“Healing Communities”: representatives of the Kryvyi Rih community recovered and gained new knowledge in Lviv

The group was accompanied by Fr. Ivan Talaylo, a UGCC priest who serves in the parish community of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Kryvyi Rih and is the director of Caritas Kryvyi Rih.

The course attended by entrepreneurs, public figures, activists, businesspeople, and representatives of various levels of local government, which allowed the community to unite in a common desire to restore a better life and build their country. “The hope and faith in the victory of the Ukrainian people not only allow us to look confidently to the future, but also to mobilize all efforts for its quality and value-based construction right here and now,” said Fr. Lyubomyr Yavorskyy.

Over the years, the parish of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Kryvyi Rih has become a center not only for prayer life, but also for community and social initiatives. The social ministry of parishioners and volunteers has intensified especially since the outbreak of the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine. It is not surprising that the first meeting of the Healing Communities project team with representatives of the Kryvyi Rih community took place at the parish center of the UGCC.

“I am very pleased that the Patriarchal Foundation Mudra Sprava gives not only bread to people, not only material assistance, but also help on a deeper level — psychological and spiritual. As soon as I learned about this program, I became very enthusiastic about making it happen in our community. Today we are a frontline city. Over these two years, we have managed to do a lot for our military personnel and IDPs. Therefore, many of our active volunteers are already exhausting their resources, and therefore need spiritual and psychological help,” emphasized Father Ivan Talaylo.

For five days, the participants listened to educational and motivational lectures on leadership, sustainability, psychology, and the history of Ukraine.

Anna Kartman, a clinical psychologist and one of the program’s specialists, said: “Understanding basic psychological processes is extremely important both for the community and for each individual. It is extremely important for us to understand ourselves to prevent difficulties that may arise in case of untimely access to professional medical psychological help. Therefore, our task in the Healing Communities program is to provide communities and everyone with a basic understanding of what mental health is, what the components of stress resistance are, what behavioural and cognitive work is, and how we can help ourselves to improve our own well-being. This is done to help mental disorders that are ignored. That is why we study, teach and develop self-help skills that will help everyone to stand up, fight and be effective in dealing with the difficulties that arise on the path of life.”

The program also included a cultural and spiritual component, which included visits to the Sheptytsky UCU Centre and other historical and cultural monuments in Lviv.

“By conducting training here, we really want these people to be culturally enriched, to learn more about Lviv and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. When we communicate in Kryvyi Rih, parishioners ask me about my studies at the seminary or the Ukrainian Catholic University. So, the day before yesterday we had a tour to UCU, yesterday — to the Lviv Seminary of the Holy Spirit. And today we will have a tour of the city of Lviv,” said Father Ivan Talaylo.

Viktor Emelianov, a participant in the program, shared his impressions: “This is a very in-depth project that gives us a lot of inspiration and tools for further work. I am a private entrepreneur. So, the knowledge and skills provided by the trainers were extremely important to me. I want to continue my business activities within my community. Today we must work together as one community. Only then will the community be healed and developed. Personally, I also found the lectures on the history of Ukraine, which we know so poorly for certain objective reasons, as well as because of our own laziness, extremely valuable. This is something that we need to study because it gives us the future. It was also important to communicate with different people and trainers whom we usually cannot meet in everyday life.”

Kateryna Mykoshyna, who combines her work as a Plast educator (Ukrainian scouting organization) with her work at the charitable foundation, was extremely impressed with the course. “At the beginning, I was worried about the heavy workload, but it wasn’t. I liked the day dedicated to resilience. I am grateful to the lecturer who worked with the team. At the same time, he allowed us to get to know the people we came here with. It unites our community tremendously. I would like to continue to work with the knowledge we have gained during these days. We really have a way to go today, we have the strength to do so, so we will continue to work.”