‘I’m not worried about Dad, he’s in anti-aircraft shelter now.’ Ukrainian children share experiences in Prague with sports iROZHLAS
The Prague Children Foundation offers Ukrainian children who attend schools in the center of the capital at least a moment to forget about the war. At the same time, they can make new friends and share horrible experiences. The foundation was the first to offer free trainings for children from J. Guth-Jarkovsky Primary School and Grammar School. It also included beach volleyball training in Strahov, Prague.
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Children start training with a short stretch. Coach Adam explains to them in English that they will learn to serve from below and that their hands should be stretched. In a short time, the volleyballs fly in all directions.
“Training is completely different when you can’t explain everything. You can’t earn respect because you can’t shout. You don’t know how. But the children are definitely hardworking, they enjoy it, “says coach Adam after the first two trainings for Ukrainian children.
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First grade children were the first to go to the sand for beach volleyball. It helps Adam know a little Russian. However, his colleague Lukáš does not understand his children. “The children didn’t know anything at all in English, so I relied on a pantomime,” he admits.
Seva and Sasha from Kiev are among the students who have fun on the playground. He goes to grammar school in the center of Prague. Although they are both from the same district of the Ukrainian capital, they only knew each other from the Internet. They met in person in Prague. “It was a big surprise,” Seva smiles.
And they easily describe the last days in Ukraine, how they survived air raids on Russian planes and explosions of Russian missiles. “We lived in an anti-aircraft shelter for eight days. Then we went to Lviv and then via Poland to Prague. We have friends here, Prague is beautiful, I’m fine here, but I miss my city, “he says.
‘Dad’s on roadblocks too’
Sasha says she was not even surprised by the war. As a little girl, she saw protests against then-President Viktor Yanukovych, who was trying to suppress the blood.
“We live near Maidan. In 2014, I saw fires and people dying. So the war was not a surprise to me. “
“My dad is a volunteer and is helping our army deliver food,” Seva begins, and Sasha immediately follows: “It’s the same for me. Dad’s on the barricades too. But the internet works, so connection is not a problem. Dad tries not to talk about the war, because Mom often cries and is afraid for it. We talk about what day I had and so on. “
Sasha often laughs and speaks with determination. But tears glisten in her eyes as she told her father. I ask Seva if I’m afraid, “I’m not worried about him. It’s in the anti-aircraft shelter now. He was in the army before the war. I think she’ll be fine. “
Difficult pronunciation
They are already attending classes in Prague and are slowly getting to know other students. They both agree that they are nice to them and that they speak good English, so it is not a problem to communicate. “We also speak English with teachers, sometimes Russian. The teaching is different in Czech, but for example the teaching geography copies Ukrainian textbooks and translates geographical names for us, “adds Saša.
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“I wanted to go to school necessarily for learning, but to talk to others. When I’m at school, war and life are easier for me, “adds Seva. But a hint of a difficult moment immediately relieves Sasha when he whispers that he is going to school just because of her. And he laughs contagiously.
They also started teaching Czech at school. “Czech is not difficult to learn, but the pronunciation is difficult. Like the letter Ø, “he tries to imitate the correct pronunciation of Seva.
Sharing and relaxing
The trainings are organized by the Prague Children Foundation. They are usually free for Czech pupils from schools in Prague 1. However, its principal Dana Maršálková quickly decided to place them in children who ran away from the war. To relax, meet friends could have another space to share.
“When you walk away for a while, you see the children start talking about what they experienced, where they were in the shelter, where they spent five days at the border, and so on. These terrible experiences suddenly fall out of them because they feel they have found someone who has similar experiences. We didn’t even expect it to affect them that much, “he says.
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She noticed the effects of the wars especially on younger children, who she said were restless. “For smaller children it was definitely a relaxation. It was obvious that when they got to the sports courts, they suddenly changed. They started running, jumping and communicating with each other. “
One of the experiences with the youngest children was also that they were cured. They arranged a magic show for Ukrainian children. “We normally prepare it for Czech kindergartens. We were surprised that the Ukrainian children reacted completely differently to the classic tricks when something jumps out at you. They react quite unusually. The children usually jump, but two of the Ukrainian children ran backwards, completely frightened. It was clear from them that they probably had a very negative experience behind them. “
Trainings for refugees
In the future, the foundation wants to include Ukrainian children in training together with the Czech ones. They would go not only to play beach volleyball, but also squash, tennis or swimming.
With the help of Prague, sports clubs also joined, which prepared training offers for people from Ukraine. “Above all, we are trying to make the children adapt here and forget about the extreme situation that currently prevails in their country and negatively affects their mental state. In cooperation with Prague sports clubs and associations, we want to use this activity to provide Ukrainian children with the opportunity to relax through their favorite sport, “said Vít Šimral from the Pirate Party of Prague. An overview of all offers is located on the portal www.prahasportovni.eu.
More than 150,000 children have already found safe hiding from the war in Ukraine in the Czech Republic. According to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior. According to the UN children’s fund UNICEF, over a million and a half children have fled Ukraine.
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