On June 2, our team in Ukraine celebrated Children’s Day by putting on a connection event in Kyiv, complete with games, arts and crafts, and delicious treats. Our team leaders organized the event with help from our Super Mentors—older youth who graduated from our Pathway to Success program and are now ambassadors for the program. Thirty teens and children attended, as well as mentors, mentor candidates, our corporate partners, and supporters. At this event, kids who are already matched with their mentors were able to spend time with them, and kids who haven’t been matched with a mentor yet were able to spend time with everyone and get to know them over fun games and crafts. There was one mentor-mentee pair matched while at the event!
It was a great day for developing leadership skills as our older teens and Super Mentors stepped up to make the event a huge success. One of the Pathway to Success program participants, 15-year-old Misha, got the younger kids involved by interviewing them and asking them how they enjoyed the event, what games they played, and what their favorite part was.
Misha also interviewed the host of the day, Vova, a Pathway to Success graduate who now serves as the President of the Super Mentors. When asked how he enjoyed the day, Vova said, “I love it because bringing joy and happiness to children is the calling of my heart!”
Children's Day is an important holiday in Ukraine. Sometimes called Child Protection Day or International Day for the Protection of Children, it commemorates when nations first came together in Geneva, Switzerland, to acknowledge the rights of children: their right to safety, education, family, and well-being. While some countries celebrate Children's Day in November, many nations, including Ukraine, commemorate the 1925 gathering with an early June celebration.
Despite the innumerable challenges of the ongoing war—a war that has threatened the well-being and safety of millions of children in Ukraine—our team has worked diligently to provide moments of normalcy and joy for the kids in our programs through events like this. Through our Pathway to Success program, our Children and Family Support Center in Mykolaiv, and, very soon, our Kidsave Miracles Center in western Ukraine, we will continue to help orphans and youth in care across Ukraine find the hope and connection they so desperately need.
