War overturns everything, starting with the lives of children, the most vulnerable. Yet, in Ukraine, change for the little ones did not begin with full-scale war. «Already at the end of 2019, with the arrival of Covid, everything was turned upside down. As in many other parts of the world, here too the children have stopped going to school in person and have started studying remotely, behind a screen. But while elsewhere, over time, things have returned to normality, not here. In 2022 the war broke out, and that suspended condition dragged on for another three years. This means that many children and young people here have not attended school regularly for five years.” This is what he says in his testimony: a local operator of the L’Albero della Vita Ets Foundation, an Italian organization involved with numerous projects in Ukraine, in the areas of protection, health and education, focused on supporting children. The Foundation operates mainly in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro areas, in the east of the country.
«A year ago, the Government decided to intervene, with the aim of bringing students back to school in person», continues the Ukrainian operator. «The strategy adopted was as concrete as it was necessary: build safe underground shelters, equipped to host lessons even on days when air raid alerts give no respite. The first underground schools became operational at the beginning of 2023. However, until recently, most schools still alternated Dad with rare in-person lessons. Now the situation is improving, thanks to a more decisive decision by the Government: to build more and more permanent underground schools, capable of guaranteeing scholastic continuity even in moments of maximum alarm”.
According to the latest statistics, explains the operator, in the Zaporizhzhia region today there are six active underground schools, but new buildings are planned, even built from scratch. «For children, the possibility of returning to class is a real and profound turning point in their lives. They prefer the underground bunker – as absurd as it may seem – but they prefer it because there, at least, there is human contact. Because it is more “real”, less alienating. Because it breaks the isolation and loneliness they have experienced for too long, behind a screen, alone in their homes.”
«There are children who today are 10, 11, 12 years old, and who set foot in an in-person school for the first time. Children who are already grown up, who should have already developed socialization tools, but who in reality feel lost, scared, often incapable of understanding how to relate to others.”
One of the great priorities is to manage war-related trauma and therefore provide psychological and social support. «Schools would need to have psychologists present on a stable basis, not just for “visits” or occasional meetings, but to accompany children and young people along a true path of support.”
Among the various projects carried out since 2022, the Tree of Life Foundation in Ukraine is responsible for the renovation of ten underground shelters to ensure safe educational continuity for children. For information on the Foundation’s activities, visit the website.
