UKRAINE: Children experiencing war attend summer camps
Salesians hold summer youth camp in Kyiv for children impacted by war
(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries in Ukraine are trying their best to provide a sense of safety and normalcy for children faced with war. On Aug. 1, Salesian Youth Summer Camp began in Kyiv. The camp provided games, foot races, outdoor snacks, jokes, small art workshops, times for reflection, moments of sharing and opportunities for growth through service. Salesians launched the summer camp with a video, circulated on social networks, to inform children and their parents that the camp was available.
“We go to the villages in the northwestern part of the Kyiv region, which have been occupied by the Russian army for almost two months, and we offer support to the children who have stayed and have been victims of this war,” said Father Maksym Ryabukha, rector of the Salesian community in Kyiv. In the coming weeks, Salesians are also hoping to provide summer camps in the Chernobyl area and the Poltava region in a village where refugee families are hosted.
Despite the difficulties of carrying out such initiatives in a country still suffering from bombings and aggression, Fr. Ryabukha and his team of are highly motivated because they have an important mission to accomplish. He added, “We try to make young people who have seen death in their faces and who are searching for life with all their strength live at least a few serene moments.”
Salesian missionaries around the globe are working to provide financial and material donations to help people still in Ukraine and refugees in bordering countries. Even Salesians in the poorest countries have stepped up in some way to support the efforts.
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Sources:
ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)
ANS – Ukraine – Salesian Youth Summer Camp in Kyiv. Desire for normality and peace is stronger than war
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