Support Ukrainian Blue Cross work & refugees

Dear supporters,

Your contributions have made a great difference during the past years. In Poland and Romania, our local Blue Cross organizations have been able to support Ukrainian refugee families and youth in their new circumstances, far away from home. In order to prevent social exclusion of people who face trauma, Blue Crosses have arranged activities including individual support and youth activities. At the community level, we have facilitated discussions with local communities, and with summer camps, we have helped the youth to visit various local services and places to familiarize themselves with their new surroundings.

In addition to all this, prevention needs advocacy work to tackle any structures that may cause somebody to be left behind. IBC has identified a need to concentrate on supporting refugee youth and their local peers at schools through life skills education.

As a result of generous funding from GlobalGiving, we will now continue supporting the youth through school-based programs, after school clubs, parents' evenings, and community action. We have been busy setting everything up and training the facilitators in life skills facilitation skills. We believe that life skills will make a big difference for youth to make  good and heathy choices in their life. Life Skills protect from alcohol and other drug use, mental health problems and from social exclusion.

In the field of education, IBC promotes the personal and social development of young people. The WHO has identified 10 core Life Skills as essential for healthy adolescent development. These contribute to preventing risk behaviours for non communicable diseases such as alcohol and other drug use, by enabling young people to translate knowledge, atti-tudes, and values into concrete actionable abilities. By internalizing these Life Skills as core competencies, young people improve their self-efficacy, self-confidence, and self-esteem. Consequently, they are more likely to adopt and sustain a healthy lifestyle into adulthood. In our project countries trained Life Skills trainers conduct sessions during regular school lessons. These are complemented by extracurricular activities such as sports, art, music, debates, and theatre. The sessions emphasise the development of Life Skills, believing that the preventative behaviour change will translate to a wide range of behaviours. Discussion topics then deepen knowledge of specific aspects such as addiction, HIV, discrimination, violence, and gender issues in line with the project objectives.

We look forward to sharing more in months to come! Thank you for your support!

We are a large family with parents and 6 children.

On February 24, 2022, our life changed dramatically, a war began in our country. Rocket attacks and shelling were directed at our city. There were very frequent air raids and loud explosions. We were expecting the birth of our sixth child. It was dangerous to leave, so we stayed at home. Our children had to sleep in the corridor on the floor, as the sirens sounded both day and night. Our youngest  was born to the sound of sirens and the first days of life had to be sheltered in the basement of the maternity hospital. In October and November, massive missile attacks on the energy structure of Ukraine began, as a result of which most of it was destroyed. We were forced to live for several days without electricity, respectively without heat, water, the ability to cook food and wash with warm water. These circumstances made our life difficult, as there was a baby in my family. Our children were morally and psychologically exhausted by life without the necessary amenities and in the regime of constant air raids and explosions, so we made the decision to leave for a safe country.

On January 14, 2023, we left the country and went to Romania. Romania received us warmly and kindly. Since then, our life has changed a lot. Our children sleep peacefully in comfortable beds and do not wake up from explosions. We have heat, electricity, water, internet for children's education and everything necessary for a comfortable stay. Thanks to the care of the "Blue Cross" our children have a full and healthy life, school, hobbies and friends.

We wish God's blessing to everyone involved in helping our family. Sincere thanks from us and our children.

Family that is safe