Children of Ukrainian refugees lack games with peers. Architecture students set up a club for them iROZHLAS
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Czech and Ukrainian are heard from the room in the building of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in the center of Prague. Kindergarten children run behind a soccer ball and decorate the walls with colored chalks. The atmosphere is relaxed, only in the corner of the room is a twelve-year-old boy with a sullen expression on his face. He may have unpleasant memories of leaving the war-torn Ukraine of Kharkov in the northeast.
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Upon entering the club in the building of the School of Applied Arts in Prague, one is greeted by the cheerful cries of children and a room full of colorful toys.
“From the beginning, we have strong support from the school management. It provided us with space and finances. The second thing is that there are volunteers who brought toys and equipment, “Matěj Peterka, an architecture student who came up with the whole idea, explained to iROZHLAS.cz.
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There is desperately little capacity in kindergartens, so children’s groups and leisure centers for refugee children have begun to emerge. One of them is the “UMPRUM kindergarten”, a leisure club that was established at the instigation of architecture students.
“All other studios have started auctioning their works to help Ukraine. As students of architecture, we had nothing to auction, “outlined the motives of one of the club’s founders, Adéla Vavříková.
One of the activities
The club has been operating since last Monday and interest has already exceeded capacity. According to the three coordinators, about 70 parents signed up.
“The number of children is different every day. Some parents only need short-term babysitting to get things in the office. Others, for example, have already found a job and need help in the long run, “said Vavříková.
According to spokeswoman Tereza Škvárová, the UMPRUM management supports student activities to help Ukraine. “The leisure club is one of the voluntary initiatives of students, which the school provided facilities, legal and financial support for the operation,” she responded to iROZHLAS.cz.
According to her, the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague is now negotiating with the non-profit organization People in Need for a full takeover of the project. Currently, the operation is expected until the end of the summer semester, so the school will not apply for financial support from the ministry for the time being.
Emerging children’s groups for refugees are not yet receiving any allowance from the Ministry of Education. However, a spokeswoman for Lubomír Černá told the iROZHLAS.cz server that the ministry was preparing subsidy calls for their financial support.
The ministry has also issued a methodology for integrating Ukrainian-speaking children into the school regime.
Facilitating communication with young Ukrainians must also be addressed in the UMPRUM leisure club. “There are always three people on the shift and one of them speaks Ukrainian or Russian,” Vavříková said about how they put the shifts together. According to another of the club’s coordinators – Lujza Lehocká – she can also speak with her parents in Czech.
Homesickness
One of the volunteers is Oksana Stehnyaková. He comes from Ukraine, but has lived in the Czech Republic for fifteen years. “I have to get involved in volunteering. When I wake up in the morning, I want to go somewhere and help. I feel like I’m doing so little. But everyone does what they can, “says the woman, who still has part of her family in Ukraine.
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The entry of children into the new environment is often accompanied by difficult situations. According to Matěj Peterka, the children miss the fathers who stayed in Ukraine due to the war and paint pictures for them.
“It simply came to our notice then. Suddenly they were torn from the environment where they spent time with their peers. It is a great motivation for parents to give their children space to be with other children again, “Lehocká said.
Stehnyak confirms the same: “When I look at children, I feel very sorry for them. I want to talk to them. There is a brother and sister from occupied Kharkov. They told me they were glad there was silence. But their father and grandmother and grandfather stayed there, so they miss them. “
The UMPRUM leisure club is not the only project that is being created. Students are also planning workshops for older children, for whom the club may not have found a place. The collaboration with psychology students at Charles University will begin next week.
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