Ukraine

Though much humanitarian aid is being sent to Eastern and Western Ukraine, Central Ukraine has received little help even though it is the first, and often the last, stop for families fleeing hotspots like Mariupol, Kherson, and Bakhmut. Families who lost their documents in the relentless bombings, those who had to flee quickly and didn’t think to grab documents, and war orphans who didn’t even know there were important documents to take, cannot register as refugees and therefore don’t receive help from humanitarian programs. These are the families in the area we targeted, which is located several hundred kilometers SE of Kyiv. They are struggling to survive as refugees, and education is one of the casualties.

Our partner in Ukraine is Alessia. We have been working indirectly with Alessia since the start of the war, and she works tirelessly, for no pay, to meet the needs of the many refugees passing through or settling in her area. Over the past year she and her volunteer team (themselves refugees) have cooked and served tens of thousands of meals, distributed water and firewood to countless families, provided medicine and bandages to the sick and injured, and made many dangerous trips to hot spots to evacuate vulnerable families. She also began an agriculture program last summer to help more than a hundred of the most vulnerable families provide for themselves. It soon became apparent, however, that education was another important need.

Many of the war orphans who settled in Alessia’s area do not live close enough to a school to attend in person, and there is no computer or smart phone they can borrow to access lessons on line. They not only faced the trauma of war and the death of one or both parents, they lost their opportunity for an education. We decided to change that by funding the creation of an informal school with shared computers, printers, generator (the electrical grid has been a frequent casualty in the war), and other equipment needed so children can access lessons and take tests online. There is one paid teacher (a trained physicist) who teaches upper-level math and science and numerus volunteer teachers. A regional school is providing oversight. Boys as well as girls are receiving help with this project, so a partner organization funded half the costs to help the boys while we funded the girls.

Diana’s Story

One girl who attends the school is Diana. She is from the Kherson area, and she experienced much trauma during the Russian occupation. She is now very fearful and stutters as a result. Children at a public school she tried to attend laughed at her, which made her even more withdrawn. But now, at Alessia’s school, she is no longer afraid and she is learning to read. Working with traumatized children requires more than just academic support. It requires the ability to deal also with the psychological trauma the children carry. Alessia and her team are always very gentle, patient, and loving, and the children are responding beautifully to their care.