Pology Shelter in the Netherlands, 2022
The Orikhiv Center for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation for children from Zaporizhzhia region was one of fifteen municipal institutions that, since the beginning of the full-scale war, were evacuated to safer regions within Ukraine and abroad. In total, four hundred fifty-four children were evacuated from Zaporizhzhia city and region to safe areas and accommodated in Poland, Italy, and the Netherlands, where welcoming local communities provided shelter for the institutions and their residents at the start of the war.
The Orikhiv Center remained in Poland for more than two years and four months. The return of the institution and the children to Ukraine took place on June 30, 2024, when the center became the first of the institutions evacuated abroad to return to Ukrainian territory. At the same time, the center was unable to return to its home city of Orikhiv or to Zaporizhzhia, as the building where it previously operated had been damaged by constant shelling, and returning to these areas was unsafe for the lives of children and staff. Therefore, in order to continue its work, premises were found in Ivano-Frankivsk region, where the center now operates under new conditions.
During its long stay in Poland, the center, together with partner organizations abroad, worked to ensure that children felt cared for and supported. After returning to Ukraine, the director and staff set a goal to continue working with the children, promoting their placement in family-based care and integration into the Ukrainian education system. In the first days after returning, when the children smelled Ukrainian food, caregivers perceived it as a symbol of returning to their native culture and home.
The first nine children have already been placed and returned to family-based living conditions: three children were placed under the guardianship of Polish citizens, three children with living parents were returned to their biological families, and three more were placed in a family-type children’s home located in Ivano-Frankivsk region. These steps became part of the center’s work to ensure better conditions for children who found themselves in difficult life circumstances.
Thus, at the time of the Orikhiv Center’s return from Poland, it was the only one among the evacuated institutions to return within Ukraine, though not to its original home region due to security concerns. As of August 5, 2024, nine residents of this center have already been integrated into family-based living conditions, while others continue to remain under care and guardianship within the framework of the center’s activities in Ivano-Frankivsk region.
More information from the former Head of the Children’s Services Office of Zaporizhzhia region, Antonina Matvieieva.
About the evacuation and return of Zaporizhzhia shelters read in the article.
