Many volunteer initiatives appeared on the wave of the escalation of the social crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. Public organizations responded to any request – from evacuation of active hostilities areas to arranging accommodation for people who were forced to leave their homes.
It was the requirement of the time – to act without delay and do everything in your power. But the full-scale war has been going on for almost half a year, and the new circumstances require proactivity. To anticipate the need and work on its solution. Providing social services for the communities that took in people fleeing war is one of the ways to develop volunteer initiatives.
“Volunteering UzhNU” was created more than 4 years ago by employees and students of Uzhhorod National University. Before the full-scale invasion, they took care of orphanages and animal shelters. From February 24, volunteers are taking care of people who arrived in the city because of the war to make them feel safe.
We talked to Kristina Tovt, the assistant to the rector of the Uzhgorod National University and the head of the board of the public organization.
– Based on the experience of the Shelter Ukraine initiative, most often the premises of the dormitories were used as shelters. However, you were the first to power a kindergarten based on a dormitory. Tell us how this idea came about.
Our university has 6 dormitories. Already on February 25, people were standing in front of these dormitories – they were forced to leave their homes, and they literally arrived in slippers and bathrobes. These people were saving their lives, and we had to provide them with accommodation. They were resettled through the coordination center of the City Council. At first, 2,500 people lived in our dormitories. Later, someone managed to return home, someone decided to go further abroad, and the number of people was reduced. But there were still more than 1,200 people, primarily women, and children. There were about 450 children in one of the dormitories. Of course, they needed special conditions for comfortable, safe living.
(a kindergarten playroom)
In the beginning, we didn’t even think about providing a kindergarten. At that time, everyone hoped that soon everything would be fine soon, and it would be possible to return home. But it quickly became clear that the situation, unfortunately, will drag on indefinitely. People who came to the city realized that waiting wasn’t an option, and they need to rebuild their lives here in Uzhhorod.
That’s how a problem that no one had thought about before arose: parents needed someone to stay with their children to find work. Thus, we decided to make such a space for children in the reading room of one of the dormitories.
– So here parents could leave their child, like in a regular kindergarten, and have time to solve personal issues?
Not exactly. Our kindergarten is open for four hours in the morning, and parents take their children for lunch and a nap and bring them to additional classes in the afternoon. We don’t have the opportunity to organize meals – it requires other sanitary conditions, and there is not enough space to put beds for all the children. Therefore, we now function as a simplified kindergarten. Even so, parents have an opportunity to get a part-time job and not to worry about where to leave their children.
(a small resident of Poltava who visited the kindergarten)
– Christina, and who works with children? Is it professional teachers and educators?
Yes, of course. Initially, it was a volunteer initiative. Our students, members of a public organization, wanted to help and somehow distract the children from what they had to go through. Children who spent even a short time in the war zones, i.e. did not directly see the fighting but heard the sirens, and the sounds of explosions, arrived with mental disorders. Some were even diagnosed with anxiety disorders. The volunteers worked with them, and over time the anxiety passed. Now the children got used to the new environment and felt safe again. But the students began their studies, someone found a job, and the volunteers did not have as much time to devote to the initiative.
Therefore, we applied for several grant programs and received financial support. With the founding grants, we were able to equip the space better. If at the beginning there were only soft toys and carpets brought by the volunteers, now our kindergarten has furniture and even a TV. Also, thanks to financial support, we could provide salaries for educators and teachers.
There are two teachers who currently work in the kindergarten. We also have teachers who conduct classes in English, logic, arts, and rhythm. Of course, there is a professional psychologist who works with children. Other public organizations also join us and help: they provide entertainment events for children.
(a kindergarten’s team)
– Are they also university employees?
Yes, these are university professors with relevant knowledge and experience.
– And does the organization help the parents find a job?
We work with parents rather on a point-by-point basis. Unfortunately, we simply do not have enough resources. The university now supports more than 1,000 people who have received the DPs status (internally displaced persons, editor’s note). But we still haven’t been compensated for utility bills, for example. And we pay as legal entities, that is, the sums are large. Now more people are living in the rooms. Accordingly, we have higher costs of communal services. That’s why the university does not hire anyone – there are no finances for salaries.
In general, the problem of employment in the city already exists and will only become more acute in the future. Many enterprises have reduced the number of employees. And such a situation is not only in Uzhhorod, unfortunately.
Read also: How to make refugees a part of a community: a story of the Drogobych shelter team
– How do you see the prospect of kindergarten? Will you close it if, for example, people leave the city?
I do not think that people will go en masse. Of course, someone managed to return home, mainly Kyiv and the region. But there are still many people in Uzhhorod who simply don’t have where to go. These are people from Kharkiv, Luhansk, Odesa, and Mykolaiv regions. We conducted an internal survey among the dormitory residents, and lots of people said they would like to stay in the city.
But even if people leave, the problem of the lack of kindergartens remains relevant for Uzhgorod. Before the full-scale war, there were not enough places even for locals, but now the number of residents has grown significantly, and the problem has worsened.
(initially, the children’s area was equipped by volunteers)
In the future, the initiative can be developed into a kindergarten for university employees and students. Not everyone has the opportunity, for example, to leave a child with their parents, someone who studies or works for the first or second shift. That is, there is a request. Also, our university has a department of pedagogy, and for students, working in a kindergarten could be a basis for practice. We are constantly thinking about how we can expand or transform the initiative.
– Who makes decisions about the development of the initiative?
There involve university team includes the rector, vice-rector, and teachers. We constantly interact, discuss the vision, test some ideas and remove the ones that don’t work
(the organization purchased equipment and furniture with grant funds)
– Indeed, it is vital that the team has a shared vision. And how do you see the scaling of the project?
In September, once again, thanks to granting support, we want to open a psychological assistance room based in one of the dormitories. There will be individual and group classes, as well as career guidance specialists. We’ve already introduced the Ukrainian language courses and basic skills of using gadgets.
On the basis of the library, we make a co-working space for students and teachers who evacuated from Kharkiv and other regions to have the opportunity to both study and work. We plan to modernize the first floor of one dormitory to make it inclusive. That is, to take into account the needs of all the people who came to the city and stayed with us.
At the same time, we can already see the challenges that await us. The Ministry of Education now says that the dormitories must be freed for students. The local authorities ask not to evict people because there is no place to settle them in the city. Of course, they plan to build housing, but this is a long-term perspective. Therefore, we are now trying to create conditions both for our students and for forced residents of dormitories. So as not to deny anyone a settlement.
The Shelter Ukraine initiative emerged to organize comfortable conditions for living in safer regions of Ukraine and reduce the outflow of Ukrainians abroad. It united four organizations — SILab Ukraine, “Teple misto”, Valores Foundation and VPLYV FUND with financial support of ChildFund Deutschland.
