How one charity is helping the children fleeing war in Ukraine

‘They’ve given so much more than we expected’: How one charity is helping the children fleeing war in Ukraine

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Perfecting your Viennese Waltz is never easy, especially when your dance floor is a school playground in a country far away from your home.

But ten-year-old Estas* is determined to make it as a professional ballroom dancer, just like his older brother was before war broke out in their native Ukraine.

‘I know the Cha-Cha-Cha, Tango, Samba, Slow Waltz, Vienna Waltz, Drive and Quick Step – seven dances,’ he says. ‘I am full of energy when I dance!’

It’s a small reminder of how life used to be before Estas was forced to flee his homeland with his sisters when Russia invaded their country earlier this year.

Both his mother, a paramedic, and father, a soldier in the Ukrainian Army, had to stay behind.

Ten-year-old Estas is determined to make it as a professional ballroom dancer, just like his older brother was before war broke out in their native Ukraine

Future hope: Before the war, Estas would sing and dance in competitions but that all stopped

The children eventually settled in a school in Romania where classrooms have been converted into dorms for them.

Since their arrival, they’ve been helped by Save the Children who’ve given them money to buy food and medicines and also provided them with counselling for their trauma.

While war has torn their lives apart, the support they’ve received has allowed them to slowly piece them back together and give them hope for the future.

It’s allowed Estas, who used to sing and dance in competitions before the war, to carry on following his dreams.

He’s just one of more than 280,000 Ukrainians – 150,0000 of them children – who’ve been helped by this remarkable charity since war broke out in February this year.

More than 62,200 people have received money or vouchers totalling over £15.5m to buy the food, clothes and medicines they need.

Another grateful recipient is Vira* who’s also had to settle into a new life in Romania with her two daughters

They’ve supplied health teams and hospitals who’ve helped over 41,500 families, provided medical equipment to treat injuries and are currently distributing more than 2,500 food kits across eastern Ukraine.

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Vulnerable youngsters are receiving counselling from experts while more than 10,500 children are being protected in eight safe spaces where they can play, socialise and enjoy being children again. Eleven more are due to be built.

They’ve even provided ‘bunker kits’ full of toys and games so kids can learn in even the darkest of places.

Someone else who has benefited from Save the Children’s work is Vira* who’s also had to settle into a new life in Romania with her two daughters.

They had just two hours notice before having to flee Ukraine to pack up everything they needed and join friends who were also leaving.

‘No one wanted to go,’ says Vira, 26. ‘You want to stay but you also have kids to protect. It was tearing me apart.’

Until the invasion, life was good. Vira’s husband was a lorry driver, she was a nurse and she’d just given birth to their daughter Alona, a sister for Marta, three.

Then she found herself crossing a border into an unknown country without her husband, who was working abroad, with a tiny baby and toddler in tow.

‘It was very sudden,’ she says of their departure. ‘I hugged my parents, cried a bit, calmed down and off we went.

‘We told Marta, ‘We’re going’ but we didn’t say anything specific about the war or shooting. We’re going somewhere – it’s a great adventure – that’s how it was.’

But it wasn’t an adventure for Vira who could only carry documentation and clothes for the children. She was terrified. 

Vira’s daughter Marta, three, in their temporary accommodation in Romania

Save the Children provided money and vouchers for food and medicines as well as mental health support, information and legal advice for Vira and her children to help them settle

‘It was very scary. I couldn’t keep calm all the way – I went like a zombie. I didn’t want to leave Ukraine.’

Vira, from western Ukraine, had never been abroad before she arrived in Romania.

‘I feared they would be different and alien and wouldn’t welcome me. But they were nice, they fed us and gave us a place to sleep.

‘There was plenty of everything – toys, clothes, food. The scale of it – the children looked like they were seeing all this for the first time in their lives!

‘They’ve given so much more than we expected.’

Save the Children provided money and vouchers for food and medicines as well as mental health support, information and legal advice for Vira and her children to help them settle.

But it’s only temporary – the family want to eventually return to their homeland.

‘My own plans are 100 per cent to return to Ukraine. I want to open a business.’

Until then, Vira, her daughters and other families forced to flee their homeland can rely on Save the Children to help them.

*names changed to protect identities 

HELPING WITH THE UK’S COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS

Save the Children doesn’t just look after youngsters from around the world, but here in the UK too.

As the cost-of-living crisis bites ever deeper, many struggling families are at breaking point financially and desperately need help.

‘Parents are stopping eating so that they can afford the bus fare to the park. 

‘They’re giving up things so that they can feed the children on a day out,’ one UK mother said.

But Save the Children is there to make sure parents get the basics they need so their children can carry on learning, playing and having fun.

They’ve set up food pantries around the country to help hundreds of families afford good, healthy food.

As supermarket costs soar, it means members can get £15 worth of fresh, frozen and dried produce for just £3 so their children can just get on with being kids again.

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