Recently, the team of the international charitable humanitarian organization Terre des hommes visited Zakarpattia: program director of Terre des hommes Beat Wehrle, policy and communication advisor of the organization’s Berlin office Thomas Berthold, curators of the Ukrainian direction Gosia Biczyk and Daria Dmytrenko, and communications specialist Annika Schlingheider. The purpose of the visit was to conduct an ongoing analysis of the project "Improving the Protection of Children in Emergencies in Ukraine by Providing Safe Shelters, Food and Non-Food Items, and Psychosocial Support", which is being implemented in Ukraine by the Charitable Organization "Charity Fund "Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattya".

The visitors, who are already well acquainted with our organization, were interested in the situation in the country, the state of implementation of humanitarian initiatives, the needs of the civilian population, and the issues of comprehensive child protection in the context of a full-scale war. Particular attention was paid to the implementation of the joint project, which is coming to an end in June 2024.

As of the end of May, as part of the project, the Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattya has equipped two women’s health rooms in Uzhhorod’s antenatal clinics No. 1 and No. 2, provided assistance in the form of medical equipment and medicines to more than 20 medical institutions in different regions of Ukraine, provided food kits to several thousand families with children, overhauled the roof of the Tyachiv shelter, and equipped shelters in Tyachiv and Nyzhnye Selyshche with solar power plants. Another area is the activities carried out in partnership with the Committee by the team of the NGO "Happy Children". They included thematic camps and quest excursions, tourist eco-clubs, psychological support for children and adolescents, a program of rehabilitation, recovery and adaptation to life in a new reality for women and children affected by the war, classes with a speech therapist for preschool children, group art therapy sessions and other forms of work with children, teenagers and their mothers. More than 2,500 people were involved in these activities.

The infrastructure component of the project is the repair of additional buildings at the Vilshany Children’s Orphanage. Major repairs are nearing completion in the buildings, which are new to the institution but old in age (they were built in the 1960s). They have been completely replaced with modern and site-specific communications, a new roof, windows, and insulated walls... The infrastructure of the complex fully complies with the principles of inclusiveness, accessibility, and energy efficiency. The design of each building was developed by experienced domestic architects in collaboration with Swiss specialists who have experience in developing integrated facilities for people with disabilities. Therefore, everything was taken into account in the design, and therefore in the premises themselves: the width of doorways, the height of windows, the size of showers and toilets, the angle of the ramps, and even the direction of door opening. Given that the buildings will house palliative care and supported living units, the above features are extremely important.

"25 years of the Committee’s activity is a solid basis for implementing such large-scale projects. The Committee is an excellent well-coordinated team, a formed network of interaction with partners both abroad and in Ukraine. We have never measured our mission by single activities, but have always linked it to the development of civil society and strengthening its role in democratic transformation in the country. Our experience is a reputation that is now working for the benefit of the war-affected population. If the first year of the full-scale russian invasion was exclusively about responding to the challenges of the war, then we returned to all our other social projects. As an example, we opened a new workshop in Vilshany – an inclusive café-shop "Kosytsia", renovated the buildings of the orphanage, built functional premises for the future transit accommodation unit, a day care center, an inclusive cafe and pastry shop, etc. at the Social Abilitation and Rehabilitation Center "Parasolka", said Nataliya Kabatsiy, director of the CO "CF "CAMZ", during a meeting with German partners.

During the visit, the Terre des Hommes team visited the Committee’s volunteer headquarters, our shelters in Uzhhorod and Tyachiv, the Center "Parasolka", the Vilshany Children’s Orphanage, and inspected the construction site in Vilshany.

"Cooperation with the Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattya is the best evidence of the development of cooperation between European and Ukrainian civil society, and this cooperation is fruitful, with quite concrete results, some of which we see here in Transcarpathia. It is important to us that the public sector in Ukraine is effective, influences positive changes in the humanitarian and social spheres, builds parity with government agencies... As representatives of an organization that deals with comprehensive child protection, we are impressed with the relevant achievements of the Committee and support your further plans", Beat Wehrle summed up at the meeting in Vilshany.

In accordance with the planned components of the project, which the Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattya is implementing in partnership with "terre des hommes Deutschland e.V." and with funding from the German Federal Foreign Office, food kits are currently being distributed to families with children from vulnerable groups in Kharkiv and Kirovohrad regions, and medical supplies are being prepared for hospitals in Volyn and Dnipro regions.

Visit to the shelter in Tyachiv

Visit to the Social Abilitation and Rehabilitation Center "Parasolka" (Tyachiv)

Visit to the Vilshany Children’s Orphanage