New Zealanders help Ukrainian child refugees find normalcy in face of Russian violence

• New Zealand Government and Kiwi support have helped to create a classroom for Ukrainian kids to escape the horrors of war.
• The centre provides mental health support, art therapy and “normalcy for kids”.
• World Vision estimates the war has disrupted the education of four million Ukrainian children.

New Zealand Government and public support have provided a safe space where Ukrainian children can escape the horrors of war and be kids again.

As the third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of the country nears, World Vision estimates four million children across Ukraine continue to have their education disrupted by the war, with 600,000 schoolchildren unable to attend in-person classes at all

World Vision New Zealand Ukraine programme manager Andy Robinson told the Herald the charity founded three centres in Moldova for displaced Ukrainian children to escape the horrors of the nearby war.

“This Christmas, I wish my grandpa could come home from the war. I miss him so much,” shared Artem, 7, from Dnipro, Ukraine. Photo / World Vision NZ

“The local community has made spaces for us to use and resource them. We pay for the teachers, we set them up like a really nice classroom in New Zealand,” he said.

“There are books to read, posters on the wall, fun activities, toys to play with. It’s about creating that normalcy for kids.”

He said the centre’s activities ranged from homework and catch-up classes to mental health and psychosocial support sites with art therapy.

“This helps children work out any grief or stress through arts and crafts with trained social responders,” he said.

“We have more than 1.5 million children at risk of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression. The damage to their mental health is alarming, long-term, and will last a generation or more.”

Robinson said New Zealand government aid and support from everyday Kiwis keep the centre running.

“The government said they wanted to help refugees, we want to do this through NGOs because you have the strongest community relationships with people on the ground,” he said.

Robinson said World Vision had successfully received funding from each government support package on the condition they pay half and rely on the New Zealand public to pay the other half.

“Global funding for the Ukraine situation is slowly starting to dry up,” he said.

“World Vision had set up all these safe spaces in Moldova and we were looking to close the doors because there wasn’t enough funding to keep them open.

“The government came along and said they would fund it. Thankfully we had the support of the New Zealand public as well.”

World Vision Response Director in Ukraine, Arman Grigoryan said the art therapy at the centre was working for the children.

“Their behaviour is changing, their mood is changing, they are starting to smile,” he said.

“In the beginning, the drawings have a little bit of war themes. Later on, it transforms into something more positive like drawing the sun.”

Ukrainian children deserved a life of peace, dignity, and safety – free from fear and suffering, where their rights were upheld, and their futures were protected, Grigoryan said.

“The violence must end, and peace must be restored – for the sake of every Ukrainian child. We must act now to protect these children and provide them with the support they need to survive and rebuild their lives,” he said.

David Williams is an Auckland-based Multimedia Journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.

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