Themes by tag: children

Iryna Kulbach has been the chair of the University Hospital Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Dnipro for 23 years. At the beginning of the all-out invasion, the doctors there had to deliver babies in a shelter.

On December 29, 2023, a Russian missile struck the maternity ward. A fire broke out there, and the blast wave smashed about 900 windows in the hospital. That day, Iryna and other doctors were on duty. The team responded quickly to the situation: women in labor with newborns, pregnant women, and the patients’ families were moved to shelters in advance. As a result of the attack, the maternity hospital building caught fire producing smoke, so Iryna and other specialists evacuated all the people to save their lives.

Recently, the President of Ukraine awarded Iryna Kulbach with the Honored Doctor of Ukraine award. In addition, she received the medal “For Merit to the City”.

For reference: The damage caused by the enemy shelling is still being assessed. 30 employees of the maternity ward were transferred to other departments of the hospital, and 20 are currently unemployed.

For reference: February 24, 2024, Ukraine marks 2 years since Russia commenced its unprovoked criminal full-scale invasion. This attack was the culmination of the initial war of aggression that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for 10 years. This armed conflict was ignited on February 20, 2014. Back then, Russians invaded the territory of Ukrainian Crimea giving no obvious sign of its covert military operation in the now-occupied peninsula. After that, Russia started a war in Ukraine’s east.

• children
• doctors
• russian crimes
• women
• Dnipro

A press conference on “Future School for Ukraine” – a Lithuanian-Ukrainian project to boost donor acquisition and support school building will be held at the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform on January 24. 

“Future School for Ukraine” is a Lithuanian Government initiative to recover educational infrastructure, which aims to save time and money on school project design. In partnership with the Restoration Agency, the ready-for-localization and implementation adaptive design for building schools will be provided to Ukrainian communities and donors free of charge. With close coordination with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the project aims to build back modern, inclusive, and resilient educational institutions.

Participants: 

– Oksen Lisovyi, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine;

– Mustafa Nayem, Head of the Recovery Agency, Ukraine;

– Arturas Žarnovskis, Program Manager of “Co-create Future of Ukraine”, Central ProjectManagement Agency (CPVA) Lithuania;

– Anna Novosad, educational activist, SavED, Ukraine. 

Event registration is required. 

• children
• reconstruction
• Kyiv

“Behind Blue Eyes” is a charity project encouraging children from de-occupied and front-line villages of Ukraine to film their lives on disposable film cameras, and in return, ordinary people can fulfill the wishes of young creators. The project’s team travels the country to support children’s ability to dream, despite the traumatic experience of war, and to show that creativity can be a powerful tool to make those dreams come true.

Project participants receive film cameras for a week to take pictures of whatever they want. Then the children return the film with photos to the team along with their wishlists. “Behind Blue Eyes” publishes children’s photos along with their stories on the project’s platforms, and everyone can reward the authors of the photos by choosing something from their wishlists.

For reference: “Behind Blue Eyes” project was created almost two years ago. It was created by a team of volunteers who initially took care of de-occupied villages in Chernihiv oblast. Since the project was founded, 96 children have participated in it. They have taken more than 2,500 unique photos.

• children
• volunteers

Zakhar Chernykov had not yet turned two years old when Russia first attacked Ukraine East. His family moved from Donetsk to Nikopol in the Dnipro region, and when Russia launched its full-blown invasion, Zakhar’s mother, Tetiana Chernykova, and her husband moved to Ivano-Frankivsk, where they still reside.

When in the new city, the parents found out that Zakhar had vision problems. Doctors advised the boy to avoid eye strain. Tetiana found some children’s audiobooks for her son, but Zakhar disliked them as they were narrated by adult voice actors. So the mother suggested the boy try himself as a child narrator.

Later, they started a telegram channel where the schoolboy publishes his recordings and invites people to donate to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He reads several chapters every night, Zakhar has already read voiceovers for 12 books. In addition, he recently created a blog on social media to challenge stereotypes that children and adults from the East of Ukraine can’t speak Ukrainian. On the blog, he also helps those who want to switch to Ukrainian.

• children
• Ivano-Frankivsk

70-year-old Olha is a teacher who takes care of 5 adopted children. Her husband is severely ill.

The village in the Kherson region where the family lived was occupied by Russia since the beginning of its full-scale invasion. The woman was living in fear of enemy military might separate her from her children, as her daughter and sons were adoptees. They managed to flee life under occupation only on the third attempt.

Now the family lives in a rented apartment. However, Olha’s brother helped them buy a plot of land in the Kyiv region. Dobrobat volunteers assisted in constructing new housing for the family. It will be a one-story eco-house made of wood. They will start building it with the onset of warm weather.

For reference: “Dobrobat” is a volunteer building division helping those affected to restore housing and social infrastructure in the de-occupied territories.

• casualties
• children
• occupation
• reconstruction
• volunteers
• Kyiv

The Family Art Retreat Project will be held in Lviv from January 6 to 12. Its development process was influenced by the input of experienced professionals from Ukraine and the UK in order to allow children and adults to try their hand at different types of creativity and generate healing through art. 

The project involved 20 IDP children aged 9 to 16 and their families. Participation is free of charge.

The project includes using improv techniques for children, such as acting, music therapy, and dance and movement therapy. Training sessions, self-help lectures, and the use of art practices to support children are available for adults. The program will also include open lectures on psychotherapy and music therapy.

Among the project’s presenters is Nigel Osborne, a British composer, art therapist, and specialist in music and art therapies that positively benefit children traumatized by military conflicts.

For reference: The project is delivered by the “ART DOT” NGO (Kharkiv, Ukraine) in partnership with the Street Culture NGO with the financial support of the Razom Foundation and the “Culture Helps” program, which is implemented by Insha Osvita in cooperation with zusa with the EU support.

• casualties
• children
• culture
• psychological support
• Lviv

Olha Makovenko had worked as a teacher in Vasylkiv, Kyiv region, until she gave birth to her son Sviatoslav and went on maternity leave. Two years later, the boy was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). None of the kindergartens in her native Vasylkiv wanted to let Sviatoslav enroll, so Olha set about creating her own Center for Early Development. To do this, she underwent training with the support of “SOS Children’s Villages Ukraine” charitable foundation and received a state grant. The Center opened during the lockdown period.

The institution did not stop working even after the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion. Currently, many kids attending the Center are children of military personnel.

Olha also calls her Center a “studio of kindness” or a “studio of communication.” After all, the Center is the place for children to communicate with each other, learn that it is all right to make mistakes and correct them. Younger children are introduced to letters and numbers, and the older ones are introduced to writing and counting skills. There are also choreography, art, and football clubs for children.

• children

Volodymyr Sahaidak is the director of the Children’s Center for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation in Kherson Oblast. With the outbreak of a full-blown war and the occupation of the area, he and staff moved to the Center in their care for 52 orphans. According to Volodymyr, the occupiers tried to take the children from Ukraine to Russia under various pretexts, including allegedly being abducted to undergo “rehabilitation”. However, the staff of the institution hindered their plan’s progress. Volodymyr hid the orphans, leaving them in the care of different people: his relatives and the Center’s staff. Later, the children were secretly transferred to the territory controlled by Ukraine: a unique story was devised and even documents were forged to pass the enemy-controlled checkpoints. 

Now the Children’s Center for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation building has been empty, all the children have been successfully evacuated. Most of them are either with extended families or in foster care willing to provide support for them.

Volodymyr Sahaidak lives in the Kherson region and is ready to talk to the news media representatives, both offline and online.

• children
• occupation
• Kherson

On December 21, in Kyiv, Ukrposhta and UNICEF will present behind-the-scenes footage of “Wonder Action” amazing workshop and officially open it to everyone. Visitors will be able to “take a peek” at elves tirelessly packing children’s letters; listen to what the little “Wonder Actors” wished in their letters to other children; put bags with children’s letters into Ukrposhta’s Christmas car.

As reported on December 1, the “Wonder Action” initiative was launched. As a part of the project each child had the opportunity to write an uplifting letter to another child – to create a miracle. Starting tomorrow, the first of 40,000 envelopes will be distributed throughout the country.

The event requires accreditation.

• children
• Kyiv

The Dobrodiy Club Charitable Foundation invites news publishers to the opening ceremony of the ‘Place of Power’ free space that supports war-affected children and teenagers. The event will take place in Kyiv on December 21.

The space is a 240 m², three-story facility with a shelter. There are separate creativity zones, lectures and training, counseling, and interaction with a psychologist (for a child to learn to work through stress and transitions, communicate in a community, and develop resilience mechanisms). Place of Power space is committed to open its doors to 75,000 teenagers annually. 

The event will feature “(Already) adult discussion: What keeps your mentality alive?” – a dialogue with Ukrainian teenagers, and “My Identity” art collage workshop. 

The first visitors to the space will share their own stories of finding support and encouragement, as well as advice and life hacks for their peers.

Prior event accreditation is required. 

• children
• psychological support
• Kyiv