10,000 Ukrainians participate in Trauma Resource Institute webinars over four days

On February 24, a group of Ukrainian educators from EdCamp, who promote the SEE Learning Program, met with the Trauma Resource Institute requesting immediate humanitarian assistance to provide a series of Community Resiliency Model (CRM) webinars for the Ukrainian people as a result of the Russian invasion. TRI immediately mobilized a team, which included members of our global international network of CRM teachers and translators. Within 24 hours, a program was created and a customized curriculum designed specifically for this crisis was put into motion to offer ongoing support to teachers, parents, and children in Ukraine.

Elaine Miller Karas, a senior consultant to SEE Learning has established a strong relationship with EdCamp while visiting Ukraine at their invitation in 2019. When in Ukraine, Oleksandr Elkin from EdCamp and Elaine developed strong ties that led to the humanitarian offering of a CRM teacher training that was to start in March 2022 as a result of a potential invasion.

Thanks to the platforms of Zoom and Facebook Live, and the incredibly dedicated team of TRI staff and volunteers, TRI provided four daily webinars from February 25th-28th, within 24-hours of the initial request without having to wait for perhaps weeks and preparing the cumbersome logistics of travel as in the past. At this writing, more than 10,000 Ukrainians have viewed the webinars on Facebook Live.

We want to thank our colleagues at Edcamp Ukraine for coordinating the webinars during the most challenging of life events, from shelters and while bombs fall. Among our critical supporters were three translators (Natalia, Vira, and Mattea) all trained in the use of CRM skills who volunteered to translate our materials into Ukrainian immediately in time for each day’s workshop. They also served as both interpreters and direct presenters of the material during the four workshops. This not only aided in communication, but in cultural nuances, and offered us instant feedback directly from their family and friends on the ground.

Stay tuned for more in the coming days as we provide a daily drop-in booster session to continue support as long as is needed starting March 1, 2022. We sent a request for support to our TRI network and to date, scores of individuals have volunteered to help.

We are truly one world with a common humanity. We embrace all who suffer during these unprecedented times.

Below are the links to each of the previous Facebook Live sessions held with EdCamp Ukraine:

• Session 1
• Session 2
• Session 3
• Session 4

We invite any members and communities of PACEs Connection to join with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters on these free sessions, as the TRI trainings can help prevent and heal trauma, and build resilience. These webinars are being used to help people learn how to self-regulate and balance their nervous systems through wellness skills during this time.