“The most beautiful gift I have ever received.” Petra Burianová, winner of the Peče celá země (The Whole Country Bakes) baking show, celebrated her birthday with a personal fundraiser for children in Malawi with Mary's Meals
Petra Burianová is not only a great pastry chef and cook, but also a person with a huge heart. As an ambassador of the organization Mary’s Meals, she traveled to Malawi to see with her own eyes how one meal a day at school changes children's lives. Recently, to mark her own and her son Toník's milestone birthdays, she also started a personal fundraiser on Darujme.cz, through which they supported this very organization together. In this interview, she tells us what motivates her to help, what experiences she brought back from Malawi and why she believes that even a small good deed can have a huge impact.
Ms. Burianová, you are not only an excellent pastry chef and cook, but we increasingly see you in the role of someone who actively helps. What brought you to charity, and specifically to supporting Mary’s Meals?
I think it was Mr. Werich who said that once you are here, you should make sure you really are. And I would humbly add that you should sometimes be here for others, too. I do charity purely for selfish reasons, if you can put it that way. If only people knew how powerfully “give once – receive a hundred times” works in practice.
And now to the organization itself. It's a nice story. One day a letter arrived at my home from a small group of women saying that they bake from my cookbook, sell the sweets and give the proceeds to help the children of Mary’s Meals. At that moment I had no idea what kind of organization it was or what they did. So I went to google it. And at that very moment, Mary’s Meals called me and invited me to visit. And there I found out that the founder of the Czech branch is my husband's former colleague from work, and by then there were so many signs that it was impossible to ignore them.
In October last year, you traveled with Mary’s Meals to Malawi in Africa, where you saw how the whole program works. You also got directly involved in cooking porridge at schools. For children in these poorest communities, this porridge is often the only meal of the entire day. What are the main impressions you took away from the trip? Did this journey and the reality there change your view of the world?
Absolutely, yes. Of course, you know everything in theory. The terms, the numbers, the years. But then it materializes in front of you, as if a curtain had been pulled back, and so many things suddenly sink in. At home, our food ends up in the trash, and here children are still dying of hunger. At home, I stand in the shower for ten minutes, and here every drop is precious. Having an education is a given for us at home. Here it is a privilege... And when a thousand children with their mugs are standing in front of you, you can't help but be moved. What Mary’s Meals does around the world is a magnificent work. Well thought out and magnificent.
How can people get involved and help?
People in the Czech Republic can get involved as follows. By contributing financially. CZK 550 provides a meal for one child on every school day for a whole year. In the Czech Republic, contributions go to the children in full. Or they can sign up with the organization as volunteers and help run various support events, or even organize one themselves. At Mary’s Meals we talk about “little acts of love,” so every bit of help, however small, counts, and together (as Mr. Werich also sang), together we will do a lot.
You recently started a lovely birthday personal fundraiser on Darujme.cz. What led you to decide to celebrate a milestone birthday this way – apart from the feeling that neither you nor your son Toník needs anything material anymore?
Probably the fact that I really don't need anything (material) anymore. But at home everyone kept asking, and people around us kept asking, what Toník and I wanted for our birthdays. So one evening we came up with this. To be honest, we thought that the grandmas and aunts would send a contribution or two and we would top up the rest so that we could feed at least 60 children, which was the sum of our two milestone ages. And thanks to the contributions, about 245 children will end up benefiting from this fundraiser!
How did you feel when you saw how people responded to the campaign? Did anything surprise you?
What surprised me was precisely that people outside our family started to join in too.
And we also received beautiful messages and wishes. Every evening, Toník and I then converted the amount into the number of children.
Was there anything you found difficult about running the fundraiser? For example, ambassadors of personal fundraisers are often shy about asking the people around them for a donation. Is that the same for you, or was it something else?
Technically, setting up the fundraiser was absolutely easy. And shyness has to be set aside. After all, we gave so many children a chance at life and education. It is the most beautiful gift I have ever received.
What would you say to people who are also thinking about starting their own personal fundraiser?
Think your intention through carefully, formulate it clearly, set yourself a realistic goal and believe. A line above I wrote that setting it up is easy. Setting it up, yes, but actually promoting the fundraiser so that it reaches more people will take you a bit of time. Be creative, or get someone to help you with the creative side. The good feeling that comes from doing good almost always arrives. :)
Thank you for the interview!
