Ivanka: From Gymnasium Boxes to Bangladesh, Ice Baths and Grandchildren’s Solidarity
Teacher, volunteer, athlete and donor with inexhaustible energy and a big heart. Ivanka Hana tells about the beginnings of the humanitarian organization ADRA, 19 years of support for the Bangladeshi girl Misty, solidarity of her grandchildren, barefoot walking, ice swimming and the beginning of playing the piano at the age of 71! She is living proof that it is possible to live an active life at any age.
Ivanka, you were involved with the beginning of the humanitarian organization ADRA, led by Rudolf Reitz. How did it start?
Rudolf and I worked together from the start. He was the only ADRA employee, and I was a volunteer. At that time, we collected money and material aid for Mongolia and the war in Yugoslavia. I was a teacher at the high school, and we made posters and put them up everywhere. During the day, we collected clothes and sorted them into boxes in the gym at night. Then, Ruda delivered them to those in need.
One of my colleagues, who was also a gym teacher, asked, "Where's my jacket? It was hanging here on the coat rack in the locker room." I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find it. I told him, "The jacket isn't here. It must have ended up in the boxes in the gym." He insisted that it be found, so he made me open the pile of boxes in the gym one by one. He looked for his jacket until we found it. :)
So, you taught gym class?
PE and geography, at a six-year grammar school. For the geography exam, students had to do term papers and I came up with the topics every year. Ecology, waste management, etc. One year I had the idea that our students could write a term paper on Adra. Then they came with us, saw what we were doing, wrote about humanitarian aid.
At that time, ADRA was conducting an Easter collection. I worked in Prague 9 and invited all the local schools to participate. We were the most successful in all of Prague because we were passionate and enjoyed it so much. I had an amazing experience with these fundraisers.
The floods came in 1997. Did you get involved?
Yes. After graduating from high school in America, my daughter Markétka told me that she wouldn't leave those people behind after the floods, so she went to Moravia. That's how she met ADRA and her future husband. We didn't have telephones at that time. After a week, she contacted me to ask me to send her clean laundry and money. She only came back to enroll in college. She left with her bike, saying that "those affected" needed a means of transportation. She was my role model.
I organized a relief effort for the entire village of Pohori with my students and those from the surrounding schools. We prepared boxes with the right amount of supplies for each household, organized by the number of members and their ages. The people cried and told me that social workers and the police had come, but that was nothing compared to the students from Prague who helped them in such a human way.
At the end of the school year, the village invited us. I'm crying again just thinking about it.
Beautiful! Let's talk about Bangladesh for a minute. How did it start?
One year, it was an organic harvest festival, and there was a stall with children's cards. Misty caught my eye because she wanted to be a teacher, and I'm a teacher. So I married Misty. I supported her for 19 years, until she graduated from college in 2023.
Is she a teacher?
No, she's a nurse. She just changed careers. I wish her well, though. Nurses have their work cut out for them in Bangladesh. Do you know what she wrote me in her letters?
I don't know.
She said that when she graduates, she wants to support poor people like me. She wants to be like me.
That's nice. What does that mean to you?
You know, it was amazing to me because I come from a family where my father was a director who was persecuted by the Communists. There were five of us kids, and we didn't have enough to eat when he was fired and bullied. As a kid, I wanted to play the piano, take ballet, and have my own bike. None of that ever came true.
When I supported Misty, I bought her a piano—or rather, a harmonium, which is what they play in Bangladesh. It's what they play in Bangladesh. I wished for that as a child, but it never came true. So, I made my wish come true for my little girl, Misty.
How have you experienced that support over the years?
It was nice the way she thanked me, and I appreciated it. I did a fundraiser with our church, and we bought her a cow. I spent a whole year raising money for it. Then, we received pictures of her father keeping the cow.
Did you give her anything else?
I'm a cyclist, so I wanted to send her a bike. But ADRA wouldn't let me, that's for sure. :)
You supported Misty for 19 years. What would you like to say to current and future donors who read this interview?
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It was a pleasure. I'm proud of it. A little girl who would have otherwise remained illiterate now has a college degree and can continue helping the weak and poor. I think that's the greatest value. Continued solidarity.
As far as I know, your family has been heavily involved in the relief effort.
When my grandchildren were babies, they brought me their clothes and toys for the children in Kosovo.
One day during geography class, there was a timid knock on the door. When I opened the door, my grandchildren ran into the classroom with excited faces and bags full of toothbrushes. They chattered that they were taking them to the kids. The students were thrilled, and we spent the rest of the class packing boxes for the next day.
When my youngest grandson was in kindergarten, he might have bought a sewing machine for a poor mom in Bangladesh with his own savings. This kind of solidarity makes me very happy.
Your daughter Markéta, our accountant, told me about you, saying that you are a lifelong athlete and advocate of a healthy lifestyle, and that you have a lot of activities in retirement.
Yes, I have. I've finally started taking piano lessons. At the age of seventy-one, you know? It's really fun. I'm proving to myself that you can do anything at any time. I want to play something every day, like "For Elise."
What else have you started doing in retirement?
I started doing things in retirement that I had never done before. I'm going to the University of the Third Age. I actually started right after I retired. It's a way for retirees to stay active. :)
I started doing things in retirement that I had never done before. I'm going to the University of the Third Age. I actually started right after I retired. It's a way for retirees to stay active. :)
I'm currently in a three-year drawing and painting program. I recommend the University of the Third Age to everyone; I enjoy it.
It seems like you can't imagine life without studying.
I can't either. I never stopped studying. For example, while working in Germany, I traveled from Munich to Prague every two weeks to attend classes. I would just go to school and then come back.
What did you do in Munich?
I worked as a caregiver for the elderly in Munich until last year. I needed a job to support Misty. For the last seven years, I've stayed with a wonderful family who visited me. But now their grandmother has passed away. We're still friends.
You're also into hardening and walking barefoot. What's it like to bathe in ice water?
It's natural. We swim in the Vltava River and elsewhere. We call ourselves ice swimmers. We finish the season at the end of April because it's too warm. But in January, it was great. When there's ice, the guys have to cut it first. Then we get in.
What else do you do?
I'm an herbalist. You can start picking herbs as early as February. I have piles of dried herbs. I'm also getting into gemmotherapy, or natural bud therapy. I also crochet, bike, and ski. I even made my own shoes. I'm very proud of them!
We also took a very nice photography course. I even won second prize! We also had a fashion show. I love traveling and spending time with my family and friends.
It's beautiful. Final thought?
Everything is as it should be.
Thank you for the interview!
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PS: At the start of summer, Ivanka met Justýna Zedníková, who was crowned Miss Czech Republic in 2023 and is an ambassador for the BanglaKids programme. One thing led to another, and in October they will be travelling together to visit the children in Bangladesh. Knowing Ivanka, we've all got plenty to look forward to!
