Black Rain, Bright Hearts: The Future of Ukraine Holds Our Hands
Despite the air raid alarms all over Ukraine and the tragic news of human casualties, we continued to welcome children to our camp and expand our program.
The first week there were 44 children in the camp, and a week later more children joined us and the number increased to 77. 75% of them are children of military personnel. Sadly, many of them will never be able to hug their parents.
Every day we were busy and we did our best to bring bits of happiness to the future of Ukraine.
Below is our daily schedule:
9:00 – 10:00 Exercise and breakfast
After breakfast the children go on an excursion and we give them water + pocket money
10:00 – 12:00 Other groups participate in art class or go to enjoy the pool
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 16:00 All groups participate in a pajama party and watch cartoons
One day I was leading a five-year-old boy by the hand, whose dad has been defending Ukraine for almost four years. And he bombarded me with questions: why are the leaves on the trees green in the summer and yellow in the fall? How does a fly stay on the ceiling? Why does a camel have a hump? And a thousand more why, why, why? Walking past the local cemetery, he asked: Why are there so many crosses? I couldn’t find an answer and he picked up: because the damned war kills people. He was silent for a second, and then asked: Do you know what black rain is? I answered that I didn’t know, and he explained: when we are bombed, there is a lot of black smoke, and then it falls as black rain, and the chickens die from it. I was silent, the lump in my throat prevented me from speaking, not only the chickens die, but people too.
We must continue our work so that children never know what black rain is.
And the next day, I was holding the hand of six-year-old Victoria. She was chatting happily about mosquitoes, birds, beetles, neighbors, and scientific discoveries. Suddenly the sun peeked out through the trees and its rays touched Victoria’s face.
- This is my dad lighting the way. So I deserved it.
I was silent, because I know that her dad died in the war. And the little chatterbox continues:
- My dad loved me very much. Here is the cross he gave me and I don’t show it to anyone. He died in the war and became an angel, so now he is always with me. And now he looks at us and smiles, because I behave well.