Neighbours against war

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I am Natasha Pavlovski, a Hungarian and Russian citizen living in Budapest. Since February 2022, together with my friends, we try to help Ukrainian refugee families in Hungary.

We joined the initiative of the Piarista Gymnasium in Budapest to develop educational programs for kids. We launched a crowdfunding campaign to hire Ukrainian teachers so they can teach refugee kids.

In March we started with one group of children,

and in three months we had:

a daily group for primary school children

Mothers could give their children and have a few hours of time to set up a new life in Budapest. It was a safe space for the little ones with games, hugs, attention and calm atmosphere.

a daily computer classroom for teenagers

Teens could come to study with their Ukrainian classmates online in necessary silence. .

Hungarian language courses

Held every day for two academic hours. As a result, we have a group of children who are not afraid to go to a Hungarian school.

Volleyball

A professional volleyball coach from Odessa is organising volleyball classes in the gymnasium.

Tennis

A professional tennis coach from Ukraine holds tennis lessons for the children. We rent the court from donations.

Violin

A violin teacher from the occupied territories of Ukraine found us in Budapest. Since it is impossible to have a violin class for a group, we decided that she would give private lessons for the children.

Budapest sightseeing walks for mothers

under the guidance of our volunteer guide Tatyana Men

Our teachers

We cannot tell about each of the students of our project - there were too many of them!
But we can write about the teachers.

small ones

Anastasia

Nastya is from Chernomorsk, near Odessa, came to Budapest in early March and was our very first teacher. Nastya is a "second mom" for all the small ones.

sport

Oksana

Oksana was born and lived in Donetsk, Eastern Ukraine where her parents still live. In 2014, the war began and Oksana had to move near Kyiv, to city of Irpen. In 2022 she was fleeing from there too. Oksana is a tennis coach of the highest category and a huge help to everyone. Oksana leads all sport classes.

teens

Yaroslava

Yaroslava was born in the Donetsk region. For the last 15 years she lived in Western Ukraine, in Ivano-Frankovsk and worked in school as an English teacher. Yaroslava was a class teacher for teenagers, led an English speaking club and helped with homework.

violin

Evgenia

Before the war, Zhenya lived in Kramatorsk, Eastern Ukraine, played in a jazz ensemble and taught violin at a music school. Evgenia fled from the war with her daughter, her husband had to stay. Evgenia gives violin lessons for kids.

volleyball

Oleg

Oleg is from Odessa, speaks a bit of Hungarian. Oleg is world champion of 1982, used to coach the Hungarian national volleyball team in late 90s. Oleg is leading the volleyball section for Ukrainian kids.

world around

Olga

Olga came from industrial Ukrainian city Krivoy Rog with two children and a grandson. Olga is a geologist, and also the head of a national cultural center "Palace of Youth" in Krivoy Rog. Olga held geology classes for children. In June Olga returned to Ukraine.

Some of the programs ended with the academic year, while others continue and new ones appear.

From July together with the Piarista Gymnasium we are organising a SUMMER CAMP for Ukrainian children. The main goal of the camp is to learn Hungarian language and to play a lot.

Here are some photos from our camp:

What will we do next?

We will support Ukrainian families with education and integration. We develop these projects now:

School scouting

Together with two NGOs Menedek Egyeszulet and Jezsuita Menekultszolgalat we are looking for appropriate Hungarian schools for Ukrainian children.
30 families passed through our working group up till now.

Help circle of locals

From the beginning of the academic year, we are preparing to connect volunteers with local schools where Ukrainian children start their studies. Volunteers will help the children and their parents in the their integration process.

Tutoring at the Piarista Gymnasium

Together with the Piarista Gymnasium we organise tutoring for Ukrainian kids, where last year students of the high school help Ukrainian children with their homework .

Hungarian language courses

Daily Hungarian language classes for kids and adults

If you want to support
these initiatives, use our crowdfunding

DONATE

All programs were made possible thanks to the support of the
Piarists order and personally the director of the Piarista Gymnasium Balint Horvath.

Balint started the whole program in March with opening the school's doors for Ukrainian children

and since then takes care of all of us.

Thank you for your support

Natasha Pavlovski and our volunteer group