Some were so withdrawn they barely spoke. Others would get into fights without provocation, or throw tantrums. Girls would randomly cry
It’s well known that children suffer psychological trauma in conflict zones, but it’s less recognized that they can suffer chronic physical ailments as well.
“There are a lot of cases where unexploded shells go off,” said Victoria Avramenko, who worked as a mentor in the program. She is herself from a town, Snihurivka, that was under Russian occupation last year. “Parents try to make sure the child does not walk anywhere, or go outside by themselves. It is hard, very hard. It affects the children very much. I can see it in my own child,” she said.
“The child loses everything. Loses school, loses friends, loses their routine, even loses their mother and father — all the familiar reference points,” said Avramenko. “Each of their stories is different, but everyone’s fate is broken.” “We can’t cure them in two weeks, but we can stabilize them so they’re not deteriorating,” added Vitvitsky, who works with the Lviv-based Law and Democracy Foundation that oversaw the program. “At least for these two weeks they forgot about all the horrors of war.”
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