‘No One Can Steal Childhood’

The Knights of Columbus partners with the Sovereign Order of Malta to bring healing to children scarred by war in Ternopil, Ukraine

By Kateryna Kolodii

Oct. 9, 2025

Children Make Crafts With Volunteers — Nazar Bachynskyi, a member of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj Council 18687 at Ternopil Seminary, guides a child through an art activity during the Kinder Mobile project in Ternopil on June 21. (Photo by Andrey Gorb)

Amid a flurry of soap bubbles floating in the summer sun, a young boy lands a ring on a target and jumps for joy, as a girl with a ponytail crawls through a colorful play tunnel. Meanwhile, a Knight volunteer helps a boy cut a shape out of cardboard, while a child nearby works quietly with colored pencils, creating a world of his own.

These scenes unfolded on a sunny day in June around the Kinder Mobile, a vehicle that travels to war-torn areas of Ukraine to provide psychological and emotional relief to local children. In partnership with the Sovereign Order of Malta, the Knights of Columbus launched the project earlier this year in several locations across the country — including at the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Parish of the Deposition of the Robe of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ternopil.

Through art therapy and cooperative play, the mobile unit gives children a space to process trauma, build trust and simply be kids.

“Children don’t always know how to deal with stress, how to overcome it, how to [cope with] crisis situations,” explained Valentyna Paliuha, a Kinder Mobile coordinator and volunteer with Malteser International, the relief agency of the Order of Malta.

That challenge demanded a response, and for Grand Knight Roman Ivashchuk of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj Council 18687 at Ternopil Seminary, the mission was clear.

“We needed to create an environment where the children can feel safe and comfortable,” said Ivashchuk, who volunteered with the Kinder Mobile in Ternopil along with two other members of the council. “A space where they can forget that there is a war going on — even just briefly — and satisfy their basic needs.”

A Common Opportunity to Serve

Supported by the Order’s Ukraine Solidarity Fund, the Kinder Mobile was born from a shared vision between the Knights of Columbus and the Order of Malta. The partnership builds on previous collaboration: Dozens of Knights participated in a series of first-aid training sessions sponsored by Malteser International — first in Lviv in July 2024, and then in Ternopil in June 2025. That foundation of cooperation now serves the youngest victims of the war in a new way.

Children Gather With Knights Of Columbus Members Malteser International — Children gather with Knights of Columbus and members of Malteser International, the relief agency of the Order of Malta, at the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Parish of the Position of the Robe of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ternopil, Ukraine, on June 21 during a Kinder Mobile event hosted by both organizations. *(Photo by Andrey Gorb)*

“The Knights of Columbus and the Order of Malta complement each other,” said Past State Deputy Youriy Maletskiy, noting that the Order of Malta brings experience in first aid and psychological support while the Knights have a strong local presence throughout Ukraine. “This gives both organizations the opportunity to provide better and more targeted assistance to people in need,” Maletskiy said.

The first destination for the Kinder Mobile was Chemerivtsi, a village located about 30 miles north of Kamianets-Podilskyi in western Ukraine. There, the team reached nearly 100 children in three intensive sessions, proving the project’s potential.

“We came back from there feeling deeply fulfilled and happy,” said Paliuha. “It motivated us to continue this collaboration and expand to new locations.”

Before long, a team of 11 Malteser International volunteers brought the Kinder Mobile to Ternopil, where they served more than 40 children.

Children of Hope

The Kinder Mobile uses informal educational and therapeutic activities to engage children in a way that is both effective and accessible.

“We work with art therapy techniques that are more psychologically oriented,” explained Viktoriia Shulha, a volunteer psychologist with Malteser International. “This includes various games and teamwork activities that allow children to express themselves, discover their talents, try something new, and communicate with their peers.”

One popular activity is the “Hands of Dreams” tree. Children are invited to write their hopes and desires on colorful paper handprints — giving voice to the dreams they carry in silence. The success of these techniques relies on the dedication of the volunteers, including the Knights from Council 18687.

Child Plays Ring Toss — Grand Knight Roman Ivashchuk of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj Council 18687 and Valentyna Paliuha, a project coordinator with the Maltese Relief Service, supervise as a child participates in a game during a Kinder Mobile event in Ternipol on June 21. *(Photo by Andrey Gorb)*

“This kind of initiative helps them create an environment, an atmosphere where a child can enter that state of real childhood,” Ivashchuk said.

Volunteers must bring more than just their time, explained Paliuha. “They have to have a desire to share their own emotions and give their full attention to the children so they are satisfied and happy after our visit.”

A long-term goal of the project, she added, is teaching children the value of teamwork and trust — “so that they know what a team is, so that they know what friends are.”

Healing Through Connection

The Kinder Mobile team recognizes that the war has impacted children in different ways and that each child requires an individualized approach. Children who have lost relatives are encouraged to express their pain, for example, through drawing or dancing. Internally displaced children are combined into teams of peers from their new region of residence to help foster new friendships. The success of these efforts has been confirmed by parents.

“They relieve tension and stress; they relax here, dance and enjoy a spiritual atmosphere,” said Nadiia Shevchuk, a mother who enrolled her children after learning about the project from her priest.

For the volunteers, the children’s well-being is its own reward.

“It’s definitely the happy eyes of children, the big smiles on their faces and the positive emotions they show us,” said Paliuha. “When they run up and hug us to thank us for the time we spent together — that’s what motivates us the most.”

While the war rages on, the Kinder Mobile plants seeds of recovery and is an investment in Ukraine’s future.

“No one can steal childhood from children,” Shulha said. “It is on these children that we place great hopes.”

To learn more about the Order’s work in Ukraine and to support these efforts, visit kofc.org/ukraine.

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KATERYNA KOLODII writes from Lviv, Ukraine.