POLAND: REFUGEE CHILDREN FROM UKRAINE MUST BE SUPPORTED IN ACHIEVING THEIR DREAMS
WARSAW, 20 June 2023 – Sixteen months on, the war in Ukraine continues to claim victims, displace children and their families, and damage essential infrastructure including schools and hospitals.
Having triggered the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War, refugee children from Ukraine are now striving to rebuild their lives and a new normality. Refugee children in Poland, and around the world, have shown their incredible resilience in the face of immense challenges.
This World Refugee Day, we emphasize the significance of standing alongside refugee children, offering them a nurturing environment they need to heal, develop, and unlock their full potential. We call to ensure that they receive the care, education, and support necessary to thrive.
Let us embrace World Refugee Day by championing the rights and dreams of these remarkable children, who carry within them the promise of a brighter tomorrow.
Asia*, 11, lives and attends a Ukrainian school in Warsaw. “I am friends with all the school. The school is not big, so we are all friends, and we help each other” – said Asia*, when thinking about her first year of school in Poland.
Asia* enjoys drawing and attending cooking and sewing courses. In the future, she dreams of opening a shelter for stray animals. “I feel so sorry for them when they are so tiny and fluffy, and they are there cold in the streets. So, I would bring them home, treat them, cure them, and then give them back to some good people” – said Asia*.
When he first arrived in Poland, Dima*, 11-year-old, felt scared of people, alone and disoriented. Soon after, he joined the football club and the school of his city, and he started making friends and learning Polish.
“I got inspired by how Messi and Ronaldo are playing with each other. I want to play like them”. Playing football had been his dream since early childhood, however, due to some health conditions, he had never joined a football club before. When the full-scale war in Ukraine started and Dima* and his family were forced to flee to Poland, they realized that there was no time anymore to postpone their dreams.
Now, Dima* is training three times a week and he owns a football, that his mom bought him through Save the Children’s cash assistance. Apart from football, Dima* likes technology: “I have engineered many things in Ukraine.” Dima* enjoys going to school and most of all he likes math because – he told us – “I want to be either a programmer or a football player”.
“After graduation, the first thing I want to do is to go home for a while. Spend time with relatives, with friends who stayed there.” – said Alina*, 16.
Alina* is graduating from high school this year, and she is planning on taking a gap year before starting university. “I plan to develop more creatively because I want to study cinematography. Therefore, for me, it will be a year of preparation and just, probably, some rest. Because in fact, the last two years have been so difficult.”
Alina* has been interested in cinematography since she was very young, and growing up she was more and more inspired by women directors. “Women inspire me the most in the field of cinema. Because to get into such profession as a director, it has always been much more difficult for women than men.” – she told us.
By becoming a film director, Alina* hopes to contribute to raising awareness about discrimination, stereotypes and women’s rights. In fact, she thinks that movies can be a very powerful means to convey such messages. “There are a lot of movies that are feminist and simply beautiful. I think it is very important that these issues are raised in such areas as cinema, which people are always very interested in” – said Alina*.
Teo*, 15, is passionate about natural sciences, and he especially enjoys learning about chemistry and biology. Teo* wishes to become a great scientist, thus he studies hard and tries to learn as much as possible to make this dream come true.
Teo* also told us that he is working on his Polish language skills, and that he knows how important it is to learn the local language to feel integrated.
“I am now also participating in some acting courses. It’s like Ukrainian and Polish people, so you are making a connection. Maybe you are discovering each other’s cultural differences. It’s very good for integration” – said Teo*.
What Teo* enjoys the most about the acting courses is meeting new people and making new friends, but most of all, he enjoys it because he thinks the courses are helping him realize his dream of becoming an orator.
Sofiia*, 14, is passionate about history and religion, but most of all she is interested in music. Sofiia* has no doubt about her future: “I want to be a musician. I like metal and rock.”.
Sofiia* also loves Ukrainian music, and music has been her passion since she was a child. In Ukraine, she took piano lessons for 5 years, and now that she is in Poland, she is learning how to play the guitar. Mariia*, Sofiia’s mom, told us how important it is for her daughter to express her creativity through music and that currently she is watching YouTube tutorials to learn how to play the guitar.
Save the Children has been supporting Sofiia* to achieve her ambitions by providing her family with cash assistance. Thanks to this support, Mariia* was able to realize some of her children’s wishes, like buying Sofiia* her beloved guitar.
