“I come here to meet my friends. We are one with them...”
The Zhytomyr Family Support Center employs teachers, psychologists, and speech therapists, and classes with groups of children of different ages are held almost every day
“We need to choose a leader who will ‘show’ the melody, and your task is to guess it,” says Ms. Alesya, a speech therapist at the KSU Family Support Center in Zhytomyr. The children listen intently, offer their suggestions, and joke around.
Teacher Daryna hands out a written assignment. A new lesson begins. It's easy and relaxed, in the form of a game. In the next room, another group of children is getting ready for an English class. And then there will be a creative master class.
Danya and Pavlo are busy with a construction set. “What are you building?” we ask. “Tanks.” “To fight?” “No, just to play. A little more and they’ll be ready. We’ll show you!”
A center of warmth, openness, friendliness, and genuine childlike joy. You could go on listing synonyms for kindness, and they would all be true. At the Zhytomyr Family Support Center, everyone feels at home. Everyone is treated like part of a big family. “I come here to meet my friends. We are one with them,” explains Dania.
For the fourth year in a row, the childhood of young Ukrainians has been overshadowed by war. We, as the Caritas community, are trying to bring at least a little sunshine, comfort, and a sense of security to boys, girls, and their parents. Each of us needs attention and understanding today.
Together with our partners from Caritas Poland, and with the participation of the Polish Aid program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Caritas-Spes Ukraine is implementing a project of Family Support Centers, where teachers, speech therapists, and psychologists work with children of different ages. Adults can also receive psychological counseling and case manager assistance. “Unfortunately, Ukrainians today are in great need of psychological support, and this need will only grow over time,” says Sister Gabriela Dushynska, coordinator of the Family Support Center in Zhytomyr. "Almost every day, except weekends, our center holds classes on various topics for children of different age groups. There is a lot of interest from teenagers, and we are very pleased about that."
Ukrainian families today have a great need for the help of speech therapists. “In fact, every family today has someone on the front lines or is experiencing loss. Children are under stress and need attention and understanding. All children need our support,” says speech therapist Ms. Alesia.
Zhytomyr Family Support Center launched as part of the project “Improving the quality and access to psychological assistance for children and their families in Kharkiv, Odesa, Zhytomyr, and Vinnytsia family support centers in Ukraine,” which Caritas Spes Ukraine is implementing in cooperation with Caritas Poland.
The project is co-financed by the Polish development cooperation program “Polish Aid” of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.
The publication expresses solely the opinion of the author and cannot be considered as the official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.
