March Overview: Support Groups and Nonviolent Communication Trainings by the East SOS Team
In March, the East SOS Charity Foundation continued supporting people who live and work despite the prolonged war and constant uncertainty – people who care for others, stay engaged in their hromadas, and at the same time try to find a source of inner strength themselves.
Throughout the month, support group meetings and training sessions took place in Vyshneve, Kyiv Oblast, Truskavets, Lviv Oblast, Nizhyn, Chernihiv Oblast, as well as in Kyiv and Chernihiv. In total, they brought together more than 100 participants.
In Vyshneve, we held two sessions of the I Can psychological support group, with elements of art therapy. The participants – women from war-affected families, educators, and activists – engaged in creative activities which helped them process emotions, explored their personal experiences, and gradually restored their inner resources.
In Truskavets, three support group meetings for adults were held based on themes from the I Can guidebook, and one more meeting took place in Nizhyn. Participants spoke about emotions and needs and learned to better understand themselves and others.
A separate part of the initiative focused on working with teenagers in Kyiv. Students of the Kyiv Higher Vocational School of Water Transport took part in interactive sessions where games and collaborative exercises helped them explore how human connection is made, how we interact with one another, and what may lie behind our words. During the sessions, participants gradually opened up and worked toward a better understanding of their own emotions and inner states.
In Chernihiv, the second module of the course A Nonviolent Approach to Building Dialogue in Hromadas was held. The training, Transforming Conflict through Nonviolent Communication, brought together civil servants, social workers, entrepreneurs, activists, and internally displaced people. Together, they learned to hear one another’s needs and to build relationships based on respect and empathy.
“The training was extremely useful and engaging. What resonated with me most were the exercises on accepting refusal and working,” said Tetiana, one of the participants.
These meetings offer people a chance to stop for a moment amid constant stress, better understand themselves and others, and find the resources to keep moving forward. It is precisely these skills and this experience that help people overcome everyday challenges.
The events took place as part of the project Empowering Civil Society for the Nonviolent Transformation of Conflicts Involving State Actors, with financial support from KURVE Wustrow.
Earlier, we reported on how East SOS, together with the League of Goodness CF, continued supporting frontline hromadas in Kharkiv Oblast in March.
