Summer vacation at the seaside and meeting with the Pope: gifts from European Caritas to Ukrainian children

Three groups of children from Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr and Odesa are already home, but the flurry of emotions, memories and photos will last for a long time. Currently, children from Vasylkiv are vacationing in Croatia, and children from Zhytomyr met Pope Francis in Italy. Also, by the end of the month, children from Khmelnytskyi will visit Slovenia.

The best result of our Mission's service is the happy eyes of children. The first to go on vacation to Croatia was a group from Vinnytsia. The Vinnytsia team is extremely grateful to Caritas Dubrovačke biskupije and Hrvatski Caritas, who organized this vacation for 45 children. From July 22 to July 31, children of internally displaced persons from a Vinnytsia social hostel and from low-income families spent ten days of summer vacation in Dubrovnik, where they had a chance to take a break from the harsh reality of war. 

The children were hosted by the seminary of the Diocese of Dubrovnik of the Roman Catholic Church. Local entrepreneurs provided meals and tours.

The next to go to Croatia were 16 children from the Zhytomyr parish of the Divine Mercy. Their main task was to rest, travel and swim, and most importantly, to break away from their worries for a while and remember their happy and carefree state. 

According to Fr. Valeriy Dubyna, these children repeatedly heard explosions and hid in the basement of the church, because the parish is located between military units. Many of the children have fathers who joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces, some family members work in the police, and many children were adopted or from large families. Father Valeriy kept a diary of posts on his Facebook page, and in one of them he wrote that in the middle of the vacation, the children began to miss their families and were constantly monitoring the air raid sirens in Zhytomyr.

At the invitation of Caritas Dubrovačke biskupije, children from Odesa also spent their vacation in Dubrovnik. For the children of Odesa, the usual summer vacation at the seaside became impossible because of the war. The Black Sea coast is mined and regularly shelled, and children who grew up near the sea have been waking up to the sound of sirens for six months. The ten-day trip to Dubrovnik for 42 children was made possible with the help of Hrvatski Caritas, which once again gives Ukrainian children the opportunity to see life in bright colors and hope for a happy childhood. The educators who accompanied the group say that although they lived in an old fortress city and had a constant view of the mountains and the sea, the children were very afraid of airplanes. Oksana Ukrainska, a member of the Caritas-Spes Odesa team, said that in the midst of this exotic setting, the sound of an airplane reminded them of the war in Ukraine, and they grabbed their phones to check if there was an air raid in Odesa. 

One day, the children from Odesa visited the War Museum, which focuses on Croatia's struggle for independence in 1991-1995. Many years ago, this country also lived through tragic historical times. "We thought for a long time whether we should take the children to this museum to avoid trauma," says Oksana. "The photos of the destroyed city and the exhibits were very similar to what we are experiencing today. The children saw how a country can recover from war, and we all came to the conclusion that Ukraine will also flourish even more after our victory. This trip was an invaluable sip of rest and hope for them that life goes on and it will definitely be full." 

An important event for the children from Zhytomyr was their meeting with Pope Francis.

The audience took place on August 24, the day Ukraine regained its independence. Pope Francis spoke about the tragedy of war and the suffering of children during military conflicts.

We are sure that our group of children will remember this meeting for a long time. Pope Francis prays for peace for the Ukrainian people, who have been suffering from the horrors of war for six months, and calls the war a real "madness". 

We remind you that six months into the full-scale Russian invasion, 355 children have been killed according to the UN alone. We realize that these are far from complete figures.

A series of summer vacations with seaside recreation organized by our partners at such a difficult time for Ukraine is a real gift for our children. We are grateful to our partners who made it possible for us to give our children a childhood without war, even if only for a short time.