Generator program
The partnership between Rotary Club of Santa Rosa, Rosenhein Innstadt Rotary Club and Rotary Club Cherkasy-Centre proved to be a strong force behind supplying over 200 generators and batteries to hospitals, field hospitals, and schools across Ukraine, particularly in the Cherkasy region. A great deal of credit for this goes to our Rotarian and generator program coordinator – Svitlana Petrova.
For more details you can read the following:
The IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) program is a collaborative initiative between Rotary clubs in Cherkasy, Ukraine, and Santa Rosa, USA. Launched in March 2022 in response to the extensive Russian invasion and ensuing conflict across Ukraine, the program focuses on the production and assembly of first aid kits to address the urgent medical needs arising from the crisis.
The IFAK program stands as a testament to the power of international collaboration, community support, and Rotary’s commitment to providing critical aid in times of crisis. The initiative not only addressed immediate medical needs but also fostered resilience and unity in the face of adversity.
Speak Together
Project Speak Together was founded at the beginning of the pandemic, to help children from the Ukraine and USA connect through learning and teaching conversational English language skills. This project does not only help children and teens improve their English but also connects them to form a global community, giving them a unique opportunity to learn more about each other’s culture, traditions, and day to day life.
Read more: https://projectspeaktogether.com/
Sunflowers of Ukraine
A series of art exhibitions to benefit Ukraine held in California cities organized by Project Speak Together, local residents, Rotary Clubs of Santa Rosa. The exhibits feature local artists showcasing their rendition of sunflowers, which is the national flower of Ukraine. The exhibit also includes powerful images created by middle school children in Ukraine. Some of the pieces feature expressions of peace and hope, while others exhibit the horrors of the war and, again, the children’s plea for peace. All the proceeds go to hospitals in Cherkasy, about 120 miles southeast of Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv, and smaller medical facilities in the area, as well as towards humanitarian efforts to feed, clothe and shelter those affected by the war.
Read more: https://sunflowersofukraine.org
Saving Children’s Hearts Together
Together with our partner club from Germany, RC Konstanz-Rheintor, we had enabled 29 children from single parent and low-income families with surgical care. Our Rotarian Leonid Lashchenko started the initiative. The total cost of the program was 785,000 euros.
Since 1995, over 420 Ukrainians received consultations from German doctors, incuding Frank Hoffmann and Thomas Sailer from Konstanz.
Let’s Fight Tuberculosis
This Rotary program has been running since 2001. We support the regional children’s anti-tuberculosis sanatorium “Ruska Polyana” located next to Cherkasy.
In the past, RC “Cherkasy Centre” provided it with food, medicine and medical equipment worth over $25,000; equipped with a computer class for 10 seats and helped with printed materials for information dissemination on tuberculosis prevention. Lately, the sanatorium received new beds worth over 100,000 UAH and an X-ray machine which costs 60,000 EUR.
Idea-Action-Result
In November 2014, the club’s president of that time Yuri Polishchuk suggested to support a project competition among young people. 30 participants from Cherkasy and the region went through 5 workshops and competed for a trip to Europe. The trip was organised in partnership with Polish clubs and NGOs.
It was a valuable support to NGO Promolod which transformed into Cherkasy Urban Institute.
You are a winner!
The project for the psychological rehabilitation of children affected by the war is aimed at addressing the issue of psychological support for children who are forced to leave their homes due to the war in Ukraine. They suffer from fear, anger, shame, isolation, and issues with learning and health. The Rotary Club of Cherkasy-Center, with the support of the Harris Family Foundation and other Rotary clubs, has created this project to strengthen the health of children and restore their mental balance through fairy tale and art therapy and interactive sensory rooms. The project is intended for internally displaced and socially vulnerable children in Cherkasy, Chyhyryn, Kaniv, and the Rus’ka Poliana community, where about 9,000 children live. The implementation plan includes the creation of a psychological support center with a sensory room at the ‘Rus’ka Poliana’ sanatorium, the creation of a YouTube channel with video sessions of art therapy and fairy tale therapy, as well as outreach sessions by psychologists and trainers in Chyhyryn and Kaniv. The types of activities include psychotherapy (online and in-person, group and individual consultations), art therapy, sand therapy, fairy tale therapy, and assistance in adapting to a new environment. The expected results include the restoration and maintenance of the physical and psychological condition of the children, adaptation and integration into society, correction of behavioral disorders, development of communication and life skills, and reduction of stress and emotional overload.
