Why did we close Litokryl Space in Dergachi?
Our Litokryl space is an island of safety where we provided psycho-emotional support for children going through war. One of our airplanes operated in Dergachi, which is a region of Kharkiv that suffers from constant Russian shelling.
Our space included more than 200 children, more than 600 creative workshops, art therapies and sessions with psychologists who provided free assistance to children and parents throughout the year.
But our space is no longer ours. Due to the constant shelling and the threat of attacks on civilian objects, we reformatted the space – the children’s space turned into a shelter where people hid from rockets around the clock. Today, we had to evacuate Litokryl from Dergachi and look for a new, safer place.
All the designs, materials, and children’s stories fit into one car. The volunteers of our foundation are now helping people to leave Dergachi and are evacuating them to Kharkiv. Litokryl in Dergachi continues to work online.
We stay in touch with the kids and their parents. We are also looking for a new home and plan to reopen the space.
Among the tens of thousands of children in Kharkiv region, most need psychological help. Anxiety, stress, loss of home and family, uncontrollable aggression, lack of communication with peers – these are just a small part of the problems that children face. So we definitely cannot stop.