The second shift of the rehabilitation children's camp Gen.Camp of the public initiative Gen.Ukrainian has ended. Psychological rehabilitation in Spain has been completed by 31 Ukrainian children. These are children who lost their parents, survived the occupation, witnessed the killings during the Russian aggression in Ukraine. The project is implemented under the patronage of the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska.
The therapeutic program lasted 21 days.
During the second shift, children aged 6 to 11 from Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, Mariupol, Kharkiv and Bakhmut underwent rehabilitation at Gen.Camp.
90% of children are those who have experienced the loss of one or two loved ones. Half of them witnessed the death of their parents or were present at the execution, were in a car that came under fire.
10% of the group are children who were held captive in a basement in the village of Yahidne, Chernihiv region. They slept standing up, starved, and survived the abuse of the occupiers.
In particular, ten-year-old Andriy from the Chernihiv region was in the group. During the evacuation, his family's car was run over by an armored personnel carrier. The boy was saved: he was pulled out of the car unconscious, while his parents and other relatives who were in the car died in the fire. Eight-year-old Bohdan from Bakhmut underwent rehabilitation at Gen.Samp. His relatives died as a result of Russian shelling.
"In the camp, Bohdan hung a painted shield next to his bed. That way you don't have bad dreams and it's easier to remember what happened. He wants to become a soldier and defend the Homeland. But for now, he, Andriy, and all children with such a terrible experience must learn to protect themselves from what they experienced - for the sake of their own future. That's why Gen.Сamp exists," said Olena Zelenska.
During the first shift in Gen.Camp Ukrainian psychologists integrated recognized world practices for the rehabilitation of children and their own developments into the program, and during the second shift, the experts have already worked according to a self-developed program called "Protected by Love".
It was prepared by the leading psychologist of the project Oksana Shlionska - candidate of psychological sciences, psychologist, psychotherapist with more than 30 years of experience, head of Rivnovaga center in Kyiv. Two areas of world psychotherapy are integrated into the program: cognitive-behavioral therapy and catathymic-imaginative psychotherapy.
In total, five psychologists of the highest category, including the chief psychologist of the project, five tutors, two social pedagogues who accompanied the children worked in Gen.Camp.
"The camp workers say: they cannot make the children forget the war. But they can - they have already succeeded in two shifts of the camp - help them live through this trauma and teach them to live with this experience. So, new changes are ahead. This means new smiles instead of tears. I am proud that I am the patroness of this project, which gives our children back to us, and gives them back faith in life and the future, no matter how terrible the past was," said the First Lady of Ukraine.
After the rehabilitation of the children in Gen.Camp, Gen.Ukrainian NGO will update existing and develop original programs for the treatment of children's psychotrauma and hand them over to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to help children who have faced the horrors of war.
The founder of the camp is Gen.Ukrainian, whose work is aimed at treating children's psychological injuries caused by the war of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, and minimizing their consequences in the future. Gen.Ukrainian unites private individuals and patrons. Help for children is provided free of charge. The author of the idea of the camp is an entrepreneur and civil activist Oksana Lebedeva. The project is implemented with the support of the Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Infrastructure, the National Social Service, Adviser - Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children’s Rights and Rehabilitation Daria Herasymchuk, the Consulate General of Ukraine in Barcelona, and Bezbaryernist NGO.