Council of Europe Project "Strengthening the Human Rights Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine” (hereinafter - the Project) supported the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration initiative to organise an integrative activity for internally displaced persons (hereinafter – IDPs) camp located in Kamyanske, Dnipropetrovsk region on 15 October 2016.
Rrepresentatives of the IDPs camp and local authorities of Dnipropetrovsk region were involved in different activities, including planting of trees and painting children playgrounds, aimed at integration of IDPs into the local community and their easier adaptation into a new city. Thanks to the joint work, all camp residents, representatives of local authorities and other volunteers planted 300 bushes and 20 trees during 5 hours. The area of the IDPs camp, including children playgrounds, became more cozy and comfortable. As a special moment, at the end of the day, all participants together planted a big fir tree at the center of the camp that was a present from the Council of Europe Project.
While adults were busy with planting of trees, IDPs children were involved into different master classes and workshops with animators. This part of activity was highly appreciated by participants and their children, as such type of integration and entertainment for the children happens extremely rarely in the camp. An important moment of the event was a joint dinner of all participants that contributed to the integration of IDPs into the local host community. While tasting hot Kulish and other national dishes during the joint dinner, an important communication happened that served as a tool of building friendly relations between all parties. All participants marked that this activity was very important for them as a step towards the successful integration into community through their involvement into the joint work and opportunities to talk about their life, feelings, visions, needs and expectations, as well as to listen to other members of community.