Summer Camp for Ukrainian Children: Helping children be children again

“Making a difference in someone’s life goes beyond the language barrier. It is about paying close attention to the children’s needs and finding what it is they really require to forget their worries and just be children again.”

Marina Mann of Brazil is a member of the Hashomer Hatzair World Movement currently participating in a leadership program in Israel. Marina served as a camp counselor at the summer camp for Ukrainian and Polish youth in the Polish town of Cieszanow. 60 campers (ages 10-16) from Ukraine and Poland and 7 young leaders (16-20) took part in activities including English language classes, sports, crafts, music, and dance - led by counselors from the youth movement Hashomer Hatzair and managed by NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief and Folkowisko Foundation. The camp was sponsored by The Kosciuszko Foundation of the USA.

in Marina’s words:

As a member of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement, I served as a counselor at this unique summer camp in Poland. I was responsible for 10 children: 5 from Ukraine and 5 from Poland.

I had a very special experience with one of the campers in my group, a girl named Natalia. Natalia moved to Poland before the war in Ukraine started. At first, Natalia was very shy, hardly spoke to anyone and hardly interacted with the other kids or the counselors. I paid special attention to Natalia, worked with her and tried to get her to talk. Over time, Natalia started to open up, play with the other kids and reach out to the counselors. I managed to establish a real connection with Natalia, and Natalia, despite her very little knowledge of English, began to talk to me. She even started to give me hugs. The main communication between us was that Natalia called me by my name. We communicated with gestures and hand signals. On my last day, Natalia came to say goodbye at least five times, and I understood that we had made a real connection. This made me realize how important summer camp was for the children. I watched this little girl step out of her comfort zone and start trusting. The girl I met at the beginning of camp was not the same girl when summer camp was over.

This experience inspired me to engage in future projects like this one. I want to do more because I have seen that I can make a real difference. And to make a difference in someone’s life, it is not even necessary to speak the same language. Making a difference in someone’s life goes beyond the language barrier. It is about paying close attention to the children’s needs and finding what it is they really require to forget their worries and just be children again.

Healing through Art

Similar to Natalia’s story, there were three other Ukrainian children in my group. They could communicate in English. However, what really made the difference for them was not the communication with the counselors, but when I understood that artwork such as painting and handicrafts could calm children and help them forget the horror of war they were forced to experience in the past months. This gave them the possibility to express themselves through art. Once I realized that this is what they needed, I tried to do more and more art projects with them, knowing this was very important for them.

I know that this summer camp was very important for the children affected by the current war in Ukraine, as it forged stronger bonds between the children themselves, thus giving them an additional resource to draw on. It was very difficult for the children to say goodbye when camp ended, which showed me that we had a real impact on the children's lives. I am happy and thankful that I got the chance to be part of this wonderful project.