Purpose: Therapeutic hospitality for refugees
Process:
Melitopol has taken in very many Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) as a consequence of the troubles in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. “A Smile of a Child” was started by a Melitopol IDP Ms. Marina Lyh. A lawyer by profession, Marina did not wish to see herself as a helpless and inactive victim in her new hometown. She was very conscious of the fact that a huge number of IDP-children in the region needed much more than just an education – as they had lived through traumatic events which necessitated specific care, psychological support or sometimes just a ‘new friend’.
She launched this initiative together with a group of local activists as a ‘Mobile group for children’s development’. Marina and her colleagues (some of them are professional psychologists) regularly organize educational and psychological mentoring events for groups of children of different ages (incl. their parents) in a variety of places in the city and the region, such as parks, playgrounds, courtyards, libraries and other public spaces. In a friendly atmosphere, the activists explain the importance of the values of tolerance, respect of individual identity and cultural differences, and peaceful living together accompanying their ‘lessons’ with individual psychological coaching.
