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20.01.2025
“Art Helps Me Find Calm”: The Story of 14-year-old Liza
Liza Ishchenko, a 14-year-old Ukrainian teen, finds comfort in creating art from various materials. In the midst of war, her artistic pursuits have become a source of tranquility and inspiration.
Art helps me find calm. When I feel anxious, I turn to creating items with my hands,
Originally from Kherson, Liza now lives with her family in Mykolaiv. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, they had planned to leave the country, but those plans fell through. Instead, they found themselves taking shelter in their basement, along with their belongings and their cat, Iryska. Despite the cold, they often had to spend nights there.
The girl was very worried about her father, who worked in law enforcement: “If they found out that Dad is a policeman, it would not end well.”
Recently, Liza participated in the “Voices Camp” in Zakarpattia Oblast (Region), organized by the “Voices of Children” Charitable Foundation and the Olena Zelenska Foundation. At the camp, the girl had the opportunity to rest, make new friends and begin to recover from what she had experienced — with creative activities being an integral part of the process.
My biggest dream is to achieve my goals, for the war to end, and for everything to get back to normal. I know that things will not go back to exactly how they were before, but we can at least try…
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