"The wounds of war will heal, but scars will remain": psychologists at the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation help children returned home after being taken to the rf

The illegal transfer of Ukrainian children to russia is a grave and internationally condemned crime of the enemy. Returning each child home is a colossal work that begins the long road to recovery, as children return with severe psychological and emotional trauma. The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation was the first to provide psychological help and physical rehabilitation for these children.

During the winter session of the Blogger Camp in Zakarpattia, the children are helped by a reinforced team of psychologists from the Foundation and an osteopathic doctor who works with physical manifestations of psychological trauma.

"They could not speak, they did not smile, they hardly moved... We create an environment where children feel safe, open up, and recover. And we can feel noticeable changes. It is important that these processes are supported locally: by medical institutions, administrations, and schools. The most important thing – by families. The wounds children received will most likely heal, but scars will remain,” Liudmyla Ibrahimova, the psychologist at the Foundation, explains.

Olha Puchyna, the psychologist, takes care of the oldest group of children returned from abroad at the winter session. 

"Very difficult teenagers. Their adolescence has been overlaid with a full-scale invasion: trauma on trauma. We are working in the mode of acceptance: we accept that this is a difficult age, a period, and we accept their traumas. These children will be in rehabilitation for a long time. And our task is to talk to them, to provide them with psychological help and psychotherapeutic support. They are very patriotic and committed to Ukraine's unconditional victory," Olha says.

Ivan Kudriashov, the osteopathic doctor, identifies and corrects psychosomatic manifestations of the war trauma experienced by the session participants. 

"The experiences of children are reflected in the body, fixed, and create disorders that need to be treated to make children feel better, to improve their lives. The osteopathic doctor complements the work of a psychologist, and all of this gives a better result than if it was done separately. I am grateful that the Foundation invited me to work with these children; it is the right and good decision,” Ivan says.

Olha Puchyna also notes the results of the osteopath and psychologist's complex help.

“After working with the doctor, the children feel much better. They start sleeping; their emotional state is normalised. And it is much easier for us to work with them. The children say they feel very well, and we notice a greater interest in working with psychologists,” Olha says.

As part of the “Rinat Akhmetov for Children. Peaceful Recreation for Children of Ukraine” project, nearly 4.9 thousand children from all over Ukraine affected by the war have received qualified psychological help at the Blogger Camp.