Swedish participant Martin Stenmarck made a very special visit. A visit that stands in a very sharp contrast to the life he is singing about in his Eurovision entry Las Vegas. As it turns out Martin has a long time engagement in charity issues, especially concerning children. It showed another side of Stenmarck's life. It was also an historical occasion.
While most of the participants and the delegates in the Eurovision Song Contest are spending their time in Kyiv between either Euroclub or on their hotels when they are not at the Palats Sportu, Swedish participant Martin Stenmarck spent Thursday working for the charity organisation he is deeply involved in. Martin Stenmarck has for two years been an ambassador for the organisation SOS Children�s Villages. Martin and some of the Swedish delegation together with media (and esctoday.com as well) took a bus trip to the countryside just outside Kyiv.
It was an historic day we were told. It was the inauguration of the building work of SOS Children's Villages first own orphanage in Kyiv. “I knew that SOS children�s villages was about to build an orphanage in Ukraine. So this was just a coincidence – as soon I found out that I was actually going here, to Kyiv, I become so happy and thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to go here and make a first dig and in the same time tell about our organisation for all the media present” Martin told esctoday.com.
Martin has always been very involved in work for different kind of charity organisations. Martin himself is a father for a “The work I do for SOS Childrens Villages is the work I feel most for. One day I heard about them and I decided to start a co-operation. I just went up one day to their office and they become so happy.”. Martin has also made an album with children�s songs and all the benefits goes directly to the organisations different projects. Martin revealed that he is very eager to make a new album for children as soon he has time for it.
It�s not a secret that Ukraine has had a difficult time since the breakdown of the former Soviet Union. As a result according to official statistics one third of the population is living under the poverty line. Many parents have been forced to abandon their children. The Ukrainian orphanages was in a very sad condition, but lately thanks to organisations like SOS Childrens Villages a great work has been done in order to improve the standard on the orphanages. The orphanage at Brovary Martin visited is one of the better ones.
“Children give me a lot of energy and I will remember their happy faces when I go to the Eurovision stage on Saturday night.”Martin said. Present media representatives asked the children present if they know Martin Stenmarck? No one had of course ever heard about him. Also, as a small surprise, none of the children were aware of the existence of such a thing called the Eurovision Song Contest or Evrobachennija. Just a few miles outside Kyiv it�s apparent that another reality rules than the reality we know at the Eurovision venues.
