Providing art therapy sessions for young people in Ukraine

Thank you for all your generous donations that we have received to support vital work with young people in Ukraine

Tetiana Bielousova - -the head of NGO MOLOTOK gives us updates about projects and future plans.

During the last 6 months, we have intensified our work with children and young people in our community and are finally launching art camps.

Our work is now taking place in two locations: Nyzhnye Selyshche, a village in Khust region, where we conduct trainings, seminars, camps, and Khust, where we work with young people on a daily basis.

To reach more people, in October 2023, we decided to rent a room in Khust- regional centre, where we started creating a free safe space for children and young people and called it "YO", which means "YES" in local dialect. "YO" is a place where you can learn, communicate, create and relax in safe environment. ( https://www.facebook.com/prostirYO )

At present, it offers weekly photo and video creation classes, poing lessons, chess lessons for children under 13, a youth discussion club, meetings for all age groups to weave camouflage nets, that are sent to protect people on a front line, a game library, and film club.

In addition, a number of trainings were organised in Khust community schools on media literacy and discussion of community issues, a literary and poetic evening, and a photo therapy project STAY STRONG PHOTO STORIES with a photographer from the Netherlands Karine Zenja Versluis , with the support of Framer Framed and Experience Ukraine and beyond.

In April 2024, we held the first week long residential workshop meeting with our future colleagues about organising art therapy camps for children affected by the war. At this meeting, we discussed together different aspects of organising such events , worked with a psychologist and therapist to determine differences of working and communicating with effected children, developed a programme and action plan so that the first camp could be held in June.

We are pleased that in such a short time we have managed to reach more than 200 people of all ages and found volunteers that would like to be a part of our project.

Our plans for the next 6 months.

- Organising and conducting at least 4 art camps for children affected by the war in Ukraine

- Continuing the activities of the space for young people; establishing cooperation with other NGOs of the Khust community to expand the number of programmes in the space

- Developing a new direction for working with young mothers and their children, creating a safe place where young parents can communicate and develop with their children

- Developing a psychological training for artists working with children and young people traumatised by the war in Ukraine.

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