Ukrainian children need more help

By /
Ukraine
children, Ottawa, Ukraine
Ukrainian children need more help

In Ottawa on October 27, Save Ukraine hosted a thank-you event for its supporters in a downtown church that has been converted into a community centre. Attending the meeting were Mykola Kuleba, founder of Save Ukraine , and Senator Stanley Paul Kutcher, a representative of the Canadian government. Mykola Kuleba is well known in Ukraine as a social welfare activist and is a former Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights (2014-2021). Dr Kutcher is Professor Emeritus at Dalhousie University, where he specializes in child psychiatry, and is himself of Ukrainian origin from Nova Scotia.

The evening began with a thank you to all who have contributed financially to Save Ukraine’ s work. He thanked the Ukrainian Ladies Committee, the Russian Embassy protest group and also Latvians from the Ottawa dance group Rotaļa, who together with Ukrainians organised the“Solidarity Through Song and Dance” fundraising evening in the spring. It should be noted that Daugavas Vanagi in Canada, LNAK, the Burtnieki group and others also gave financial support to event held in the spring. So when Sarma Merdian and Aija Auziņa stood up in the room, the thank-you was meant for all the donors from the Latvian community. Thank you!

The thank-yous were followed by a beautiful and sonorous performance by the Ottawa Ukrainian Children’s Choir. The evening continued with a cordial, heavy and informative conversation between Kuleba and Kutcher. It was a difficult conversation because the war has such a deep affects on children, for whom reality is full of air-raid bombings, a danger when walking to school if they even go to school. Some are sleeping in bathtubs because parents or guardians feel it is the safest place in the apartment. The russians have also forcefully stolen children and are trying to russify them, even forcing the older boys to attend a military academy to be raised as soldiers and sent to fight against their homeland of Ukraine.

Kuleba said that Ukraine needs to win the war in order to rehabilitate the children, and this must be done first. He added that childhood cancers are occurring at three times the rate they did before the war.

Kulebas has dedicated 26 years to Save Ukraine, which has been working for years to return children and sometimes elderly and infirm people from the occupied territories of Ukraine and also from Russia. He said that so far, 500 of the 20,000 identified (stolen) children have been brought to the territory of free Ukraine, because the road is also dangerous for rescuers. There are 600 more children specifically waiting to be rescued from Russian-controlled territory.

Once rescued, children still need to recover and Save Ukraine has rehabilitation centres that enable children to recover physically and mentally. They also process the necessary personal documents. Children are taken to their parents or other family members and supported in the transition to their new life together.

Kuleba called on all of us to inform Canadians, through the media and just through everyday conversations, about the human rights violations committed by russians in Ukraine and the war crimes committed against the Ukrainian people, especially against children.

Senator Kutcher added that the Government of Canada is participating by sending delegates from the mental health professions. It would also be useful to specifically help 250 Save Ukraine workers and 1,000 volunteers living in Ukraine with training in mental health education. But the Senator added that Canada could do much, much more if it had the political will. That is why he advised each of us to write and call our district MP, Prime Minister Trudeau and other politicians, and ask for military aid for Ukraine to end the war sooner, and especially for the children. “We are each ambassadors for the children of Ukraine.”

Kuleba explained that $50 per month covers the cost for one child to stay at the rehabilitation centre. The evening ended with a $9,595 donation to Save Ukraine by the Mayor of Carleton Place and a representative of the Ukrainian community.

And perhaps we can all truly continue to support Ukraine to the best of our abilities, as the war continues with its brutality and as all suffer, especially the children. If you wish to donate directly to Save Ukraine, you can use this link:

Aija Auziņa