On June 1st, the whole world celebrates Children's Day. Children are our future generation, and we have to protect them and enable them to grow and develop their potential. No one should take away their fundamental rights to life, education, or leisure.
Let us tell you what activities the Kateryna Biloruska Foundation has prepared in Ukraine and Cyprus. In addition to active leisure activities to support children’s physical and mental health, the Foundation presented a new project to familiarize the community with children’s rights.
Activities in Cyprus. Helping athletes, B-RIGHT training, and more
On June 1st, the President and members of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Special Olympics invited the founder of the charity Foundation Kateryna Biloruska to a press conference dedicated to this year’s Special Olympics World Summer Games and a delegation from Cyprus.
Since January 2023, the Foundation has been supporting the Cyprus Special Olympics. In cooperation, we opened a horseback riding group for children with mental disabilities. For the World Games, the Foundation took a young athlete Niki Theodorou under its care as part of the “Adopt an athlete” project and ensured her participation in the Special Olympics in Berlin this year. The Foundation covers the costs of travel, accommodation, and participation in the Special Olympics World Games so that she can become one step closer to her dream.
In addition, on Children’s Day, a basketball training session was held in Cyprus as part of the B-RIGHT child protection project. It was held with the support of the Kateryna Biloruska Foundation, the Commissioner for Children’s Rights (Cyprus), and the Peace Players organization.
It was also planned for the children in Cyprus to have a weekly training session – canoe swimming. However, due to weather conditions, the training did not take place, but the children of the inclusive group were awarded medals and had a good time with friends!
The day before, Kateryna Biloruska also attended a horseback riding training session for children with disabilities.
Inclusive basketball training in Zhytomyr region
On Children’s Day, the Kateryna Biloruska Foundation opened another group for children with disabilities in Ukraine. Thus, the Foundation has expanded the geography of the inclusive program “Yes, I Can!”. A new training center for children with disabilities has been opened at the Kmytiv Special School in Zhytomyr Oblast.
We held an open inclusive basketball training session with the foundation’s team and coaches from other cities. It was attended by 20 children, including members of the Special Olympics of Ukraine from the Zhytomyr region, who will attend the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin.
The children could have an active time, practice basketball, and receive a lot of positive emotions. Ukrainian basketball champion Platon Khyzhnyak led the warm-up. In the end, he presented the children’s team with his autographed ball. He also took an active part in the game.
For even more motivation, the Foundation provided the children of the special school with basketball equipment to play sports in and out of class regularly.
The group was opened as part of the “Yes, I Can!” program of physical development and support for children with disabilities and special educational needs through sports.
The program’s partner in this region is the Zhytomyr Oblast Office of the Special Olympics of Ukraine.
Additional information. The “Yes, I Can!” is a comprehensive program of physical development and support of children with disabilities and special educational needs through sports. It offers systematic inclusive classes in various sports and develops talented children-athletes with disabilities in professional sports. Such inclusive training helps children improve their physical and mental health, forget about bullying and rejection, find new friends, and socialize.
“Unfortunately, there are still stigmas and stereotypes, even among parents who worry that society does not accept their children, so they limit their children’s free involvement in sports. In its programs and projects, the Foundation seeks to break down prejudice and stigma and build a tolerant society”
– added Anzhela Fokina.
Excursion to the Klitschko Museum, cheat meals, and more
Also, June 1st is another opportunity to remind everyone that every child has every right to be protected, develop, and learn for a better future. Therefore, the Foundation’s team organized activities for young athletes from the “Sports Mentor” and “Yes, I Can!” programs who came from different cities.
The children and the Foundation’s team attended an excursion to the Klitschko Museum. Afterward, tired but happy children went to a joint lunch at KFC, which the restaurant kindly invited.
Also, on Children’s Day, the participants of the “Yes, I Can!” program in Lutsk visited McDonald’s after training, and the Kyiv group of children immersed themselves in Ukrainian culture and attended a screening of the cartoon “Mavka” in a cinema.
We congratulated all our inclusive training students on Children’s Day. They received gifts to help them engage in physical activity, both in and out of physical education classes. After all, all children have the right to sports and a happy childhood. And the foundation’s programs create all the conditions for this.
Presentation of the B-RIGHT project for children
On June 1st, the KB Foundation also announced for the first time a vital project to protect children’s rights – B-RIGHT, which is being implemented in Ukraine with the support of international experts from Peace Players and KB Foundation partners.
The Foundation is already implementing the project in Cyprus, but it has become especially relevant for Ukraine. The project aims to help children and the community learn about their rights through simple basketball exercises that all children can master without exception. The fact is that children are not always aware of their rights or do not realize when they are violated. With the help of the project, physical education teachers and basketball coaches will have free access to a unique guide that contains theoretical and practical materials for classes and will be able to disseminate this knowledge.
In Kmytiv, Zhytomyr Oblast, children had the opportunity to learn about their rights and have fun through basketball.
You can find out what exercises the children performed by downloading the free B-RIGHT project guide with exercises here. In the future, they can be used by both teachers and parents in training, physical education classes, and outside of school.
We want to add that the main goal of the KB Foundation is to involve more children in sports, physical activity and innovative education and to support their mental health. We strive to achieve this in our programs and projects every day, not just on a specific day of the year.
We care about the future generation!
