During her visit to Zakarpattia, Olena Zelenska, together with the Foundation's team, visited a camp for psychosocial support of children, organized by the "Voices of Children" Charitable Foundation and funded by the Olena Zelenska Foundation.
This summer, all four sessions of the "Voices Camp" took place with the support of the Foundation. A total of 184 children aged 9 to 16 participated, including children with war experience, children living in frontline and de-occupied territories, children who lost their parents, children of military personnel, and other categories of children in need of such programs.
"Children who personally know what war is should not be left alone with their experiences and emotions. Today, we saw firsthand how the camp team provides psychological support to children, while also fostering their creative, athletic, and intellectual talents. Most importantly, it helps them switch focus and find strength within themselves," said Olena Zelenska, the founder of the Foundation.
This summer, children from Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, and other regions were able to attend the "Voices Camp."
"It is crucial for our Foundation to attract foreign investments to support Ukrainian organizations that are competent in their field. Therefore, our partnership with the 'Voices of Children' Foundation is a contribution to helping children who need a professional approach to recovery and rehabilitation," said Nina Horbachova, the Director of the Foundation.
The "Voices Camp" program aims to create a safe space for children where they can not only receive psychological support but also acquire new skills, develop their talents, and make new friends.
The camp team includes experienced psychologists, mentors, and instructors, as well as teenage volunteers aged 16 and older who help children adapt and work on a peer-to-peer basis.
"The programs of our camps are aimed at stabilizing, emotional processing, and social adaptation of children with traumatic war experiences. We study the history of each child who comes to us and adapt the program of each session according to the children's needs. This is a child-centered approach," said Olena Rozvadovska, Chair of the Board of the "Voices of Children" Foundation.
During the visit to the "Voices Camp", Olena Zelenska, along with the children, attended a drawing workshop and participated in a joint session with a child psychologist. In addition, she visited a mine safety session from the Foundation's partner, HALO Ukraine, where children were taught to recognize mines, cluster munitions, and other explosive objects that could threaten their health and lives.
In collaboration with the Olena Zelenska Foundation, HALO Ukraine experts also participated this year in conducting educational sessions at the "Artek-Bukovel" camp, where the Foundation organized a retreat for 1,500 children from large foster families.
"Teaching the youngest Ukrainians to be safe is HALO's important mission. Based on years of experience working with children, we have developed an innovative educational course on explosive risks for the youngest and most vulnerable. The interactive one-hour quest better engages children in the learning process, as it also takes into account their age and individual skills," said Bruce Edwards, Head of Partnerships for HALO Ukraine/The HALO Trust program in Ukraine.
The Foundation's partners who helped fund all the "Voices Camp" sessions this summer include the Estonian Center for International Development (ESTDEV) and a philanthropist from South Korea, Good Steward Inc. FEBC-Korea.
Reference:
The Olena Zelenska Foundation is not supporting camp programs for children with war experience for the first time. Last year, the Foundation funded all sessions of the Gen.Camp rehabilitation camp for children.
Additionally, for the second summer in a row, the Olena Zelenska Foundation has organized retreats for children from large foster families at the "Artek-Bukovel" camp. Last year, about 1,400 children attended, and this year another 1,500 children from large foster families were able to visit the wellness camp.
