Author:
Mariia Kucova
Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska visited the final session of the "Voices Camp" in Zakarpattia. This psychosocial support Сamp was organized by the "Voices of Children" Charitable Foundation and funded by the "Olena Zelenska Foundation".
It is reported on the website of the President of Ukraine. The camp was also visited by Olena Rozvadovska and Azad Safarov, co-founders of "Voices of Children", along with Olena Zelenska's team.
Children who have experienced war firsthand shouldn't be left to cope with their experiences and worries alone. Today, we witnessed how the camp's team provides psychological support to these children while also nurturing their creative, athletic, and intellectual talents. Most importantly, this helps them shift their focus and find inner strength,
the First Lady noted.
the First Lady noted.
Over the course of four sessions, "Voices Camp" provided rest and psychological recovery for 184 children affected by the war. These children come from frontline and de-occupied territories, have lost parents, or have parents serving in the military.
Olena Zelenska shared several stories of the camp participants on her Facebook page:
- 12-year-old Viktoriia and her family left the Bakhmut area for the safer city of Kryvyi Rih. However, she has already found herself near the epicenter of heavy bombardments of the city several times.
- 16-year-old Kseniia barely escaped before the capture of Izium and now lives with daily air raid alerts in Kharkiv. Meanwhile, her father has been fighting in the war since 2014.
- 16-year-old Valerii deeply misses his home, which he had to leave (in the Luhansk region). He is still processing the difficult and dangerous journey leaving the militarily occupied territory.
We learn the background of every child who comes to us and tailor each session's program to the children's needs. By the end of their stay at the Camp, the children have tools to cope with stressful situations in the future. We hope they will not face such situations, but during the war, we must be prepared for anything,
explained Olena Rozvadovska.
explained Olena Rozvadovska.
The delegation participated in a psychological session, a workshop, and a mine awareness and safety training course provided by "The HALO Trust". World boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk also joined via video call, telling the children about the importance of pursuing their goals without fear.
Follow the link to support the work of our foundation in psychological and psychosocial support for children and parents.
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