Support Children Affected by War | Join OpenUA
Who We Are
The public organization “Open New Ukraine” is creating a network of children’s and youth clubs in Ukraine for practicing extreme sports.
They will be aimed directly at children and their families who have suffered from the consequences of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. This includes children of military personnel who have lost one or both parents, children displaced from occupied territories or territories in close proximity to the front line, as well as children affected by other armed attacks from Russia.
We plan to create free rental centers for sports and extreme equipment.
In winter, ski equipment (snowboards, skis and equipment for them).
In the summer, mountain and road bikes, as well as tourist equipment (tents, sleeping bags, sleeping bags, etc.).
This will allow children to distract themselves from the problems of the war and the losses they have suffered from it. Our centers also plan to employ child psychologists and rehabilitation specialists who will provide free assistance.
It is also planned to organize free tourist and extreme tours around Ukraine and Europe.
The main goal of these trips will be to provide comprehensive psychological and physical assistance by immersing children in extreme sports, distracting them from the losses that the war has brought to these children.
Our slogans are our actions
01.
Extreme sports are your psychologist
Extreme sports give a refugee child or a child who has been injured a new relationship with fear. They transform fear from an enemy that paralyzes into a resource that mobilizes and leads to victory. It is a way to reboot the nervous system and feel alive, not through the pain of loss, but through the joy of overcoming fear.
02.
The opportunity to forget about war
Children who have experienced war can never completely forget it – the experience of war remains with a person for life. Our organization wants to create conditions so that war ceases to be the center of their world, so that they have a “safe place” inside and around them.
03.
A sense of safety
While a child hears explosions or feels that their parents are in panic or endless uncertainty, their brain is in survival mode. A sense of safety forms a space where the child knows that now “nothing bad will happen.”
04.
Predictability
The chaos of war destroys the psyche of both children and adults. Returning to everyday habits gives the illusion of control over one’s life, and therefore peace. The child needs to know what will happen tomorrow.
05.
Communication with like-minded people
Isolation deepens psychological trauma after war. When a child sees other children laughing, competing, or even fighting over who is better at snowboarding or mountain biking, his brain receives a signal: “The world has not ended. Life goes on.”
06.
Counteracting bad habits
Unfortunately, the psychological trauma of war is so deep that already in adolescence, the only available method to cure these injuries is alcohol or drugs. Adrenaline from extreme sports can change a child’s thinking and prevent these bad habits from ruining his life in the future.