Peter Santenello, an American blogger living in Ukraine, wants to launch a new holiday: International Babushka Day, or Granny Day, to be celebrated on June 24.
Santenello posted a video to his YouTube channel on June 18, showing him giving elderly women flowers around Kyiv.
“Two things I’ve been noticing lately,” the blogger says in the video. “Babushkas, old grannies, looking like they could use some cheering up. And then walls, these physical walls, but also the walls between all of us. So I have an experiment. A bit nervous, don’t really know how it’s gonna go, but I am going to break down these walls.”
The experiment initially got off to a rough start – one woman refused, hitting the flower away as he attempted to hand it to her. However, throughout the day Santenello persevered, giving away flowers until he had no more bouquets left.
While some women accepted their flowers with shyness and even apprehension, others took delight in talking to Santenello. At the end of the video, Santenello reflected on the experiment. At first, he found walking up to strangers and presenting them with a gift to be uncomfortable, but “the feeling you get afterward is super rewarding,” he said.
He encouraged viewers to try it for themselves. Writing on his website, he says that “holidays are like paper clips, paintings, elevators, or door handles: they all originated with an individual having an idea.” He hopes that the initiative could bring greater happiness to babushkas, as many are without husbands or families. Even though Ukrainian retirees are allowed to have jobs while they receive their state pensions, only 660,500 of 12 million, or 5.5 percent of all pensioners are employed. The rest are surviving on a monthly state pension that for many is just about $50.
Santenello’s YouTube channel has made the news in Ukraine in the past. Last summer he arrived in Osypenko village, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, to stay with a family who had been displaced by Russia’s war in Donbas. His videos showed the everyday life of the Burkut family to tens of thousands of viewers.
At the end of the video series, he organized a fundraising campaign to provide funds for the family to have running water and an indoor bathroom, collecting over $2,300 in total. Like his stay in Osypenko, he believes this latest initiative will help to break down walls between people.
“Whatever city you are in, whatever street you are on, whatever town you are in around the world, let’s fire these old ladies up,” he says.
