[Ukraine]Peace Winds hold “Women’s Resilience Club” to support women psychologically
As the war with Russia is prolonged, many women suffer psychologically by the loss of their loved ones or by worrying about their family members in the frontline of the war. In order to support these women, Peace Winds, in cooperation with the Nizhyn Maternity Hospital and the Ukrainian NGO Andreev Family Foundation (AFF), dispatches mobile clinical team consisting of gynecologist, nurse, examination technician, clinical psychologist, and social worker to cities and villages in Chernihiv Oblast in northern Ukraine.
As part of this project, we hold psychological consultation and group therapies called “Women’s Resilience Club.” At this club, participants can release their stress and anxiety by expressing their feelings in a safe, relaxed environment with mutual support of the participants. By the end of March, a total of 176 women took part in such group sessions.
We learn the depth of Ukrainian women’s suffering via conversations at these clubs.
A 34-years-old woman raises two children on her own because her husband is a soldier stationed at the frontline. The fear for her husband’s life keeps her up at night, she lost interest in life, and suffers from unstable psycho-emotional state. A 74-years-old woman lost her only son in the war. Experiencing acute grief, she feels life is meaningless. A 41-years-old woman lost her husband in the war, but his body has not been returned. The in-laws blame her for everything and filed a lawsuit to claim the property, while she has to take care of her son and ill mother. A 17-years-old girl was hospitalized for high blood pressure due to stress. The family is in a difficult circumstance with the father in captivity and the mother being dysfunctional. A 43-years-old woman suffers from increasing anxiety. She fears for the possible deployment of her husband to the combat zone, and for her daughter living in a front-line city with possible shelling.
At the Women’s Resilience Club, we provide five sessions for these women so that they could have sense of safety, learn how to prevent emotional burnout, or how to find necessary resources and finally learning to be resilient. If someone needs a professional support or treatment, we refer them to specialized facilities, or provide information. We also provide transportation if it was difficult for the person to go on her own.
This project has been supported by individual donation and the funding from Japan Platform. More and more women suffer psychologically and physically as the war is prolonged. Peace Winds continues our effort to help ease the pain of these women in Ukraine. We appreciate your continuous support. Thank you so much.