Ukrainian children join a “journalism club” with help from IDP-founded NGO

PORUCH-SPACE project by IDP-found NGO PORUCH for psychological support, socialization, and adaptation of displaced children created free clubs to help kids find friends, develop, and learn new things.

Rubryka reports that one such club is a journalism club that Reuters correspondent Rod Nickel recently visited.

What is the problem?

Amid russia's full-scale war, many Ukrainian families with children have been torn away from their homes due to shelling or occupation. In a new location, parents try to find ways to earn a living and create a new home for their kids, so children require even more support from outside since the family is often more concerned about survival, not the development of their kids.

"Children are our future, and our lives depend on their emotional state and psychological health… Children left their toys, familiar streets, friends, and kindergartens in their hometown, and we are trying to do everything so that they adapt to the new environment! Found new friends and toys and had a good time," the project organizers say.

What is the solution?

PORUCH-SPACE offers a lot of activity classes. Two thousand five hundred children already attend free clubs, develop and learn new things.

Professional teachers, artisans, and psychologists are involved in the space. Fifteen groups and additional exciting activities are held monthly to organize children's leisure time. One such activity is a journalism club recently visited by Reuters reporter Rod Nickel who specializes in covering natural disasters and natural phenomena; he also witnessed two wars: in Afghanistan and Ukraine.

The journalist spent a week in Kherson. According to Rod, in Ukraine, he was impressed by people who, despite everything, choose their right to life.

How does it work?

Volunteers of the PORUCH NGO always try to invite interesting guests to the children who can inspire them and give them motivation and strength to create and develop.

On March 10, Reuters journalist Rod Nickel visited a journalism group for children and teenagers organized by PORUCH.

The club students prepared questions, and Rod spoke sincerely and openly about his work and family. He told them about his Ukrainian roots: his grandparents are from Zaporizhzhia, the southeastern city in Ukraine.

At the end of the lesson, the journalist gave the children professional advice and worked with them on the newspaper layout that the group published.

The volunteers of the PORUCH union are very grateful to Rod Nickel for his visit and hope for other equally interesting meetings in the future.

Reference

Currently, the PORUCH union conducts 15 permanent free clubs for displaced children within the PORUCH-SPACE project. It also helps IDPs in Kyiv and regularly goes on humanitarian missions to the East of Ukraine.

Those who want to support the union can do so on the website or social media at @SpilkaPoruch.