Natalia and her son Yaroslav, who is 7 years old, have lived in the town of Kazanka in Mykolaiv oblast all their lives. On the morning of February 24, 2022, Natalia woke up and started getting ready for work as usual. "I called my sister and asked her when she was planning to go out, and she said: "What work? There's a war in the country!" At that moment, it became very scary. We gathered the whole family together in the house and waited to see what would happen next," she says.
Natalia works as a chemistry and computer science teacher at a local school. She has dreamed of working with children since she was a little girl: "I really like my job. When I was studying, I didn't know what specialty I would choose. But in the 8th grade I had a chemistry teacher and she became my mentor. Since then, I decided that I wanted to be a teacher, too, and then I got a degree in my specialty."
The woman says that when the war started, her family had strong feelings. Her son was very afraid, especially of loud noises. Like many children in Ukraine, Yaroslav had been studying online for a long time. Because of this, he rarely saw his friends and could spend his leisure time with them. Recently, a child-friendly space was opened at his school as part of the "Preparing schools to be sites of social cohesion" project, which he attends, where he can develop and get away from the situation.
"My child really enjoys spending time here, especially since when we were often at home, my son did not attend kindergarten. It's great that they opened such a space in our community, my son is enthusiastic and looks forward to coming here, especially during the break when he has nothing to do, so it's very good."
In the space, children are helped and taught, and there are many different games for all ages. Children often get together and communicate with both their peers and older children. This helps them socialize, interact properly with others, and teaches them to cooperate.
"I play and socialize with my friends in the space. My favorite game is a construction set. I like to put together different parts and use the tools to make different things. I really like going to the space, here we build towers and jump on balls. I would like to come here every day because it's fun," says Yaroslav.
Now Natalia works at a school, conducts classes with children, helps her son with his studies, and together with her son they attend clubs such as dancing and football. But she still has some worries: "The main problem is the threat to the lives of my family, friends, my students and everyone around me."
The woman says that her main motivation now is her children. She wants them to grow up successful and healthy no matter what: "I try to do my best for them so that they see only good things and are happy. I believe that our future will be bright and happy."
Terre des hommes is implementing the project "Preparing schools to be sites of social cohesion", with the support of the project "EU4ResilientRegions – Special Assistance Programme Ukraine", implemented by the German Federal Company "Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit" (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Government.
