At the beginning of July, the first session of the summer camp started in Kharkiv. This is a joint project of the charitable foundations A-help Ukraine and “Global2000 Charity Fund for Children of Ukraine”. The activities take place on the premises of a children’s development center.
“The idea of the camp was not new. Before the full-scale invasion, we used to have fun and interesting camps during every vacation at our center. In the conditions of wartime, children are in great need of resocialization and psychological support. Therefore, the focus of the camp became the rehabilitation of children,” says Irina Pushai, a creativity teacher and project manager.
The program of psychological rehabilitation for children aged 7 to 15 was developed by her and the psychologist, art therapist, and corrective pedagogue Irina Vodomirova.
“We developed a sustainable project ‘My Interesting Vacation’ and reached out to our partners, the charitable foundation ‘Global2000’, for financial support. The first session, which included 7-8-year-old children, has already taken place. We had 12 children participating: from large and low-income families, families of internally displaced persons, and families of servicemen,” adds Irina.
The camp operates from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM, with two-week sessions and a total of four sessions. An hour and a half is spent with a group of children, working with a psychologist and an assistant. Children communicate, learn self-regulation methods in stressful situations, and learn to cope with fear, sadness, and anger.
“All of this happens in a friendly circle where children, in addition to everything else, learn to respect each other, listen attentively, and share thoughts and emotions. Engaging and diverse psychological games and activities make the program easy to comprehend. Moreover, we keep journals that the children decorate themselves, where we record our mood every day, complete tasks, and place useful information and reminders about what we did during the sessions,” says Irina.
The schedule also includes snacks and walks. Then, the sessions begin, including masterclasses where children unleash their creative potential. According to Irina, art therapy is very popular among the children—they sculpt, draw, and engage in sand therapy. On July 7th, a mine safety training took place in the camp, conducted by employees of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region.
The children’s camp became possible due to the support of Austrian donors. Thank you!
Photo: A-help Ukraine Foundation