On August 2, 2022, we welcomed Hollywood star, Indian actress, singer, and producer — Priyanka Chopra to our summer camp «Summer Courage», which is organized by the Unbreakable Ukraine Foundation with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund — UNICEF.
Priyanka is on the Forbes list of “100 Most Powerful Women in the World” and has over 80 million followers on Instagram! She visited us together with her colleagues from the Warsaw UNICEF office, as she has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2006.
Priyanka became a mother in January this year. That is why communication with mothers and children who evacuated, survived the occupation, or witnessed hostilities became especially painful for her:
«The war in Ukraine is leaving the newspaper columns, but the violence continues. More than 10 million Ukrainians were forced to leave their native country. Children suffer the most from war. They are forced to leave their homes, their fathers, their friends, their schools. They cannot continue to study normally. And unfortunately, this will have negative consequences in the future. The war cannot fail to affect the psychological state of children and women. Talking to mothers, I see how resilient they are. What are they ready to do for the safety of their children. How tenderly they hug children, smile and entertain them. But when the children are not here, they admit that they are actually tired, devastated and scared,” says Priyanka.»
As the founder of her own foundation “The Priyanka Chopra Foundation for Health and Education”, Priyanka directs the focus of her activities to the fight for women’s rights and ensuring the education of girls in India (the most vulnerable population). She, like no one else, understands that for the further development of society, the new generation must acquire a full-fledged education.
Together with the teachers of our “First Ukrainian School in Warsaw”, she also talked about problems. Unfortunately, not all children who remain in Ukraine or were evacuated abroad have access to continuous education.
The children were happy to meet a world-class star! They treated her to lard, taught her to say “Good evening, we are from Ukraine” and took part in sports competitions.
«I believe that it is necessary to continue talking about the war in Ukraine and its consequences. Today, at our camp in Warsaw, we had the honor of receiving a guest of honor — UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra. There was a lot of talk about the need to create a new “normality” for children by providing access to education: the banal attendance at school every day gives children a sense of “the way they used to be”, and parents — an opportunity to find new bases in a foreign country. Children are smiling and have hope for a happy return home,» — said Victoria Gnap.
Priyanka Chopra’s arrival at the summer camp «Summer Courage» is a boundless manifestation of support for us, the organizers of the project, and for all Ukrainians.
Because of the war, several million Ukrainians left for Poland. 1.2 million of them requested temporary shelter in Poland, of which 500,000 were children. Poland helps in all possible ways, but the Polish education system was not ready for such a challenge. This is normal because no country was ready to accept such a large number of refugees at one time. Many children in Ukraine cannot study even online, because 2188 educational institutions have been destroyed, damaged, or are under occupation.
Considering the great problem of providing children with continuous education, in the 2022/2023 academic year, a network of Ukrainian schools was opened in Poland — “The First Ukrainian School in Poland”.. The project was created by the “Unbreakable Ukraine” foundation in March 2022. The initiator of the idea of opening the “First Ukrainian School in Poland” became Victoria Gnap with her husband.
Now three Ukrainian schools have been established in the cities of Warsaw, Wrocław, and Kraków, providing children with all the necessary materials for learning free of charge. The educational centers of the Foundation have a Ukrainian teaching staff of teachers and directors. In addition, the study of the Polish language and the completion (if desired) of a rehabilitation course by psychologists are provided. The purpose of the schools’ existence is to relieve the burden on the Polish education system and provide children with regular education without additional stress.
