Students unite to support wellbeing of children with disabilities

University student Alina, 17, has always had a passion for teaching and spends her spare time volunteering to help Ukrainian children learn English.

"I enjoy working with children,” says the philology student, who comes from a family of teachers. “I love teaching them, listening to them and generally interacting with them."

Along with her friends Olya and Kamila, Alina is also determined to support the psycho-emotional wellbeing of children with special educational needs. That is why, together as the ‘Feeling with Heart’ team, they took part in the UPSHIFT youth innovation programme run by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Through the programme, the friends received the mentoring and resources they needed to launch a series of therapeutic sessions for children attending the Putra Inclusive Resource Centre in Ukraine’s Kyivska region, who have speech and developmental delays, Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorder.

For two months, the children had sessions with horses (equine-assisted therapy) and with Ricky, a specially-trained golden retriever (canine-assisted therapy). They learned from professionals how to ride and perform various exercises on horseback, and even how to mimic Ricky’s movements.

"We saw the results after the first lessons,” says Alina. “The parents said the children were looking forward to meeting the horses and saying their names, even though they hadn't spoken much before. Such lessons have a good effect on both the psycho-emotional and physical condition of children.”

Alina and her team also facilitated art therapy sessions at the Putra Inclusive Resource Centre, using air-dry clay for modeling and creating paper crafts with the children. In addition, they held two festive events for the project participants and students from a local lyceum, with quests, riddles and cartoons.