A Moldovan village welcomes a group of Ukrainian children and their mothers this July. They come from Odessa, where, like almost everywhere in Ukraine, air raid sirens are part of daily life.
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It is a moment of relaxation for Kira, 5 years old, who arrived from Odessa with her mother Alina Nizhnik for a holiday camp in Moldova. Outings, games and plastic arts workshops are planned for the children and the mothers. The opportunity to forget the difficulties of everyday life for a moment. “I came here to rest from the war and the omnipresent anxiety it generatessays Alina. I see Kira is relaxed, relieved. We both feel good here.”
Young Nadia Burenko came with her two children, Miroslava, six months old, and Vova, four years old. They fled from Kherson to Odessa at the beginning of the war. “My son is calm here because there are no warning sirensexplains Nadia. He reacts very badly to these sirens.”
“My son usually goes to kindergarten five days a week and as soon as a siren sounds, the children have to go down to the bunker. It can happen while he is sleeping, while he is playing, and he has to react quickly. It has a psychological impact.”
Nadia Burenko, Ukrainianto franceinfo
The summer camp is organized by the Vent d’est association, established in the village of Horodiste, 100 km north of the Moldovan capital. “We bought the old school which was in ruinssays Tatiana Pagu, co-founder of the organization. We rebuilt this school with the aim of making it an eco-pension that could accommodate people in distress, disadvantaged people.”
A trained kinesiologist, Tatiana also offers psychological support.“It is very important to take care of mothers who raise their children aloneshe explains. But they do everything possible to feel safe, to work with their emotions, their traumas to bring peace to their children next to them.”
According to UNICEF, 4.3 million Ukrainian children are displaced by the war, more than half of the country’s child population.