Name of the initiative: "The project of building stress resistance and cultural integration of IDPs in Chernivtsi city community"
Professional psychologists from the Bukovyna State Medical University implemented a project of psychological support for forced migrants of the region as part of the SCLR program. During various events, children and young people shared their experiences, made friends, and group discussions contributed to overcoming stereotypes about IDPs.
As the organizers note, thanks to the events, even the most withdrawn participants were able to find the strength to share their pain and finally breathe a sigh of relief. Thus, a 14-year-old event participant from a front-line town experienced difficult times when her family was forced to flee from the war. She lost her friends, her home, everything. She felt lonely and alien in a new city. At the beginning of the art therapy studio, the girl just sat in silence, but later she saw that she was not alone in such trouble, because nearby her peers openly talked about their similar experiences. Relaxation exercises, discussion of emotions and problems, communication with other teenagers helped the girl. Eventually, she took the courage to share her story of wartime and painful relocation. It was a real release from burdensome experience and worries! The girl felt the support of other members of the group, who understood her pain and fears, which took away the strength to move forward.
Other measures were also implemented in this project.
- Charity literary evening "Unity" in Chernivtsi, str. O. Kobylyanska, 2 (Bukovynskyi media center "Belle Vue").
- Training under the low-intervention program of the WHO "Self-help +" for IDPs and persons affected by the war in the place of collective residence of IDPs (a shelter for IDPs on the basis of a dormitory of the Bukovyna State Medical University).
- A series of art therapy workshops "Land of Dreams" and "My Inner World".
- 82 individual psychological consultations were held for IDPs who suffered as a result of the war in the city of Chernivtsi, at the address of st. Heroiv Maidan, 3 (Medical and Psychological Center of Bukovyna Medical University).
- Psychological intensive in the period from July 8 to 13, 2024, which involved internally displaced persons and residents of the Chernivtsi urban community, in the village of Repuzhyntsi, Chernivtsi region (Sports and recreation camp "Health").
In addition, within the framework of the initiative, ongoing repairs and the purchase of equipment for individual and group work rooms of the Medical and Psychological Center of the BSMU were carried out, which motivated specialists to further volunteer work and the implementation of new initiatives in the community.
The participants of the events of this initiative noted a decrease in the level of anxiety and stress, improvement of interaction between local residents and visitors, between parents and children. The initiative group continues to hold activities for children and young people on a volunteer basis even after the project is completed, in the equipped space for classes on Ruska Street, 255-A in Chernivtsi.