Children who lost parents during ATO are undergoing rehabilitation in the Latvian Crisis Center.

A small Latvian town of Smiltene warmly greeted a group of young Ukrainian guests. Military operations in Eastern Ukraine left no one indifferent. Almost all European countries have already offered their rehabilitation assistance to the wounded and injured in the ATO area. Latvia was among the first countries that extended a helping hand to Ukrainian children who suffered from any kind of military activities.

In this case we are talking about children who lost their parents during ATO. Death of a dear person is a pain and a severe injury even for adults. And for a child a torture like this may be too difficult, it may even cause serious psychological problems in their future. In this case the intervention of corresponding specialists and proper rehabilitation is as important as proper treatment of physical injuries.

Smiltene Crisis Family Support Centre received 15 Ukrainian children aged 10 to 15 years old for a week course of rehabilitation. This program is realized due to the support of the Member of the Saeima, Chairman of the deputy group for interparliamentary relations with Ukraine Ainars Mezulis and the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Latvia in Ukraine, Chernihiv region Olena Vyshniakova.

Children are very satisfied with the programme of a visit. Professional psychologists work individually with every child. And the staff of the Center is trying to fill every day of the stay with bright and positive events. Children walk and play a lot, they also visit places of interest in Latvia.

The Honorary Consul Olena Vyshniakova visited children in Smiltene and was pleasantly surprised with such quick and positive changes. "I am myself a mother of four children. I understand how important for a child a sense of safety, psychological comfort and positive emotions are. The results of the stay in the rehabilitation center are obvious: these are the children, who are back into childhood. The fear and aggression disappeared. In Ukraine, a huge number of children are in need of such kind of assistance. Of course, it is not possible to help everyone, but even if we can help some few hundreds of children to get rid of war trauma - it will be great"- shared her impressions Mrs. Vyshniakova.

During the meeting with Mr. Mezhulis the Honorary Consul pointed up that Ukrainian children are in need of regular rehabilitation trips to Smiltene Crisis Center. Ainars Mezulis fully supported the project. The next group of children has been already forming. The host country together with the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Latvia in Ukraine, Chernihiv region cover all the expanses concerning the trip as well as the stay of Ukrainian children in Latvia.