UGCC rehabilitates families of soldiers who were wounded or released from captivity

Today, these families are learning to live with their own injuries and build healthy relationships with their husbands, wives, and children. Therefore, the organising team, which consisted of representatives of the Patriarchal Pilgrimage Center, members of the VIKHA community of Christian animators, and qualified and professional psychologists and psychotherapists Ivan and Natalia Chornykh, offered the families a circle of communication and sharing, living together in a spiritual place, physical and game activities, psychological lectures and analysis, spiritual practices, exciting trips, and quality rest. We will hear from the participants about how it went and what they will take into their lives.

For security reasons and to preserve anonymity, at the request of the servicemen and their families, we are publishing their comments and impressions without mentioning their names.

• “If before we were going with the flow, now we are beginning to swim against it, to flounder and get to the goal. Perhaps Fr Vasyl understands how unusual and difficult it is to celebrate a holiday like Easter without your family. This is the first time for us. However, you all have replaced our family, completely replaced it.”
  
  
• “This is my first Easter not with my family. And at the same time, this is the first holiday after which I told my husband that today was really a holiday. I felt like a real family.”

• “Honestly, we weren’t going to. My children have not heard sirens or been blown up for at least ten days. Thank you very much for not talking about the war here. And as for me personally, this is the first time in my life I’ve worn a ring.”
  
  
• “I came here thinking that I have no resources for anything, I am too exhausted and tired. And here it’s like I got a second wind. And I feel so good now, despite some personal problems. I feel good and calm.”

• “I am grateful to you all for this opportunity to be safe during these days. And I am grateful for our rest from the children and their rest, because very rarely do they have the opportunity to play and do something in a narrow circle, in one team. This unification of both children and adults gives me a very pleasant feeling. The war separates people: some of your friends have left, some are fighting, and you worry about them. Here, there were many reasons to be happy for everyone. And for the psychologists, I would like to say that you work very well, gently, and unobtrusively. I thought it would be a deep self-examination. Instead, everything was laid out on the shelves, and now you understand where you should move, you feel the resource for it.”

• “My impressions and associations with rehabilitation boil down to just three words: spirituality, kindness, and sincerity. There is a rather banal phrase that the greatest luxury is communication. So, you have given us enough of this luxury. Natalia also noted that a good psychologist should not give advice and tell you what to do but should only illuminate. You have illuminated our lives.”

In conclusion, we would like to add that the team of the Patriarchal Pilgrimage Center is already actively preparing for the third round of rehabilitation for families of servicemen who were wounded or released from captivity. It will begin on 28 May 2024 at the Marian Spiritual Center of Zarvanytsia. The main condition for participation is the mandatory participation of the whole family (husband, wife, children), as the programme is aimed at restoring relationships and finding a healing, inexhaustible source within the family.