In January-February 2023, “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques” therapy sessions for children and adults were held in Chernihiv city and Zhytomyr region. The sessions are held in an atmosphere of warmth, trust and sincere communication, fun and friendship. At the same time the participants work through their pain, difficult emotions, fears and losses related to the war. We thank the trainers, Yulia Rybalchenko and Nataliya Babych from the Myropil Gymnasium (Zhytomyr Region), and Olena Dudko and Olga Stanovska (“Children’s Point. TOGETHER” project, Chernihiv) for the provided photos and invaluable work.

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In January and February 2023, three 2-day online trainings “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques” were held for practical psychologists, teachers, social service providers as part of the “TOGETHER. Social services” project. There were so many applicants – more than 100 people for the first training announced in January, that the organizers (charity fundations “HOPE worldwide Ukraine” and “SOS Children’s Villages Ukraine”) decided to hold additional “Children and War. TRT” trainings for all those interested. In total, 120 specialists were trained. The trainings were conducted by the psychologists of the “Helping Hand for Ukraine” project – Iryna Sukhova and Tetyana Oboyanska. We thank all partners for fruitful cooperation! Our sincere gratitude goes to Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF) for the financial help and support.

The “TOGETHER” project is implemented by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and a consortium of partner organizations: “Ukrainian Network for Children’s Rights”, “Every Child” Partnership, “SOS Children’s Villages Ukraine”, “Social Synergy”, “Dnipro League of Social Workers” and NGOs “VO” Class”.

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On February 17-19, 2023, the trainers’ team of the “Helping Hand for Ukraine” project conducted a 3-day “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques” in Kyiv. 25 participants were learning theoretic foundations and practical implementation of the methodology to be able to work with groups of children and adults helping them to cope with war trauma. During the training they mastered self-help techniques, planned their future work, played, talked and rested during the breaks. The topic of stress from war is very up-to-date and serious, and undoubtedly there is a lot of work to do in this area. The training was conducted by Iryna Sukhova, Nataliya Podolyak, and Olena Bozhor.

We are grateful for cooperation with our partners, Kyiv City Teachers’ House, Institute of Social and Political Psychology, Podil District Organisation of Kyiv Red Cross. We also express our sincere gratitude to Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF) for financial support.

Participants’ feedback:
Oksana Lopatynska: “I liked active exercises. The training was full of information. 10 points. I will recommend it to my colleagues. I really missed offline trainings, thank you for this opportunity!”

Oksana Shymanska: “These techniques (exercises) are very effective! I had an opportunity to use them several times during the training process, they really work! Thank you! I wish you further success in your work!”

Yuliya Pohrebnya: “The most useful thing was the analysis of techniques. There was not enough time to try out all the techniques. The atmosphere was dynamic, presentation of the material – professional, methods – effective. I received a lot of,inspiration for further work”.

Viktoriya Pivnenko: “It was incredibly useful for me that all the techniques were systematized, divided into stages according to how they should be presented. The material on neurophysiology was very well explained. What to do to make traumatic memories disappear, what to do to make them less intense. I’m grateful to have participated in the training; it was easy for me to learn the new material, which I will gladly use in my work”.

Nataliya Vorona: “Trainers’ team did a great job. I filled my “backpack” of tools with a lot of self-help techniques and other information. Now I need to reflect and structure my knowledge and use it effectivley”.

Marta Ivanova: “The tools are very interesting. It is important that they can be used not only for children, but also for adults. Thank you for your work! It is very valuable”.

Iryna Horodynets: “The training is intense and at the same time easily and clearly structured. The most useful thing was that all the information was supported by situations from experience and practice”.

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Since the beginning of 2023, “Anti-stress box: a set of practical exercises for psychological help” mini-training sessions have been held in the de-occupied territories of Ukraine. They are aimed at emotional stabilization, self-help and regulation of a person’s psychological state. This is a joint project of the “HOPE worldwide Ukraine” and the “Psychologists at War” project of the NGO “Ukrainian Association of Psychotherapists and Business Trainers”. The main part of the trainings consists of practical exercises of the “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques” program. They help children and adults to cope with pain, anxiety, fears, intrusive memories related to stress and caused by the war. Therapy sessions were held in Kyiv region – Velyka Dymerka, Borodyanka and other settlements. We are grateful to Anastasia Bilozor, trainer of the “Children and War. TRT” program, for cooperation and the initiative to conduct the trainings.

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On February 11, 2023 the certificates were awarded to the new trainers of the “Children and War. Teching Recovery Techniques” program in Irpin. The new specialists from the cities of Irpin and Bucha (Kyiv region) were trained in November 2022 thanks to the joint cooperation of the “Helping Hand for Ukraine” and “Zoryanytsia” (mental health recovery space) projects. And now the new trainers have a difficult yet important job – to conduct therapy sessions for children and adults who survived the occupation and many losses due to war against Ukraine. The pain of the traumatic experience does not go away by itself, but haunts a person for a very long time. That is why every inhabitant of the Kyiv region, which was under occupation, needs knowledge and skills to stabilize their own emotional state, as well as the emotional state of the children close to them. We sincerely thank Tasha Cherednyuk, the inspirer of this project, for cooperation, and congratulate our new trainers! Our sincere gratitude goes to Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF) for the financial help and support.

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The close cooperation of “HOPE worldwide Ukraine” (the “Helping Hand for Ukraine” project) and “SOS: Civil Defense Headquarters” continues since October 2022. In order to take care of children who suffered from war, our partners united various funds and many entrepreneurs and launched the “For Children of War” project, aimed at the psychological rehabilitation of children from the frontline territories of Ukraine.

Within the framework of this project, children in times of severe stress have the opportunity to “take a break” and visit a camp in Kamianets-Podilskyy (Khmelnytskyi region). The camp offers an entertaining recreation program, master classes and guided tours, as well as psychological trainings for psycho-emotional recovery. The “Helping Hand for Ukraine” project provides the psychological component of this camp: 8 trainers of our project conduct “Children and War. TRT” therapy sessions for school-age children helping the participants to overcome pain, fears, intrusive memories, and other effects of war-related stress.

Thanks to the “Children and War. TRT” program, more than 200 children who attended the camp have already received psychological help (the majority of them are children from Kharkiv and Kherson regions). During therapy sessions, they communicate openly and sincerely and support each other, learn to trust others again. In the process of work, inner peace, confidence, and a sense of security return to them. They draw, play and get excited and happy to receive the presents – backpacks/art-kits with art supplies and warm blankets. The project continues and we are grateful to our partners – “SOS: Civil Defense Headquarters” for organizing the camp and fruitful cooperation, Canada-Ukraine Foundation for financial support, and to all our trainers for their experience, caring hearts and sincere love for children.

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“HOPE worldwide Ukraine” Charity Foundation received an annual grant for 2023 from “HOPE worldwide Canada”, our Canadian partner, and another one from “HOPE worldwide” (USA) as part of a large program of humanitarian and psychological aid to Ukraine, implemented with financial support of the Salvation Army.

Thanks to the support of donors and partners “HOPE worldwide Ukraine” team, within the frames of the “Helping Hand for Ukraine” project, will continue to train new trainers in “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques” methodology, and support psychologists and regional coordinators through educational events and retreats. The team of trainers will provide psycho-social support through psychological therapy and self-help tools to the IDPs, children and parents with war trauma, residents of de-occupied/liberated territories, and also the elderly who are staying in war-affected areas. Also, within the framework of the new grants, the project team will continue to equip safe spaces, where the therapy sessions for children and adults will be conducted by the program trainers

We express our gratitude to our partners and donors for the trust and financial support of Ukraine in these difficult times.

We sincerely thank the volunteers of the “Hope worldwide Ukraine” foundation and everyone who joined and helped us make Christmas gifts for children in Kyiv and Kamianets- Podilskyy during the holidays.

Thanks to the joint volunteer work in Kyiv, small patients of the toxicology department of Kyiv hospital Okhmatdyt received their Christmas gifts. Our volunteers visit this hospital for more than 10 years in a row, giving their time, love and care to the children. This year, they had the opportunity not only to hand over gifts, but also to communicate with children and have fun together. We sincerely thank Maksym and Britan Yakovlevy and Maksym Oliynyk for organizing the event, as well as every volunteer from the youth group of the Kyiv Church of Christ who shared their hearts, love, joy and festive mood with the children.

Also in Kyiv, volunteers delivered 65 “sweet” gifts and dozens of chocolate “Santa Clauses” to children with special needs who live in the capital with their families. Some of them are unable to walk on their own, so their parents or relatives received the gifts for them (on the photo). We are grateful to Oleksandr Kovtun for the initiative, event organization, and his caring heart.

Our special gratitude goes to the Hjælp ukrainske børn foundation and personaly to Lesya Ignatiuk-Eriksen (Denmark, Copenhagen) for financial assistance – 100 gifts “went” to the children’s camp in Kamianets-Podilskyy. Thank you, Oleksandr Kovtun, for organizing the entire process, purchasing and sending gifts. Currently, about 100 children from Kharkiv and Kharkiv region, Kherson and Chornobayivka (Kherson region) are in this camp, and they are receiving psychological help under the program “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques.” This became possible within the framework of the “Helping Hand for Ukraine” project in cooperation with the charitable foundation “SOS: Headquarters of Civil Defense”. We sincerely thank our partner for organizing the camp. Special thanks to the colleagues of the “Helping Hand for Ukraine” project, Iryna and Oleksiy Sukhovy, for the constant contact with the fund in Kamianets-Podilskyy, for collecting needs and monitoring the resolution of all issues. We are also very grateful to the volunteers of the Kyiv Church of Christ for their help and delivery of food for the children of this camp – in December, they sent about 300 kg of cereals, oil and canned food to Kamianets-Podilskyy. Serhiy Shiyan, Pavlo Petryn, Denis Gorbach – thank you very much!!!

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In autumn 2022, several trainings were held for new specialists of the “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques” Program. The new trainers immediately began to put their knowledge into practice and plunged into work. They started to conduct therapy sessions throughout Ukraine and abroad for children and their parents affected by the war. During the entire time, the new trainers were supported by experienced psychologists of the “Helping Hand for Ukraine” Project – Iryna Sukhova, Nataliya Podolyak, Olena Bozhor and Tetyana Oboyanska. Online supervision meetings were held every week for several hours. The participants also worked on weekends, and during air alarms, and even without electricity. Despite rhe hardships, all new specialists received necessary support, answers to their questions, comments and useful tips.

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On December 22, 2022, in Kamianets-Podilskyy, Khmelnytskyy Region, the new trainers of the “Children and War. Teaching Recovery Techniques” Program received the certificates. In a warm friendly atmosphere, the participants of the event shared their impressions of working in groups, as well as their victories and failures. Thanks to the work of these 16 trainers, 120 children and 55 adults in Kamianets-Podilskyy received psychological support and learned effective self-help techniques. These people are mostly IDPs who left their home because of the war and have traumatic experience. Some of them lost their close people, some do not even hope to return home, because everything there has been destroyed by the enemy. But all of them are grateful for the fact that now they have hope and strength to build a new future and a new Ukraine. The new trainers are full of enthusiasm and desire to continue working within the “Children and War” program.

The event was held in fruitful cooperation of “HOPE worldwide Ukraine” and “SOS: Civil Defense Headquarters” Charity Foundations.

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