Respite camps
Picture of a smiling group of children and educators, with the mountains in the background.
We do our best to help those most affected by the war, especially families and children of wounded and fallen Ukrainian soldiers.
In collaboration with the “Szansa na Nowe Życie” (“Chance for a New Life”) Foundation and the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) Foundation, we organised three respite camps in Małe Ciche. In total, they brought together nearly 250 children and mothers from the families of wounded and fallen soldiers. The first one took place between 27 October and 10 November 2022, and it grouped 70 orphaned children and 20 widows. The second camp took place in spring, between 13 and 27 March 2023, and it grouped 64 children and 18 widows from Ukraine. The third camp ended on 27 April, with 15 mothers and 64 children having taken part in it.
During the camp, the members were encouraged to participate in a number of activities such as hiking trips, thermal baths, walking tours around Zakopane, rafting down the Dunajec River and carriage rides. The “autumn” group visited Kraków, where they participated in a meeting with the First Lady of the Republic of Poland, Mrs Agata Kornhauser-Duda. All of those events and activities allowed the children and mothers to take a break from the difficult experiences that had affected them during the ongoing war. The camp staff consisted of tutors and psychologists from Ukraine. The camps took place under the supervision of experts including psychologists from Ukraine and psychiatrists from the Department of Psychiatry, Combat Stress and Psychotraumatology of the Military Institute of Medicine in Warsaw.
Apart from therapeutic classes, the children participated in a variety of activities including hiking trips, art classes, hippotherapy, horse riding, a visit to a parrot house and swimming. All these activities aimed at giving them a break from the challenging reality. After a few days of stay, many of them said: “We have rediscovered hope in the value of our lives”.
Memories:
Child on horseback, trainer next to him, houses and beautiful high mountains in the background.Two horse-drawn carriages, you can see the children sitting in the first carriage.
Child on horseback, trainer next to him, houses and beautiful high mountains in the background.Child on horseback, trainer next to him, houses and beautiful high mountains in the background.
Funding:

The BGK Foundation, Fundación Altamira Lar, private donors

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