‘They had a lot of trauma’: Calgary agency offers day camp for recently arrived Ukrainian kids – Calgary | 24CA News
A special occasion camp is bringing a much-needed summer time enhance for some new Calgarians.
It’s a welcome vibrant spot for youths who’ve simply been by way of some very darkish days.
The Immigrant Education Society (TIES), a Calgary company that helps newcomers, is providing a day camp this week for kids who’ve come to Canada after fleeing the warfare in Ukraine.
It’s a chance for the youngsters to attach with one another and be taught extra about their new lives in Canada.
“I like learning English,” camp participant Emir Suvorov, 9, mentioned.
Some of the kids attending the camp arrived in Calgary as lately as a month in the past.
“They go through the bombing, they go through the terrible things that happen in Ukraine,” camp counsellor Sofiia Krok mentioned. “So many of these kids, they had a lot of trauma.”
Krok was a kindergarten instructor in Ukraine earlier than coming to Calgary throughout the summer time of 2022.
“I’m so happy that the kids have this opportunity here to be together and to share their emotions,” Krok mentioned.
The kids attending TIES Ukrainian Day Camp vary in age from 8 to 12.
“You can talk with your friends and find a new friend,” camp participant Seva Rynhenky, 10, mentioned.
Krok is certainly one of 5 current arrivals from Ukraine who’ve been employed at TIES serving to to supply help for newcomers like the youngsters from Ukraine.
“It is very important, because we want to provide opportunities for the children to be themselves, to be a kid,” TIES govt director Sally Zhao mentioned. “So they can live healthily, both physically and mentally.”
TIES Ukrainian Day Camp options studying actions and video games, in addition to journeys to native parks for some out of doors enjoyable.
“I can learn here many interesting things about Canada,” camp participant Sofiia Yatsanko, 12, mentioned.
Krok mentioned she’s apprehensive in regards to the security of members of the family nonetheless in Ukraine and is aware of that most of the kids in her camp have related considerations.
“We have one game that we play: ‘Say for us one of your dreams,’” Krok mentioned. “And all of them say ‘I want the war to get finished’ – it’s their dream.”
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