It took eight years for Yuliia to shake off the feeling of numbness and fully integrate into the Ukrainian community where she lives now. She moved to the Chernivtsi oblast from Luhansk oblast as an internally displaced person (IDP) in 2014.

Having experienced this kind of uprooting on a personal level, Yuliia says she understands how millions of displaced people must feel as Russia continues its full-scale invasion in Ukraine. Since February 2022, Chernivtsi oblast has become one of the main refuge points for IDPs and their temporary home, or transit point, as many wait to move into other parts of Europe. To date, more than 140,000 officially registered IDPs are in the oblast.

To help respond to this population’s unique needs and assist communities in their war recovery efforts, Global Communities partnered with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA) to implement the Community-Led Emergency Action and Response (CLEAR) program. CLEAR is addressing the urgent needs of 22,580 people who have been impacted by the war in Chernivtsi and Chernihiv oblasts, providing emergency response in three areas: protection, shelter & settlements, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). A core strategy of the program is coordinating with local partners and civil society organizations (CSOs) to carry out this assistance, which includes hosting activities aimed at fostering social cohesion, resilience and peace.

One such partner is the Ukrainian People’s House (UPH), a CSO where Yuliia has been serving as a mobilizer since the CLEAR program began in December 2022. She helps IDPs integrate into their new communities through recreational and psychosocial support activities that allow them to interact with local residents and engage in mutually beneficial dialogue.

According to Ihor Babiuk, deputy head of UPH, inviting both parties to participate is key to the success of the approach, because it aids in clearing up misunderstandings and tensions that often arise between IDPs and locals due to cultural differences, competition for jobs and public resources. Since 2014, IDPs have moved into almost every community in the Chernivtsi oblast. Babiuk explains that frustrations between IDPs and local governments have spiked because IDPs believe the government officials are not listening to their voices, while the local governments accuse IDPs of being unwilling to work and engage in the life of the community.

Whether it be an art therapy session or cooking class, CLEAR-sponsored activities at UPH ignite conversations among participants that range from simple exchanges about regional traditions in Ukraine to more pressing matters such as job opportunities and community needs. The idea is to foster greater understanding between the two groups and bring to light the unique experiences and skills IDPs can contribute through new businesses, cultural activities, workplaces and other economic and community development efforts.

“Locals start speaking about these issues openly, as well as the IDPs. Everyone talks about assistance for the relocated population but often forget that local residents also need assistance,” Babiuk says. “Almost everyone has their own pain connected with war – a son or a husband is on the frontline, someone died or is in captivity, someone is in constant stress because of ongoing uncertainty, loss of jobs, or forced changes in habitual lifestyle.”

Babiuk admits new arrivals are not integrated into a community in a year or two – the process is long and intricate. Even so, UPH has found it helpful to seek out public activists and other CSOs that have been relocated and need assistance getting registered, learning about the community, determining activities and building connections. CLEAR also helps recruit volunteers who want to be involved with integration efforts and employs some IDPs who have professional backgrounds that are applicable and relevant.

“We try to work in such a way so that our activities do not end with the closure of a project. Our work is about people, not about figures. That is why we try to maintain continuity,” Babiuk says. “We involve IDPs, provide consultations and help them create their own CSOs. Then, they build a team and again involve IDPs in them, and our work keeps going. That is to say, [these are the] side effects of our projects. They are not foreseen, but they are of great value.”

According to Justin Secrease, Deputy Country Director of Global Communities Ukraine, UPH is a prime example of how the CLEAR program is strengthening humanitarian response by putting localization into practice — investing in CSOs which have deep knowledge of their communities and co-creating new interventions that help meet unique needs emerging from the current crisis.

“Host communities form the fabric of local societies. In times of crises and large-scale displacements, humanitarian organizations must prioritize nurturing the resilience of these hosts. Local CSOs, like UPH, emerge as critical voices advocating for the integration of IDPs, and it’s the collaborative harmony of communities and local governments that lays the foundation for managing displacement on a larger scale,” Secrease says. “UPH’s work under the CLEAR program serves as a testament to the impactful threads reinforcing this intricate weave. Yuliia’s story adds value to the collective narrative, reminding us that unity and shared experiences build resilient communities.”

The post Building Community and Supporting Internally Displaced People with Integration Efforts in Ukraine appeared first on Global Communities.

Chernihiv oblast has been one of the regions most severely affected by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. When it was under Russian occupation during the first five weeks of the war, residents – including children – were forced to spend long hours and days in shelters to protect themselves from heavy gunfire and shelling.

That experience, coupled with displacement, loss of loved ones, chronic exposure to violence, lack of stability and a host of other adversities, had a devastating impact on the mental health and well-being of civilians.

In light of these issues, Global Communities is working through local civil society organizations (CSOs) in remote communities of Ukraine to strengthen and scale up psychosocial support services as part of the Community-Led Emergency Action and Response (CLEAR) program. With funding from the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA), CLEAR has been able to reach those in need who are overlooked by large humanitarian projects. The project’s approach is driven by the understanding that local organizations are best positioned to understand and meet the unique needs of the communities they serve with the right support and technical assistance.

One example of a successful CLEAR partnership in action is a project led by Civic Initiatives of Ukraine, a local CSO in the Chernihiv region. Even before Russia’s full-scale invasion, the region did not have enough qualified professionals to meet the growing need for psychological support among residents. Over the years, the positions of school psychologists were reduced. And in rural areas, they did not exist at all. After the first explosions in the Chernihiv region in February 2022, psychologists who had worked in relatively large settlements left Ukraine or moved to other regions as internally displaced people.

Nelia Lavrynenko had experience working in charitable camps for children from the eastern part of Ukraine, where the first stage of the war started in 2014. After the liberation of the Chernihiv region, she quickly understood the critical need for psychosocial support for people living in these territories. Her idea was to train schoolteachers to provide psychological first aid for children using art therapy.

Under Nelia’s leadership – and with support from the CLEAR program via Civic Initiatives of Ukraine – 45 teachers and school psychologists from three communities in the region underwent training on using art therapy with children. The project purposefully selected people willing to work as volunteers.

“From my long-term experience in a public area, those who sincerely consider this job as needed for themselves and other people are ready to work as volunteers,” Nelia said. “If we pay people from the very beginning, we will have plenty of those interested, but in some time, the program and financing will end. And what then?”

During the training, the school workers learned not only theory but also practiced using clay, playdough, strings and sand as resources for therapy. With funding from USAID/BHA, Civic Initiatives of Ukraine provided all the necessary materials for these activities and supervising support. At the final stage of the training, newly educated professionals worked out their knowledge in groups. Then, they started the practice in their communities. After several classes with children, parents who were encouraged by the results asked the art therapists if they could provide the same classes for adults.

“These classes are a completely new experience for me,” said Nadiia, a Ukrainian Language teacher who received training under the CLEAR program on how to apply art therapy methods with children. “I feel like another person, so inspired by what I do together with these children, as if I am healing on my own.”

According to Civic Initiatives of Ukraine, art therapists can recognize if art therapy is enough for a child or if specialized war trauma therapy is needed as well. Usually, those children who are not traumatized deeply show signs of improvement after 10 classes. If after 10-15 art classes, no changes have been observed in a child’s mental state, art therapists recommend sessions with trauma professionals. Even so, only one child psychiatrist is available in the entire region.

After Nelia’s project under the CLEAR program showed successful results, Chernihiv regional state authorities initiated a meeting with all organizations that work on psychosocial support in their communities. Now, they are working on mapping areas where psychosocial support is available and where additional resources are needed.

The art therapists who underwent training via Civic Initiatives of Ukraine have already been thinking about how to move forward after support from the CLEAR program ends.

“We focus them on the fact that they have already had a community and experience. They could organize and start their own projects,” Nelia said. “These people are extremely sincere in their worries and care about people in their communities. In half a year, they completed everything that we had planned for them for a year. Now they are eagerly interested in further development.”

Meanwhile, under the CLEAR program, art therapists also had the opportunity to attend training on burnout prevention to gain knowledge on how to fulfill their own needs while helping others.

The post Ukraine’s Resilience Strengthened by Grassroots Psychosocial Support and Civic Partnerships appeared first on Global Communities.

In this context, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Social Cohesion and Reconciliation (SCORE) program is supporting community, non-governmental and governmental stakeholders across 14 districts to enhance community resilience through MHPSS, improved service delivery, equalized gender dynamics and safe spaces for support, healing and conversation.

Interventions have included introducing an internship for Psychology Department students and equipping a counseling room at the University of Jaffna as well as establishing a pool of 139 volunteer psychosocial workers with the Foundation for Promotion of Mental Health in Ampara District. Additionally, SCORE has facilitated befriender trainings for youth, parents and community members with Family Rehabilitation Council (FRC) across the Northern Province, Butterfly Peace Garden in Batticaloa and Trincomalee Districts, and Navajeevana in the Southern Province. Befriender trainings support linkages between the community and professional psychological support systems. These varied interventions reflect SCORE’s broad approach to meeting specific contextual needs with the aim of wider impact in Sri Lanka.

To support MHPSS within the education sector, SCORE – in partnership with FRC and Sirakkukal Cultural Forum – is establishing counseling units at five schools in five districts (Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu and Anuradhapura). The school-based counseling units are a pivotal step towards supporting government-led efforts to improve mental health services, support and well-being within the education sector, particularly in contexts of vulnerable communities and individuals with continuing trauma and psychosocial stressors. They also provide spaces to raise awareness about and challenges to SGBV among students and offer support and safeguards to children at risk as well as child survivors of abuse and SGBV.

The counseling unit plays a crucial role in handling students’ psychosocial issues. … It will prevent further trauma and protect children.

Ratnam Sivakumaran, School Counselor, Puthukkudiyiruppu Central College

In Mullaitivu, the site of the final stages of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict, communities struggle with unaddressed post-conflict trauma and psychosocial issues while being increasingly challenged by poverty and economic stressors. A rise in social issues such as alcoholism, drug abuse and SGBV has led to safety and health concerns. With unresolved trauma related to the protracted conflict, additional MHPPS services are essential to building individual and community resilience.

Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaitivu is a particularly vulnerable community due to the continuing impact of large-scale infrastructure damage and loss of resources and support structures during the armed conflict. On Nov. 30, in support of the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, the first of these SCORE-equipped school counseling units was declared open at Puthukkudiyiruppu Central College. For students and staff at the school, which is one of the largest in the Mullaitivu Education Zone, the counseling unit is a much-needed place of support, safety and healing.

“The counseling unit plays a crucial role in handling students’ psychosocial issues,” said Ratnam Sivakumaran, the school’s counselor who received training through SCORE grantee FRC and supports a student body of over 1,500 students aged 11 to 18 years old. “It will prevent further trauma and protect children. If the students have mental health issues, they will get support from the counselor and feel relieved.”

Previously, only the school counselor identified children in need of support. After SCORE grantee Sirakkukal Cultural Forum facilitated a workshop on gender equality and SGBV for selected schoolteachers at Puthukkudiyiruppu, there is now an expanded resource pool that can identify more students facing issues and proactively direct them for support. Teachers present at the counseling unit opening ceremony welcomed this move and appreciated the additional support that is now available for students.

Sadhishkumar Vijayanthi, a Women Development Officer, noted that many women in Mullaitivu must work to maintain their families, which impacts the support structure within households. Over 22% of the district’s population is comprised of women-headed households. There are also incidents of child marriage, teenage pregnancies and unregistered marriages with little social and legal protections in place to dissolve such unions. SCORE-supported school counseling units will provide a safe space for children and teachers to talk freely and openly and explore ways to help.

“When we started to work with the school, students had more psychosocial problems and thereafter, they got awareness about counseling and guidance at this unit,” Vijayanthi said. “The number of issues has reduced, as seen in the database maintained by the school.”

The counseling unit will also lead MHPSS activities for students, expanding support beyond identified cases and broadening awareness of SGBV among male students at the school. For sustainability and accountability, a committee is also in place to monitor and steer activities of the unit moving forward. Members include representatives from Sirakkukal Cultural Forum, parents, former students, the Women Development Officer, psychiatric doctors from the Mullaitivu District Hospital Mental Health Unit, Public Health Inspector, midwife and counselor at the DS Office.

This success story is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of Global Communities and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

The post Strengthening Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Systems in Sri Lankan Schools appeared first on Global Communities.

In March 2022, Anna was heading from Kharkiv, Ukraine, to the western part of the country, fleeing the war with no idea where she and her family would find shelter. Today, she is a volunteer with the Ukrainian People’s House (UND) in Chernivtsi, one of seven civil society organizations in the region that has partnered with Global Communities under the Community-Led Emergency Action and Response (CLEAR) program.

Funded by the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA), CLEAR is addressing the urgent protection, shelter & settlements, and water, sanitation and hygiene needs of 22,580 people who have been affected by the war in Ukraine. As part of the program, UND handles distribution and psychosocial support sessions for individuals who have been displaced by the war in four communities of the Chernivtsi region: Velykokuchurivska, Nedoboivska, Storozhynetska and Chernivetska.

When Anna and her husband, son and in-laws first arrived in the Storozhynetska community in Chernivtsi, local residents provided them with a house, food and other essentials they had been forced to leave behind. After some time, Anna then learned about the CLEAR program and received bed linens, kitchen supplies and cash to buy firewood, a heating system and other items to support her family through winter.

During the registration process to collect this assistance, the UND team learned about Anna’s background as a middle school math teacher, passion for biology and working with plants.

“I love plants. Before the war started, I always brought sprouts of new plants from my trips,” she says. “Unfortunately, my home collection died when we were forced to leave our home.”

To help Anna feel more connected to her new community, UND invited her to provide a series of psychosocial support classes focused on nature for children who had been displaced by the war.

“It was a pleasure to join that activity with children, share my knowledge with them and dip my hands into soil again,” Anna says of the volunteer experience.

During the class, children learned about plants that were native to the region and their life cycles. Then, they had the opportunity to plant seeds of different garden greens and flowers and eagerly wait for them to sprout.

“All of us face difficulties, but like a sprout makes its way through the pavement, we must be strong.”

Anna, CLEAR program participant & UND volunteer

According to UND, classes like these help distract children from their worries and inner tension and, as a a result, reduce their anxiety. As they work with their hands, they tend to become more comfortable communicating and sharing their experiences. The activities also help them integrate into the communities where they now find themselves living.

Although Anna is currently focused on completing her Ph.D. thesis, she says she is considering the possibility of working as a schoolteacher again because of her volunteer work with the CLEAR program and UND. This is the first time she has visited the western part of Ukraine, and she is eager to learn more about the local people and nature. And while she is unsure of when she will be able to return to Kharkiv, she hopes to make the best of her time in Chernivtsi.

“My family is safe and sound. My husband and I have jobs. Our son studies online. We learn to live, work and make friends all over again, in a new reality,” she says. “The most important is not to isolate yourself. All of us face difficulties, but like a sprout makes its way through the pavement, we must be strong.”

The post Teacher Uprooted by War in Ukraine Helps Displaced Children Find Healing in Nature appeared first on Global Communities.

Since the end of June, children from three villages in the Chernihiv region have been attending special art therapy classes designed to support their mental health as the war continues in Ukraine. The sessions, which will continue until the school year begins in September, are made possible with funding from the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA) under Global Communities’ Community-Led Emergency Action and Response (CLEAR) program.

Once a week, two groups of children ages 6-9 and 10-13 years old attend art classes at a local school in the region to help them relax, express their emotions and ultimately learn how to cope with the everyday stress of living under constant air raid sirens. Although some children live far from where the school is located, parents coordinate with each other to share transportation responsibilities so everyone can fully participate.

Nadiia and Raisa, who work in the art space, teach Ukrainian Language and Literature and Art and Technology, respectively. Both received training under the CLEAR program on how to apply art therapy methods with children experiencing war trauma. They use best practice approaches and techniques to provide psychological support to their students, who are allowed to choose what they want to do during the one-hour class. Whether it be painting, knitting, working with clay or playing with sand, all activities are accompanied by classical music and followed by energetic dance movements.

“Our children had studied online for over a year because our school was not equipped with a shelter. That is why, at the beginning, they had difficulties cooperating with each other,” said Nadiia, describing an environment where students often appeared tense and struggled to voice their feelings. “Add to this constant air raid alerts and sounds of explosions.”

To help ease the children’s stress, Nadiia and Raisa invented a rule: when they close the door, the room turns into a safe space of freedom, fantasy and tranquility, where everyone can be whatever they want to be in spite of what is going on in the world outside. Together with students, the teachers dip their hands in the paint, play with sand and dance. Then, step by step, the children start talking about their feelings and fears and become more relaxed.

Children like hugging us and, at the end of each session, we must ensure them that, ‘We will meet next time, we promise.’

Nadiia, art therapy instructor

Signs of psychological trauma are common among children in the Chernihiv region, which borders Russia and suffers from daily shelling. Young people and adults alike are forced to spend much of their time in shelters due to the ongoing threat of missile attacks and airstrikes. Sometimes, girls and boys come to the art therapy class very upset, so their teachers focus on showing them creative ways to channel their sadness, frustration and stress.

For example, Nadiia and Raisa bring old newspapers and magazines to the sessions and encourage the children to draw what they are feeling on the pages. Then, they let the students tear the paper apart or crumple it into balls as a way to express themselves and go home in better moods. Throughout these activities, they also come to understand that feelings aren’t inherently good or bad; rather, every emotion serves a purpose, and it’s valuable to experience them. The key is learning how to effectively navigate and manage these sentiments. Parents have seen immediate benefits from their children participating in the art therapy classes.

“We have been receiving responses such as, ‘My child is feeling less worried.’ ‘My child taught us how to breathe when feeling anxious.’ ‘My child wants to come to the art room every day,'” said Nelia Lavrynenko, project manager for Global Communities’ local partner Civic Initiatives of Ukraine. “This is so important for us and for the children.”

Even Nadiia has noticed the positive effect the outlet has had on her own well-being and mindset as she continues to work alongside the students to create an artistic haven.

“I started burning out at my main job as a teacher, and these classes are a completely new experience for me,” she said. “I feel like another person, so inspired by what I do together with these children, as if I am healing on my own.”

In addition to psychosocial support activities, the CLEAR program provides gender-sensitive protection services, shelter & settlements solutions, and water, sanitation and hygiene support to people who have been displaced or affected by the war in 23 communities of Chernihiv and Chernivtsi oblasts in Ukraine.

The post Art Therapy for Ukrainian Children Helps Reduce Stress Under Everyday Shelling appeared first on Global Communities.