Help Ukraine's refugees to make a new start

Dear friends, we are glad to share some autumn news from our project for the internally displaced people from the Eastern Ukraine. 

We keep helping Kiev Clinical Hospital that hosts many people from the ATO zone and internally displaced people with the post-traumatic syndrome. To help patients recover quickly and improve their emotional and psychological state, we provided a rehabilitation room with the musical therapy equipment. Thus a rehabilitation room, that we opened in August, got a musical center and its library got new books. 

And on October 8 we organized a festive program for the hospital patients. The program was dated to the Day of Defender of Ukraine, the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Day of Ukrainian Cossacks. The concert was prepared by the students of folklore, singing and  choreography departments of the Kyiv Children's School of Arts No 2. 

At the concert we met a wonderful lady Lesya from Luhansk region who introduced her life and her art to us. Lesya is a professional artist, skilled watercolorist with the unique wet watercolor technique. She moved to Kyiv before the war started. As soon as her homeland faced the tragic events, she started to repeatedly visit the Donbass area with the humanitarian mission. She was organizing exhibitions for people staying in ATO zone and for soldiers, encouraging people with her art and her stories. After she herself became the hospital patient, facing serious health problems, she didn’t stop her activity. As one of the steps she organized her solo exhibition by the proposal of the hospital administration and the patients.  

We keep helping families located at the border, by online communication and transferring the necessary things to them. There are few families who are our constant beneficiaries. One of them is Christina - single mother with two children. Christina was happy to get clothes and other necessary things. So we are passing her thanks to all of you!

Thank you, our dearest friends, that your support makes all this work possible!  We wish you a wonderful upcoming Christmas holidays and warm winter as well!

Links:

• Concert in the Kiev Clinical Hospital
• Article about Lesya

Dear friends, we want to share summer news from our project for the internally displaced families from the Eastern Ukraine. 

During this summer period, as it was vacation for all children, we focused on helping summer camp for internally displaced children that accepted about 350 kids. Few times we visited the camp with colourful master-classes, treatments and humanitarian help for kids and their families. The most impressive was Vytynanka master-class where kids had to invent their family tree, draw it on colored paper and cut it out.

In cooperation with the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation we organized art-therapy workshop for 27 internally displaced kids with the specially invited enchanting artist Mrs. Venera. Children were painting their mood and dreams on canvas with gouache, with the help of Women’s Federation volunteers. Every child had the opportunity to get advice from the professional artist. 

During this summer our volunteers several times visited IDP families with the integration aid. At the same time we gifted lots of charitable help based on each family needs. There were things and clothes for different ages for children and adults, stationery, refreshments and so on. 

We repeatedly transfer the necessary personal hygiene items, canned goods, cookies, sweets, cosmetics, socks and much more to families located at the border, in areas adjacent to the ATO. 

On the occasion of Ukraine Independence Day, on August 22, Women’s Federation together with partners opened a rehabilitation room in the Kiev Clinical Hospital. The hospital hosts many people from the ATO zone and internally displaced people with the post-traumatic syndrome. The room got a library, paintings, a TV, in the future we will establish a music center there. The opening ceremony started on the stage with the musical entertainment and awarding of all medical personnel and partners. And it continues with communicating with the first patients of the newly established rehabilitation room. People entrusted their tear-jerking stories of escaping from war. 24-years old Sergey was running away from the war zone at night, and when he could so exhausted that he could only crawl, all the abdomen was finally worn to the internal organs. After that, in a serious condition the guy did a skin transplant more than once. 8-years old Katya witnessed her dad and mom dying from gunshots and wounds. After that the girl stopped talking. Now she is in treatment. 

Such moving stories and people’s sincere emotional and practical needs can’t leave us indifferent. And we are very grateful that all this work we can do thanks to your support, our dear friends!  

Links:

• Opening of the rehabilitation room for IDPs
• Art-therapy workshop