The magic of giving

Don’t we sometimes wish that when all else fails (including the United Nations), magic will put an end to senseless war and poverty on this planet? That the solutions to many of our problems could be pulled out of a magician’s hat the way a rabbit pops out of there from nowhere?

When we see children knocking on our car windows, when we see teenagers sniffing rugby, when we see filth and squalor, don’t we sometimes wish for the quick results of a magic wand or a magic lamp?

Alas, those are just wishes. Magician Paul Potassy and his Philippine-born wife Lita (Bueno) think, however, that the magic of giving could be an everyday reality.

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Now retired and living with Lita in a penthouse overlooking the Mediterranean at the Palma de Mallorca in Spain, Paul Potassy in his prime performed the world over and gave private shows for Prince Rainier of Monaco, the late Aristotle Onassis, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Ustinov, among many other members of the jet set.

His career as an entertainer began during World War II when Paul, a Hungarian by birth, was a prisoner of war of the Russians.

"Once, my captors were debating on whether or not to shoot me. As they argued, I produced a pack of cards and fascinated them with a number of tricks. They became my first audience, and my performance saved my life," Paul recalls.

Paul met Lita 30 years ago at the then newly-opened Manila Hilton. She was the executive secretary to the Hilton GM Colgate Holmes, and he was one of the entertainers signed up to perform at the ritzy Top of the Hilton. It was Lita’s job to arrange for Paul’s working papers, a task which was especially difficult.

Once, she remarked to her boss: "Why doesn’t Mr. Potassy just fly in on his magic carpet?"

Their whirlwind romance started with daily lunch dates at the coffee shop and culminated with a group date at the Hong Kong Hilton. Three months after they met, they were married in Hong Kong. The world became their love nest, as Paul’s career brought them to the playgrounds of the rich and famous in Europe and Asia.

After Paul retired, the couple settled at the Palma de Mallorca in Spain. But every year, they would pay a visit to the Philippines. On Paul’s 75th birthday in 1998, Lita gave him a big party.

"But I told Paul, why don’t we ask our guests that instead of giving you a present, that they make a donation instead to the street children of the Philippines?" Lita recalls. She and Paul are currently on the tail end of their annual Manila visits, during which they attend to charity work.

Heartened by the donations they received, the Potassys decided to make the fundraising a yearly event. So every year since 1998, Paul and Lita have been raising money for the Save a POUCH (Poor Urban Children), an outreach program of the Southville International School and Colleges (SISC) in Las Piñas City.

The Potassys heard about the project through their friends, lawyer Renato Fernandez and his wife Helen, who head the Save a POUCH program of Southville (For inquiries, call 820-8702/03).

The Potassys are members of the elite Isla Club of Mallorca, and their friends poured in their contributions for the street kids. A close friend of the Potassys, Gerhard Pfitsch, also transformed his 70th birthday bash into a fund-raising event for Filipino children. According to Lita, the project sponsored 18 children in 1999, 27 in 2000, 51 in 2001, 72 in 2002 and 140 this year. Each child gets at least one warm meal a day, supplies, medical care and other forms of support to ensure that he or she stays in school.

The Potassys and their friends were able to give nearly $4,000 worth of donations to the children this year.

"A drop in the ocean of poverty," is how Lita humbly describes their contribution. "But we must start with even a drop."

Magic saved Paul Potassy’s life 58 years ago. This time, saving young lives is bringing magic into his life.

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