War is an extremely challenging situation for children, who face many hardships daily. This time, we brought them joy with new school backpacks filled with supplies. We sent aid to the Chernihiv and Kyiv regions near the border, as well as to the Sumy region, where the security situation has significantly worsened in recent months. A total of 420 backpacks were delivered—140 to each region. Each backpack contained notebooks, pens, markers, colored paper, pencils, a full pencil case, a folder for notebooks, covers, and other writing supplies that children will use throughout the school year.
Educating Children During Wartime Is Extremely Difficult
Teaching during wartime is incredibly tough. Children are sleep-deprived because they have to hide in basements during air raid alerts at night and struggle to focus on lessons during the day. The situation is further complicated by frequent power outages. Schools near the Russian border often provide only online education for safety reasons.
The reality of this situation is confirmed by Iryna Voloshchenk, director of the Department of Education, Youth, Physical Culture, and Sports in the village of Makariv, Kyiv region:
"The Makariv community was located in an area of active fighting. Up to 18 local settlements were occupied here. Many buildings, especially kindergartens and elementary schools, are damaged or completely destroyed. Makariv itself was also partially occupied. After the Russian invasion, children studied online for about two weeks. Then they couldn’t study at all because there was no electricity, and everything stopped working. We resumed distance learning in early April 2022, and in September, we partially restarted in-person classes in schools that were not badly damaged or where repairs were completed, and where air raid shelters were available. We even have one school that is opening for the first time in two and a half years. It’s frightening, but the children have adjusted to the war. At first, it was hard—figuring out how to get them to shelters during alarms, or how to move preschoolers when they’d just fallen asleep. But now it’s become routine. When the alarm sounds, children grab their safety backpacks and know to go quickly to the shelter.”
Parents Are Extremely Grateful for the Help
We selected internally displaced families, large families, and single-parent households for this aid. Many are facing difficult financial situations due to the war. Viktoria, mother of seven-year-old Viktor who has a disability, is very grateful:
"This kind of help is very important because many families are struggling to survive now. It’s especially true since many men are at the front, leaving mothers alone with their children, counting every penny. I have five children myself, and my husband has died. I cannot provide all they need for school."
Yulia, a widow and mother of three children, including her daughter Valeria who has a disability, shares the same sentiment:
"We live from paycheck to paycheck. Buying a high-quality backpack with such content would be a problem for me. I can’t even afford tutoring for my children, which could help them catch up after missing lessons due to the war and online classes. My daughter still has panic attacks every time there’s an air raid alarm—she’s been having them for more than two years."
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