When the war escalated in Ukraine, Vladyslava Balera, 18, found her world shattered. Her once-vibrant aspirations were replaced with fear and uncertainty. Arriving in Nitra, Slovakia, in July 2022, she felt adrift.
But with time, the war not only altered her surroundings but reshaped her very identity – ultimately teaching her to live differently.
“It was only here that I had a sense of complete security”
Vladyslava is from the town of Balakliia in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. As the war escalated in February 2022, she was in complete shock. Out of the few months she stayed there, only 3 night were spent in a house, the rest hiding in a basement. After a difficult journey from Ukraine, Vladyslava and her sister came to Slovakia to live with her mother. In the city of Nitra, she began to feel completely safe. “In Nitra I got my act together. I stopped having nightmares," says Vladyslava. “It was only here that I had a sense of complete security.”
Turning down the opportunity to study to help the family, she took a job in manufacturing, working three shifts. She enjoyed it at first, but the longer she was there, the more she began to feel unfulfilled.
While still working night shifts, she began to attend Slovak language classes. As her Slovak improved, she started an external course to study business management. She got a job in an employment agency as a "recruiter" for Ukrainians all over Slovakia.
She also started to see a psychologist. “I had to get myself together internally,” she says. “Otherwise, I would not be able to take the next steps in my life.” With time and effort, Vladyslava gradually carved out her place in a new society, turning language barriers and cultural differences into bridges of understanding.
In 2024, Vladyslava got a job as a youth coordinator in a local municipality administration, where she works with young people and the Youth Parliament. "I feel useful and I enjoy it,” she says. "The war taught me to live differently.”
"We inspire and help each other”
Vladyslava knows how it feels to work several shifts, focusing just on earning an income to survive – at the expense of having the time or energy to forge a community.
In Ukraine, she says, young people have numerous opportunities to build their own networks, such as through playing sports or art classes. “I decided that I could bring that here for the young people," she says.
Vladyslava’s idea began with a group of working Ukrainian women on Telegram, which today has more than 80 young women. Thanks to the support of UNICEF, she managed to get a grant from the city of Nitra and the Nitra Community Foundation to start her own project named Integration programme for Young Ukrainian Women.
The idea, she says, is to offer young women a place to make friendships, share advice, and access various activities and forms of support. The group facilitates meetings with a psychologist, art therapy and yoga classes. "I can see the women in our programme becoming more open, making friends and moving forward with each meeting. We inspire and help each other," Vladyslava says.
Vladyslava’s project does not just offer activities. For many women, it offers a lifeline – a space in a new society where they feel seen and heard and can speak openly about their fears and aspirations. Vladyslava’s efforts are part of a larger movement. As of August 2024, 125,421 Ukrainians have a valid Temporary Protection registration in Slovakia, many of whom face similar struggles to Vladyslava, and the women she supports. Projects like hers stand as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of community.
In Slovakia, UNICEF collaborated with cities of Bratislava, Nitra, Košice, and Prešov to transition UNICEF-supported services to local authorities and strengthen the social inclusion of Ukrainian and other refugees. Grant schemes in Bratislava, Nitra, and Prešov facilitated community events involving over 15,000 refugees and host community members.
UNICEF’s partnership with municipality of Nitra for Ukrainian refugee children and families in Slovakia has been supported through the generous contributions from the US Government's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.
