On November 18, in Warsaw, the international charitable foundation Parimatch Foundation and Tania Stus, a Ukrainian children’s writer, presented the first Ukrainian collection of children’s therapeutic audio fairy tales — “The Secret Stories of Small and Big Victories”. The presentation took place on the basis of CHILDREN HUB, which was created by the Future for Ukraine charitable foundation for temporarily displaced persons from Ukraine.
“The Secret Stories of Small and Big Victories” is a collection of 10 therapeutic stories designed to educate children about the complex issues that arise due to the experience of war. The project is aimed at supporting Ukrainian children affected by Russian aggression.
“In Ukraine, the presentation of the project took place in October of this year. This is not the first project implemented under the Mental Health program. Its goal is to provide quality care to children and their parents. This collection is not just about telling a story, it is an auxiliary tool for children who are going through the traumatic experience of this war. Unfortunately, there are a lot of such children. It was an important task for the Foundation as the initiator of the project to make it effective and accessible. And today we are presenting our therapeutic fairy tales in Poland, where the largest number of internally displaced persons from Ukraine are located, the majority of which are mothers with children,” — said Anzhela Fokina, operating director of the Parimatch Foundation.
The collection was written by Ukrainian children’s writer Tania Stus, and psychological supervision of fairy tales was performed by psychologist Svitlana Roiz. Marta Koshulinska became the illustrator of the project. The voice of the project is the famous Ukrainian singer Alyosha (Olena Topolia).
“In these stories, many people can see themselves, their loved ones, friends, famous and distant heroic warriors from the news and even their own things. The whole country is living through the experience of transforming confusion into strength, pain into healing and loss into achievement. “The Secret Stories” is a tool for making such transformations happen for children too,” — said children’s writer Tania Stus.
One of the fairy tales is based on the real story of the Ukrainian military Oleksandr Chaika. In a fierce battle with the invaders, the Ukrainian hero lost his leg. From the very beginning of Oleksandr’s treatment, the Future for Ukraine charity foundation took him under its wing. Now Oleksandr is returning to the homeland after a long process of prosthetics and rehabilitation in Washington.
Tania Stus read to the children a fairy tale, the hero of which was Sasha Chaika. It was a truly healing and transformative experience for everyone. Those present were fascinated by the author‘s reading and felt the power of the therapeutic effect of fairy tales. Oleksandr’s face reflected pride, tenderness and gratitude. The event had a truly magical atmosphere of unity for children and adults, since the collection itself is meant to become a guide to healing from our shared traumatic experience.
The purpose of the event was to draw attention to the problems of children of internally displaced persons from Ukraine. More than ever before, they need educational and psychological support, restoration of a sense of security and communication with other children from Ukraine, who share our language and culture.
For this purpose the “Future for Ukraine” charitable foundation created CHILDREN HUB in Warsaw. It functions to support displaced families with children who are now in Poland. The center often hosts psychological trainings for parents as well as classes for children with educational therapists and psychologists from Ukraine. The hub provides educational support, helps children restore a sense of security and sense of home while abroad and facilitates integration into the Polish education system with a regular increase in the number of students.
“The goal of Children Hub is to create an enabling environment for improving the emotional state of children. Every month we conduct thematic classes, game mechanics with fairy tale therapy, the main result of which is the smile of a child who wants to visit us again and again.
The presentation of the book in our center is a very important event, because we strive to help each other and discover new tools for improving the psychological state of children and their parents,” — shares Marta Sytenko, the head of CHILDREN HUB from Future for Ukraine.
The support of the project by all those who are not indifferent is extremely important for Ukrainian children abroad and their parents. Each of your donations is a huge contribution to our future. You can help the project on the website of the “Future for Ukraine” foundation.
You can listen to the audiobook completely free of charge on the ABUK platform or in the Audio section of the MEGOGO mobile application for smartphones (OS and Android), as well as in cars with an Android Auto or Apple CarPlay audio system. The selected audio format is designed for each user, regardless of location and country of residence, to get a chance to use this product.
Note:
Future for Ukraine is a charitable foundation created by Ukrainians for Ukrainians. The organization unites volunteers and professionals, non-governmental organizations and representatives of business around the world to support people affected by the war in Ukraine. Children HUB was created by the Future for Ukraine charitable foundation and it functions to support displaced families with children who are now in Poland. The center often hosts psychological trainings for parents as well as classes for children with educational therapists and psychologists from Ukraine.
The Parimatch Foundation is an international charitable foundation, the activities of which are aimed at ensuring that every child, regardless of physical characteristics, social restrictions and other possible barriers, has access to education and sports. The main areas of work include providing assistance and support in the field of sports and education.
Five comprehensive programs are being implemented in Ukraine: “Yes, I can!”, “Sports Mentor”, “New Physical Culture”, “Help for Ukraine” and “Mental Health”. The Parimatch Foundation does everything possible to ensure that the future generation grows up healthy and happy.
