Horytsvit 11

At the height of summer, 18 teenagers from the east and south of Ukraine immersed themselves in a creative world of recovery and inspiration.

It could have been an ordinary summer holiday, if not for the war. Some of the teenagers still live in the combat zone, amid the sound of weapons and fear for their lives; some were forced to flee their homes to escape the occupation, leaving behind beloved pets, books, school and friends – and, hardest of all, family they can no longer see; most live in a relatively calm part of the country, but the war has crept into the very heart of their lives by taking their parents away to serve, so these children know first-hand what it means to live in constant waiting and uncertainty; and Valeriia and Sviatoslav, a sister and brother from Kharkiv region, are now in their fourth month of trying to cope with their father being listed as missing in action at the front…

That is why, for these 18 boys and girls, the camp was less a holiday and a chance to have fun than a space for recovery.

Peace, quiet, a break from air-raid alerts, nourishing food, clean air and the chance to walk barefoot, along with a steady daily rhythm that began with unhurried yoga and ended with long, friendly conversations under the stars – all of this created a safe, healing space for children in the middle of a war.

The Horytsvit team put together a rich and engaging programme for the young people, built on the idea of a threefold unity: body, feelings and mind, which together make up the wholeness of human nature. Day by day we explored what it means to live in each of these spheres, asked questions and looked for answers together. How can I look after my body in times of constant stress? What do I need to do to feel energetic and full of life? Why do I feel so many emotions, and what should I do with them? How can I tell my states apart and express difficult feelings without harming myself or others? Which of my talents and skills are asking to be expressed? How can I organise what I do so that I am as productive as possible and get the most out of life? These questions matter to everyone, but especially to teenagers who are only just beginning their journey of self-discovery and of stepping out into the wider world.

We looked for answers in long, deep conversations, experiments and exercises, and by sharing experiences and thoughts, but we also used a multimodal arts approach. In the performance workshop, the young people explored their emotional nature more deeply and learned to work as a team, bring their fantasies to life, build a plot and tell stories through sound, movement and light. The result was two moving performance pieces in which the young actors raised questions of identity, human connection and loneliness. In the sculpture workshop, the teenagers learned to direct their will and build determination, because turning an idea into reality takes persistence and belief in yourself. And so worlds of clay, wood and stone came into being…

The visual art workshop was something special: it was the first experiment of its kind at Horytsvit, because it was run by teenagers who had taken part in our previous camps! Viktoriia and Dmytro were overjoyed to be part of the project in a new role. They took great responsibility in shaping their workshop programme, prepared varied and engaging sessions on colour theory, experimented with different techniques and even made wonderfully touching badges from their own sketches! The experiment of growing the Horytsvit team by inviting motivated participants from past camps was a complete success: the children felt calm and trusting, the young mentors felt inspired and responsible for their contribution to the community, and the team and organisers were delighted with this new, successful form of the project.

Days at Horytsvit really were like life in a big family: we baked pies together, drank tea, played active games, laughed a lot, watched films, danced, looked after our space, built installations and told bedtime stories… It’s hard to believe that a week earlier we had all been strangers! Over these 10 days together, the sense of unity and togetherness filled our lives with hope that people can care for one another, hear and support one another, and affirm life, however destructive the world around us becomes. We always have the choice to follow our own inner wholeness.