Hope for the Children of War

Ukrainian orphans and refugee children find shelter and schooling through K of C charitable partnerships

By Karolina Świder and Peter Gedicks

Nov. 27, 2023

Father Marek Bator, director of Caritas Częstochowa, and a group of Ukrainian children celebrate the opening of a new school Jan. 24 in Częstochowa, Poland. The school serves orphans who left Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion. (Photo by Sebastian Nycz)

A boy named Mykhailo and his grandmother arrived in Fastiv, Ukraine, earlier this year, after fleeing the southeastern city of Nikopol amid ceaseless attacks by Russia. Since June, they have found shelter in a Knights of Columbus Mercy Center supported by Sts. Borys and Hlib Council 17740 in Fastiv.

“There was constant shelling in Nikopol. The boy was terrified,” explained Father Vitalii Martsyniuk, Council 17740’s chaplain and a priest at St. Demetrius Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Mykhailo and his grandmother have been far safer in Fastiv, a town about 50 miles (75 kilometers) southwest of Kyiv — but for months, Mykhailo continued to live in intense fear. Whenever the air raid sirens went off, he dressed immediately and ran to the basement in panic.

Mykhailo’s experience represents a much bigger crisis. Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have been forced to leave their homes, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund; more than 5 million have difficulties attending school. Displaced, traumatized, often orphaned — children are among the most vulnerable victims of the war.

Thanks to its Ukraine Solidarity Fund^®, which has raised nearly $22 million, and the support of local members, the Knights of Columbus has responded with many relief initiatives focused on caring for Ukrainian children in need. Knights in Poland have established homes and schools, while a growing number of K of C Mercy Centers in Poland and Ukraine have been serving families and children like Mykhailo. Through partnerships with the other Catholic and humanitarian groups, the Order is also helping to provide housing, education and psychological support for orphans and young refugees.

“Blessed Michael McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus to care for widows and orphans,” said Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly, in a December 2022 interview with Poland’s public television network, TVP. Citing the work of parish-based Mercy Centers serving Ukrainian women and children, he added, “That original mission has continued with us today.”

FINDING A NEW HOME

Since the early days of the war, the Knights has partnered with the international Catholic charitable organization Caritas to ensure that Ukrainian refugees, especially children in need, have a home.

One of their first joint projects was to welcome 100 orphans from Myrne and Melitopol, in eastern Ukraine, to Poland. The city of Melitopol was the site of intense fighting after the February 2022 invasion, and the children at the Melitopol Center for the Rehabilitation of Children slept in the facility’s basement for days before managing to leave the country.

“The war is something terrible and unbelievable. There was constant anxiety,” said Larysa Vlasenkova, the center’s director. “We boarded the train, moved to Lviv and from there to Poland.”

With support from the Ukraine Solidarity Fund^®, Caritas quickly converted a retreat center in Częstochowa into a residence for the children. Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly visited the home during his first trip to Poland and Ukraine, in April 2022.

“It’s really a moving thing when you think about what these children have been through,” Supreme Knight Kelly said. “I think it’s important that we convey that we love them and that they may feel very alone, but they’re not alone; we are here to help them.”

The residence builds community among the children with plenty of activities, including sports, singing, dancing, excursions to the city and summer camps.

“They always entertain us so that we don’t feel sad, so that we have smiles on our faces,” said Svetlana, a 16-year-old resident. “We are very grateful to these people who will forever remain in our hearts.”

Larysa added, “I would like to express my sincere gratitude on behalf of the children and all our staff to the Knights of Columbus who have cared for our children.”

In October 2022, the Knights provided coats for the home in Częstochowa, the first Coats for Kids distribution in Europe. Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori, who visited Poland and Ukraine to meet with refugees and Knights, helped to give out the jackets. The program has since expanded, with Knights in Poland funding and sending coats to Ukraine this winter for distribution by local councils.

Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori greets children of displaced families at St. John Paul II Parish in Lviv, Ukraine, on Oct. 2, 2022. Also pictured, from right, are Ukraine State Deputy Youriy Maletskiy, Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki of Lviv and Bishop Mykhaylo Bubniy of Odessa. *(Photo by Tamino Petelinšek)*

The Knights also partnered with the Archdiocese of Lviv and Caritas to house internally displaced persons at a renovated 14th-century monastery in Rava-Ruska, Ukraine. The building currently is home to 36 children in three foster families. Each family has its own living quarters, equipped with a private kitchen, living room and several bedrooms and bathrooms.

Tatiana, mother to seven foster children, came to Rava-Ruska from Vasylivka, a city in the Zaporizhzhia region of eastern Ukraine. Vasylivka was invaded in the early days of the war and has been occupied ever since.

“Living was very difficult,” Tatiana recalled. “We were alone and always on the move. With such a big family and no savings, life was very hard.”

Since discovering the Caritas home for foster families, they have found support and relative peace.

“We no longer worry about what will happen tomorrow,” Tatiana said. “We have food to eat and live in comfortable and cozy conditions; the children go to school, and we have medical care — everything is taken care of.”

BODY, MIND AND SOUL

Children’s needs go far beyond material security, important as that is, said Ukraine State Deputy Youriy Maletskiy, who has been pivotal in the Order’s relief work from day one.

“Because children are under constant stress from bombings and loud explosions, they can’t do their usual activities: go to school, practice sports, spend time with peers and so on. For this reason, they all need psychological support and help,” Maletskiy explained. “This is why the Knights of Columbus is focused on providing material help, on the one hand, and psychological assistance and spiritual development, on the other.”

Each of the parish-based Mercy Centers Knights have opened in Poland and Ukraine, such as the one in Fastiv, offers activities for children — but none more than the Blessed Michael McGivney House in Radom, Poland. McGivney House, a resource center created by Our Lady of Częstochowa Queen of Poland Council 14004, organizes myriad classes, art workshops and summer camps to help refugee children make friends and adjust to their new environment.

Many of the programs, including the weekly Polish language lessons, bring Polish and Ukrainian children together.

“The goal is integration and support,” said Father Wiesław Lenartowicz, pastor of Our Lady of Częstochowa parish and chaplain of Council 14004, as well as associate state chaplain of Poland. “It is important that Ukrainian children are with Polish children during these workshops.”

Among the offerings is a social theater workshop for mothers and daughters. Social theater, also called drama therapy, is often used to help people work through trauma.

“The aim is to transform social situations that cause fear,” said Mykola Panasiuk, a former professional actor and director from Ukraine who runs the workshop. “Through acting, we confront situations that cause fear, work through them, and then reflect. In short, we don’t learn how to be an actor here, but how to deal with life.”

Group of children in a classroom. — Children stand with Father Vitalii Martsyniuk, chaplain of Sts. Borys and Hlib Council 17740, at a parish-based Knights of Columbus Mercy Center in Fastiv, Ukraine. *(Photo by Andrey Gorb)*

Ania and her 11-year-old daughter, Arina, attend the workshops together. “We grow closer in these sessions,” Ania said. “I discovered new things about her and myself as we overcame challenges together. It’s great to watch your child grow in these classes. My daughter jumps for joy at the thought of coming here.”

Education is an essential aspect of the Knights’ support. The Order’s partnership with Caritas in Częstochowa led to a school for refugee children living at the orphanage there.

“We know that the best way to improve a child’s psychological well-being is through education,” Father Marek Bator, director of Caritas in Częstochowa, said when the school opened Jan. 24, 2023.

Classes at the school, which was built in just three months, are taught in Ukrainian, though it also offers Polish language classes.

“Here, through their teachers, they are being prepared as future citizens who will rebuild their country after the occupation ends,” said Archbishop Wacław Depo of Częstochowa, state chaplain of Poland, who attended the ribbon-cutting and blessed the classrooms.

Meanwhile, in Fastiv, Father Vitalii Martsyniuk has seen how love, support and time can heal a child’s psychological wounds.

In September, the K of C chaplain noticed a change in Mykhailo, who had been so terrified by the air raid warnings. When the sirens sounded, the boy smiled and told the priest, “I’m not afraid anymore.”

“I’ve seen fear in that boy’s eyes so many times,” Father Vitalii said. “But now it’s gone.”

While the Ukraine Solidarity Fund^® has enabled the Order to serve vulnerable children in multiple ways, the needs continue to grow nearly two years after the Russian invasion.

“I want us all to say, ‘I’m not afraid anymore,’ like Mykhailo. But we’re still afraid,” Father Vitalii said. “So we look to the Lord and to each other for support. Together, we will overcome these hardships — with love, with truth, with life.”

To learn more about the Order’s Ukraine Solidarity Fund^® and associated efforts, visit kofc.org/ukraine.

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KAROLINA ŚWIDER and PETER GEDICKS write from Kraków, Poland.