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On June 25, the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation made its debut at this year's International Book Arsenal Festival with two events: a discussion about communication with children on the topic of war and participation in the discussion of the phenomenon of multiculturalism of the Ukrainian resistance. At Arsenal, we also presented our book "War through the Voices of Children" - a unique and true publication, which contains quotes of Ukrainian children about the war. Each of them was illustrated by famous artists, illustrators and children themselves.
"When we left home [the Luhansk region], we didn't know where we were going," 11-year-old Nazar Romanenko, co-author of the book, told Arsenal visitors about his experience. — We managed to get to Poltava, where we stayed for three months. And in Poltava, I began to get used to and experience this situation little by little."
Nazar became one of the participants in the discussion "Not alone with the experience of war. How to talk to children about the war", which was moderated by Olena Rozvadovska, co-founder of the Voices of Children Foundation. Together with writer Olya Rusina, artist and co-author of the illustrations of our book Olena Zaretska, psychologist Lyudmila Romanenko and Nazar, she discussed how to explain the phenomenon of war to a child in order to help surviving this experience, and what to answer to such a cherished phrase "Mom, when will the war end?".
The participants came to the conclusion that the key in communication with a child is frankness. It is necessary to answer the questions honestly, even if the answer to some of them is an obvious "I don't know". But at the same time, it is important to look for an individual approach to each child, because everyone has their own background and war experience. Doing their usual and favorite things, finding their own "superpowers" also help children live this experience less traumatically.
"The child is at the stage of childhood now. There is us and a completely wrong war, which we did not call. Therefore, it is always important to give the child quick and frank feedback," Olena Rozvadovska concluded.
Azad Safarov, co-founder of the Voices of Children Foundation, spoke about the peculiarities of his childhood and the multiculturalism of Ukrainian society during the discussion "Joint Action: What Ukrainian Resistance Looks Like." Azad, who is of Azerbaijani origin, together with the Crimean Tatar director and military serviceman Akhtem Seitablayev, the Roma activist and head of the “Association of Roma Women Voice of Romni” Anzhelika Belova, as well as the public figure and representative of the Jewish community of Dnipro Oleg Rostovtsev, discussed what multicultural Ukrainian society actually looks like and what is the strength of its resistance.
Azad also told the audience the story of the girl Tanya Vovk, our illustrator, who had to go abroad. Her wish is contained in the book " War through the Voices of Children ", created by the Foundation.
"I want to have a dream that I teleport to my hometowns in Ukraine and see what is happening in Ukraine, see my dad, and that I was invisible, and no one saw me, and I felt nothing, and no one felt my presence," 9-year-old Tanya shared for the book.
Thank you to everyone who came, who was interested and supported our fund! We are glad that the voices of children were heard at the International Book Arsenal Festival!
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