Mountains, New Friends, and Educational Wins: 50 Teenagers from Mykolaiv Oblast Spent Ten Days at Easy Camp by East SOS Charity Foundation

Fifty teenagers aged 13–14 from Mykolaiv Oblast, who joined the first session of Easy Camp, the catch-up learning camp organized by the EAST SOS Charity Foundation, are already returning home. Ten days of learning, new friendships, mountain hikes, cozy evening chats, and small personal victories are now behind them.

But the most precious things cannot be packed into a suitcase. For some, these ten days were their first trip to the Carpathians. For others, their first time on stage, a chance to find new friends, or the confidence that even difficult math tasks can, in fact, be solved. And for some, it was just the rare chance to be a kid again– learning, discovering, without flinching at the sound of air-raid sirens.

“In ten days, we cannot change the circumstances these children live in, but we can give them a time when they feel like ordinary teenagers again: learning together, getting to know one another, making friends, going on hikes, laughing, causing a little harmless trouble, and simply enjoying being kids. For many children who, because of the war, have been studying remotely or in a blended learning format for a long time, such moments become an opportunity to reclaim what the war takes away from them – in-person interaction, a sense of safety, and the joy of being with their peers,” said Mykola Overchenko, Director of Easy Camp and Education Program Manager at EAST SOS.

The best way to understand the results of the camp is not through numbers, but through the children themselves. We asked the boys and girls what they are taking with them from the camp.

The most valuable things from the camp, which will not fit into any suitcase, are new friends, the joy of learning together, memories of their very first hike up Mount Velykyi Verkh, the courage to show their talent and receive support, and the confidence that every single one of them can achieve so much more.

The Easy Camp catch-up learning camp was organized within the project “Protection and Psychosocial Support for War-Affected Populations in Ukraine’s Frontline Regions” (2026–2027), funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.