Caritas Kyiv employees improve their skills of work with crisis children and youth

13.03.2014, Ukraine
Recently Caritas workers took part in the seminar, conducted by specialists Lidia Romanchuk and Olga Ivanenko from “Family circle” Center of child’s development in Lviv. The event was dedicated to work with children who faced violence and emotional deterioration. The main attention was focused on problems of psychological peculiarities of children in complicated life circumstances, and also on specificity of behavior and work with such kids.

On the agenda were also characteristics of different traumas types and peculiarities of work with revealed cases of traumas that formed in children at various age of development. During two-day training participants were able to get acquainted with diagnostics of traumas symptoms in children and general principles of rendering assistance to harmed children. Moreover, trainers combined information on cases from own experience with practical exercises and games.

“For many years Caritas Kyiv has been working with families in complicated living conditions. When a family faces feeling of feebleness and despair, it may lead to destruction of family values and aggravation of favorable conditions for full development of a child. That’s why weak and unprotected kids who don’t know how and aren’t able to stand for own fight for full-fledged life become victims of violence,” notes Fr. Roman Syrotych, Director of Caritas Kyiv.

Caritas Kyiv was founded in 1992. There are three main fields that seize the following categories of needful individuals: children and social follow-up of disadvantaged families, seniors and people with limited physical capacity, imprisoned women. Assistance to children is aimed to favor their reintegration in society.

Fr. Roman Syrotych retells: “In Caritas Kyiv we render help to nearly hundreds of children annually. This support includes education, social services and nutrition. We assist them in finding prospects in their lives, development of own positive traits and getting an occupation. If there is need, we provide street-children with food, clothes, hygiene means and healthcare products. These children and youth also have possibilities to wash themselves, use services of hairdresser or seamstress. But what is the most important we rarely act ad hoc, because with our experience we try to work in an integrated manner, not only to fulfill some needs of an individual, but to change his/her life or at least improve one its stage!”

“’Being beaten means being loved’ – is it only a saying or a motto in children upbringing? It is hard to answer, but such manifestation of parental ‘love’ exists almost in every Ukrainian family. Children are being harmed and face emotional deterioration, and get convinced that they deserve such attitude. What can we say about 100 thousand children who live on streets and nearly 100 thousand youngsters who are orphans or are left without parental care? With each day problem of violence in children is increasing, that’s why it is important to update own knowledge and methodological materials in such uneasy, but really necessary work,” says psychologist of Caritas Kyiv Palyuk Alina.

It is worth mentioning that Department on social issues of the Ukrainian Greek and Catholic Church makes a considerable contribution and assists in educating activity on prevention violence in families. Workers of this department have planned to organize another series of educating seminars dedicated to specificity of sex education for children, in particular young generation should master moral culture in sphere of gender relationships, form needs to take in consideration interests of opposite gender in relationship, norms of morality, social and legal aspects of work with children in complicated living circumstances.