290 Donbas children arrive in summer camps on holiday
Today, August 1 marked the beginning of the first shifts in Albatros and Soniachnyi recreation camps for Donbas children. Here children can rest, gain strength and catch a little break from the wartime stress.
The holiday is organized as part of Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center's program called "Peaceful Summer for Donbas Children 2016", which is aimed at giving a good rest and health improvement for children of 8-14 years old living in non-government-controlled areas and "grey zone" of Donetsk region.
Albatros camp is located on the coast of Azov Sea, and Soniachnyi camp is in the healing forests of Sviatohirsk. These camps host children from all over Ukraine, who come to rest and improve their health there, which means that Donbas children will be able to expand their social circle and meet new friends. Children will have professional educators, counsellors and two teams of psychologists working with them. In addition to the major entertainment program, children will be having classes and consultations with the Center's psychologists, aimed at stabilization and improvement of mental and emotional condition, anxiety reduction and development of communication skills.
"Assistance to children has always been a major focus for Rinat Akhmetov, that's why the Center arranges summer vacations for "children of war" for the second year in a row. For the first shift, through August 1-14, two camps hosted 290 Donbas children. We were worried, whether they all manage to get there on time, as two thirds of applications came from settlements in non-government-controlled areas. Fortunately, despite the difficulties with crossing the contact line, almost everyone made it to the shift opening. A few more people shall come till the end of the day, - Rimma Fil, Coordinator at Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center, says. – Kids are so happy to have this trip. They will enjoy an interesting and exciting program. And we hope that the stay in the camp will give good mood and positive emotions to children".
Rimma Fil also announced that the second shift as part of "Peaceful Summer for Donbas Children 2016" will take place in Albatros through August 15-28. During the entire project implementation period about 500 children can rest and improve their health in the summer camps.
