Community Support for Ukrainian Refugee Children

Jonathan Wilson 5/9/224:55 AM

Ukrainian Child Refugees

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine over 5.6 millions refugees have fled the fighting with over 3M going to Poland and another 800K to Romania. In Poland 50% of these refugees are children and in Romania it is 35%.

This community at PACEs Connection knows all about trauma and the effects ACEs can have on child development so I will focus on describing what we are doing about it.

OpSAFE International has been working with mass trauma for the last fourteen years with over 30,000 children in nine nations after natural disasters, conflicts, and displacement. There are some unique features of mass trauma that might be different from other adverse experiences faced in childhood.

1. Scale - Because mass trauma affects whole populations there are never enough mental health resources to meet all of the needs.

2. Disruption of Community - Children depend primarily on close community support from family, friends, teachers and institutions to weather adversity. Mass trauma events disrupt these vital protective systems.

3. Displacement - As refugees move, again communities are disrupted. While they might be provided access to schools, healthcare, and protections in their host communities, children need to be connected to these new supports in child-friendly ways.

OperationSAFE Camps

OpSAFE International targets the most vulnerable children to this kind of trauma, aged 6-12, and trains and equips their community to provide psychological first-aid specifically for children. We recruit youth aged 13-18 to participate as volunteers so that they can benefit as well. The PFA is designed as a 5 day camp with a curriculum sharing five themes helping children know that they are safe, be calm, find hope, know that they are not powerless, and that they are connected to community.

But the content is just part of what is happening at an OperationSAFE camp. Children often say that the camp is the 'most fun they have ever had.' As they sing, dance, play games, do crafts, listen to stories, enjoy snacks, and try new activities in small groups of five children with a volunteer leader, they sense that,

1. They are safe,

2. It is ok to play, laugh, and be a child again,

3. They are not alone, but have friends and helpful adults around them,

4. They are now part of a community that is going to help each other get through this.

Even more importantly, as the children begin to 'restart', the youth and adults around them start to process some of the same lessons so that they can better help the children.

Poland and Romania

This month we are starting training of trainers in Warsaw and Krakow in Poland, and Bucharest in Romania, to spread OperationSAFE camps to refugees displaced across these countries. Our hopes and prayers are that the fighting will end soon in Ukraine so that children displaced within that nation can also benefit from OperationSAFE camps as well.

https://twitter.com/opsafeintl/status/1517124788795617280?s=21&t=dqEKWAMce0jcbIav94ex_w

Blessings,

Jonathan Wilson

Director,

OpSAFE International

Add Comment

Comments (2)

Newest · Oldest · Popular

Jonathan WilsonMember

Indeed Frank, no child should be considered disposable.

But the sad reality is that most crises around the world are merely local. They are the countless fires, floods, industrial accidents, and conflicts that are barely noticed by the rest of their own country, let alone the international news.

This is why we train local communities how to help their own children and build resilience. They do care, they will be there after others have left, and they know their own situation best.

Blessings,

Jonathan Wilson

5/9/225:02 PM

Frank Sterle Jr.Member

"There are some unique features of mass trauma that might be different from other adverse experiences faced in childhood. ..."

_______

But owing to the Only If It’s In My Own Back Yard mindset, the prevailing collective attitude (implicit or subconscious) basically follows: ‘Why should I care — my kids are alright?’ or ‘What is in it for me, the taxpayer, if I support programs for other people’s troubled families?’ While some people will justify it as a normal thus moral human evolutionary function, the self-serving OIIIMOBY can debilitate social progress, even when social progress is most needed. And it seems this distinct form of societal penny wisdom but pound foolishness is a very unfortunate human characteristic that’s likely with us to stay.

Sadly, human beings can actually be consciously or subconsciously perceived and treated as though they’re disposable and, by extension, their suffering is somehow less worthy of external concern, even in democratic and relatively civilized nations. (It's something similar to how human smugglers perceive their cargo when choosing that most immoral line of business.)

A somewhat similar inhuman(e) devaluation is also observable in external perceptions/attitudes [typically by the Western world], albeit perhaps on a subconscious level, toward the daily civilian lives lost in protractedly devastating war zones and famine-stricken nations; the worth of such life will be measured by its overabundance and/or the protracted conditions under which it suffers and/or even its lack of ‘productivity’. ... No one should ever be considered disposable.

5/9/224:15 PM

Skip to main content

Add Comment

Membership Required

Remove From Your Block List

Manage Follow Preferences

Block

Please wait...