The invisible scars of war

Sadly, after almost two and a half years, there is still no end in sight to the war in Ukraine. Innocent victims of the war atrocities are still dependent on our solidarity and support. The horror of war seems to stop at nothing. This summer, for example, Kiev’s largest children’s hospital was badly damaged by a missile.

These past few months too, we have made a contribution to alleviating the hardship caused by the war by providing material support. This has included food, medicines, hygiene products and the equipping of shelters, to name just a few examples. A major project last year and the year before was the provision of systems for purifying contaminated drinking water.

In addition, there is a more urgent need than ever to increase psychological support, as the existing services are far from adequate. In Switzerland, we are often insufficiently aware of the psychological injuries that war inflicts on people. This is particularly true for children and young people. That is why we are currently – after successful pilot trials at the beginning of the year – setting up a permanent psychological support programme.

Several therapy sessions with children and young people in Kherson and Chernihiv have been taking place every week for several months now. Art therapy is a central element of the programme. The sessions usually take place in groups, but individual sessions – for example for children who have lost a parent – are also part of the programme. The focus is on helping children and young people to process their traumas and develop positive coping mechanisms. However, it is also about increasing awareness in the community for the needs of traumatised children and young people and addressing the stigmatisation of mental illness in Ukrainian society.

It is only thanks to your valuable support, dear donors, that these children and young people have been able to receive this urgently needed psychological support. With your continued backing, we can expand the psychological support programme even further and offer it on a long-term basis. You will be putting a smile back on faces scarred by the horrors of war.