The war has forced thousands of Ukrainians to leave their homes and relocate to other regions of the country. Volyn, which has taken in more than 46,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), including nearly 13,000 children, has become a refuge for those seeking a new beginning. In some communities, IDPs make up to 14% of the population, which significantly changes the social and cultural landscape of the region.
However, this also brings challenges: differences in cultural traditions, rituals, ethnic identity, and historical perceptions between local residents and IDPs can cause difficulties in adaptation and mutual understanding. Misunderstandings in a new environment often cause feelings of isolation, which deepens stress and psychological trauma for both IDPs and local residents.
To help people adapt and feel better away from home, the PRO WOMEN UA public organization, as part of the project “Assistance to IDPs in the Western Region through Local Partnership,” brings everyone together around the region’s historical and cultural heritage. The organization’s specialists, together with invited speakers, conduct excursions to historical sites, art therapy workshops, career guidance meetings, and organize psychological support groups. All this helps not only to support people in crisis, but also to create a platform for integration and cooperation.
During two months of active work within the project, many events were held to introduce people to the historical sites of Lutsk and the Volyn region, cultural traditions and customs, crafts, and interesting facts about the development and activities of the region. Participants from among the new residents of our communities have already been able to take excursions to historical sites, attend a master class in intuitive painting, mold traditional Volyn pottery from clay, sing Christmas carols and New Year’s songs during vocal therapy, create a nativity scene star, and receive individual consultations from a psychologist and career counselor.
“The goal of the project and the purpose of our activities is to integrate new residents of our communities through the study of the history and culture of Volyn, support psychological and mental health through art therapy activities, and provide consultations with a psychologist and career counselor.
When we started the project, there were many questions about why we invited representatives of the local community to participate in project activities for IDPs. The integration of one community into another is only possible if there is a common platform for conversation, leisure, advocacy, etc. If we gather internally displaced persons and locals separately, we create closed communities that do not plan to interact and, accordingly, will conflict in the future.
Therefore, in our project, we view integration as a process of interaction between displaced persons and local residents, representatives of the creative elite of Volyn, historians-guides, museum researchers who create the modern history of Volyn and study integration processes in their work. First, we create a common ideological and cultural foundation, and then we can move on to more serious topics of a non-applied nature,” says Yulia Yevpak, chair of the board of the NGO PRO WOMEN UA.
The integration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) into the community is an important process that has a significant impact on their lives, as well as on the socio-economic development of the community itself, contributing to its prosperity. The project will run until March 2025, so stay tuned for announcements and join the events.
The project “Integration of IDPs, including families, through in-depth immersion in the culture, history, and career guidance of the Volyn region” is being implemented by PRO Women UA as part of the program “Assistance to IDPs in the Western Region through Local Partnerships,” which is being implemented by the KRILA NADII Charitable Foundation with financial support from the Czech Ministry of the Interior and the “Help on the Spot” program.