When people talk about IDPs who find themselves in boarding schools for the elderly, most people imagine completely unhappy people who complain about their fate. Of course, these people have been through a lot and need psychological support. And, having received such help, they can feel happy and live their years to the fullest and with a smile.
Psychologist Oksana Marynin visits boarding schools for the elderly and people with disabilities as part of the «SOS-Psychology» project’s psychological activities:
“During my visits to boarding schools, I sometimes remember my childhood: I see images of my own grandparents. So in the orphanage in Staroushytsia I met a man with whom I felt as if I was talking to my own grandfather again.
Viktor Pavlovych is an immigrant from Zaporizhia, and in the past he was a director of the machine-building factory. Modern times have tested this man with the war: shelling, evacuation, adaptation in a new place. But this sensitive, sincere, frank and wise man did not break down. He searches for glimmers of joy in everything around him and believes in the best. Viktor Pavlovych shared with me his hobbies: his passion for genealogy, which has accompanied him all his life, and his fascination with the magic of numbers – numerology.”
Mr. Pavlovych shares his recipe for good humor: “I talk to a psychologist Oksana and I’m already happy. Every new person is worth its weight in gold to me. I look out the window and see trees preparing for spring – this is also a reason for joy.”
The following services are provided free of charge to children and adults:
– group sessions with a psychologist (psychological support groups);
– individual consultations with a psychologist;
– art therapy.
The activities of the «SOS-Psychology» project are implemented with the support of the USAID «Building a Resilient Public Health System» project.
