by Tanya KONONENKO

21 December 2009

At the end of November and during December 2009, five UN volunteers and two volunteers from Service for Peace conducted painting lessons for the children attending the Integration centre at ROKADA Charity Fund. The centre is functioning with support from UNHCR Regional Representative in Kyiv.

Children whose parents were forced to flee their homeland and look for asylum in a safe country – Ukraine – do not lose ties with their culture: in the Integration centre they study their native language (Farsi, since more than 95% of refugees visiting the centre originate from Afghanistan), study the Koran, and do traditional needlework (beadwork, embroidery). However, it is equally important for these kids to get to know the culture, customs and traditions of the country that became their second motherland.

One initiative organised by volunteers aimed at bringing the refugee children closer to Ukrainian culture was lessons on Petrykivskiy rozpys, one of the most representative examples of Ukrainian folk painting. After two weeks of preparation – including procuring acrylic paints and the special brushes from cat’s fur used in the petrykivskiy painting technique – the project got underway. Following the directions of volunteer teacher Katya Sukhareva, the kids tried their hand at painting “nutlets” and “petals” with which they filled birds and animals outline. They also painted guelder-rose and flowers using the traditional Petrykivskiy rozpys technique – with the help of… fingers. As an incentive, all the participants received colourful books in Ukrainian about the Earth’s natural miracles. What really inspired the volunteers was the enthusiasm and diligence of the kids who kept asking at the end of every lesson for the next one, and the next one.

In addition to painting lessons, the UN volunteers organized an outing to the Kyiv puppet theatre for the kids and their parents and, on 18 December, conducted a pre-Christmas fundraising activity, organizing the sale of hand-made jewellery and knitted goods at a festive party at the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv. The aim of this activity was not only to demonstrate the original handicrafts of refugee needlewomen, but also to raise public awareness about the situation of refugees, and to promote their integration into Ukrainian society and the development of a friendly multicultural space.

The next initiative on the UNV volunteers’ list of ideas is organising English lessons for the young visitors to the Integration centre.