped. We were then counted to ensure that no one had been left in Denmark!
Again we passed through Germany, Poland, and on into our dear Ukraine. With excited shouts of “Hurrah!” as we entered our beloved and dear to our hearts Chernihiv!
On unloading all our presents we were quite astounded about how it could all have been fitted in to our bus! Anyway everything was safely delivered in the best condition and our refreshed and renewed grown up children were entrusted to their parents. On the one hand it was quite sad to part as during our journey we became as one big family. On the other hand we were eager to come back to our families to share fantastic stories, to tell about magic places, and to give presents to all -including pets!
We’ll share our impressions more and we’ll hope together that our fairy-tale continues.

My first trip
In summer I was selected to go to Denmark. I was very surprised and happy at the same time. I was looking forward to this trip and was preparing for it. I prepared a story about my family in English, made souvenirs and created some performances. All the time I was thinking about my future trip.
Early in the morning we left Chernihiv and then passed all Western Ukraine, Poland and Germany. We were excited looking at our beautiful Ukrainian places and we were sorry that it was night when we were passing Poland and Germany.
At last we came to Denmark, and to Horsens in the evening of the next day. We were very tired after the trip but we were in high spirits. We spent a night in Horsens and in the morning left for Lund. John, a very affable man, met us there. He invited us to his house, where we got acquainted with other people who treated us to sweeties and fruits. It was quite inconvenient that we understood English so little and so Victoria was translating for us all the time! John has a very nice house, which is situated in the suburbs. We went to the forest with John, where he showed us a pony and we saw roe deer while wandering there. Also we went to a pig farm. On coming back home with John we got met his friends Leif and Nina. They had a funny and beautiful doggy, called Broni.
With Leif we went to the country to the house where we were to live. That house was located in a beautiful forest. Each day we started and finished with our impressions of the day.
Every day we went on different excursions. We were in Odense, the Motherland of Hans Christian Andersen and visited the house where he was born and lived. Everything was the same in the house from the time when the author was alive. It was very interesting to hear about his childhood years and all about his life. In Odense we also visited the Zoo. In our Ukrainian Zoo, in Mena, animals live in cages but in Denmark the animals are able to roam around in huge enclosures, which is much more like their natural habitat. The birds in Denmark are almost tame as people care about them.
I haven’t seen such animals even in pictures or on photos.
I also liked very much the kangaroos. There are no such animals in our Zoo. Kangaroos jump very quickly and their forelegs are very similar to people’s hands.
I visited aqua – park for the first time. There were a lot of artificial lakes and big aquariums. Passing through them you get the impression that you are going along the sea bottom! Different sea creatures and unusual fish are swimming everywhere. The largest we saw was a shark. I also saw beavers and sea- otters.
I really liked the children’s playgrounds.
There was a computer there. We ran on the swinging bridge across the river and we went on the swings. Especially I liked one of them, very similar to Ukrainian one.
We went to Silkenborg, where we visited “Lego land”. “Lego land” is a place, which is constructed entirely from Lego bricks! Streets with houses and palaces, people and animals, everything is made from Lego.
It was very interesting to see all the different places, to float on the boats and to see artificial waterfalls.
We were in Juske bank and saw the prince of Denmark on the biggest TV set in Denmark.
In Horsens we visited the church, received communion and were told about church traditions. Later we had an excursion around the city and liked it very much.
We also were in tropics, where animals walked along the roads as people do. The last day we were in McDonald’s, where we ate and walked in the labyrinth.
Before the departure to say thanks to our friends we put on a festive concert, which they liked very much.
Our trip passed very quickly, we missed our families but we didn’t want to leave Denmark. On our way home we talked about Denmark all the time, shared our impressions. Also we were very glad to receive presents from our Danish friends. In Chernihiv our parents and grandmothers met us. They were happy because of our arrival. I showed photos at school and told my friends about Denmark.
Kostya Verbylo,
Makoshyno

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I liked everything, especially I liked when we went to the Zoo. I saw animals, which I had seen only by TV or even hadn’t seen at all.
I liked to visit the Motherland of Hans Christian Andersen. I read a lot of his fairy-tales and watched cartoons but I hadn’t imagined that I would visit his Motherland.
I’m very grateful to Maria, Vivian, John, Susan, Leif, Nielsen, and Xan and to other people because they cared very much for us in Denmark.
Olena Pukhova

My impressions about Denmark
I’m keen on traveling and I’ve already managed to visit some interesting places in our Ukraine. The things, which I had seen during my trip to Denmark left unforgettable impressions in my memory. Denmark is a surprisingly magical place where kind and merry people live. While chatting to them it seemed to me they didn’t have any problems, because they always smiled and they were friendly and ready to help.
I’ve managed to visit unusual and interesting places! Every day I remember those 12 days, as they gave me interesting information, entertainment and knowledge. Especially I was surprised that everything was so clean and there was order everywhere. We can also achieve this in Ukraine.
In Denmark children are given a lot of attention. The enormous entertainment center Lego land is a good example of it. I got the brightest impressions from Lego land.
Not everybody gets an opportunity in life to visit the Motherland of worldwide author of fairy-tales Hans Christian Andersen. I’m very grateful to the organization “Aratta’s friends”, that gave me the opportunity to see some of those things about which one can usually only dream!
Vadim Nemilostivyi

The magic trip to Denmark!
In Denmark I felt very much at home. We got up at 7 a.m. the same as at home and had delicious breakfast. Our house was clean and comfortable. I enjoyed the playground with lots of sand and 5 swings; one of them resembled a log.
Our kind friends Leif, John, Vivian, Susan, Maria and others did so many good things for us. Every day they gave us different surprises. If I saw them now I would say thanks to them! We are grateful for your attention to us. I enjoyed being in Aquatic Park. It’s good that there is an Aquatic Park in such a beautiful country as Denmark. It was interesting to watch raccoons having dinner. We also liked otters that were swimming very fast. It was quite funny when one otter was chasing another one.
I enjoyed Lego land, especially “extreme” “canoe’ “water races” and other attractions. I’ll keep in my mind for a long time that magical, unusual country, called Lego land.
The Zoo was just superb. Especially I love to remember seeing the sea lions and flamingos. Flamingo is unusual bird and they can be pink and white!
Funny gorillas had a competition and were chasing each other!

My impressions about Denmark
To tell you the truth I hadn’t realized that Denmark was a country of miracles. Denmark is a beautiful and magical country with many beautiful fields and other places. I want to say thanks to Susan, Vivian, Leif, Nina and other people who cared about us. They wanted us to get a lot of impressions and I think everybody was thrilled with all the wonderful things and events that they showed us! . I want to say thanks to Susan, because she saved and gave 50 crowns to each of us and I think it was difficult to collect it. I’m grateful to her that she showed “The house of kittens” to us and gave delicious food to our pets.
I want to say thanks to Leif, Nina and Vivian as they took such good care of us. They also cooked delicious meals for us.
Vivian, big thanks to you, as you invited us in the first day, prepared delicious food and showed us your hospitality.
Big thanks to John for showing us his bank and for presenting small souvenirs to us. If we weren’t in the bank we wouldn’t have seen the birth of the Danish inheritor?
Big thanks to all of you.
Most of all I liked the following places: Juske bank, Aqua park Zoo, Andersen’s museum, Lego land and tropics.
Lot’s of people were working in the bank. I imagined it in a different way. When I saw the bank it was more beautiful than I thought.
I saw a lot of different kinds of fish and animals in Aqua Park.
In the Zoo I saw many beautiful animals, which I hadn’t seen before. Especially I liked how penguins were swimming.
I got to know a lot of interesting things about Andersen. I liked the museum very much and I saw his jaw, clothes and his favorite places there. The most important was that I saw Andersen’s “Love”.
Lego land is a wonderful town. I will never forget those fantastic attractions and houses, which were made from Lego. I wonder to whom the idea about Lego land occurred?
I don’t have enough words to express the beauty of the tropics. We are very grateful to Doter as she found free time to be our driver.
I’m sitting and writing about Denmark and I can see so clearly in my imagination those beautiful places I visited and I will never forget them. When I’m asked about Denmark I always remember all good people whom I had met there and whom I will never forget. I want to visit Denmark once more.
There are a lot of nice places for you to see in Ukraine too. I love you all and miss you all. You are very welcome to come and visit us. Good-bye and thank you.
Darina Tsyhanok.