Spilno Spots remain safe haven for children in Ukraine
A UNICEF Spilno Child Spot in the city of Balakliya is helping children to regain their childhoods through play and learning.
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Olena will always remember one autumn day in 2022 when she and her daughter walked through their war-ravaged home city of Balakliya, in Ukraine. As a result of the violence, empty streets, destroyed homes, and shuttered schools and shops defined the skyline. But then a spark of hope emerged on the main square – a white tent with blue lettering.
"I immediately felt warm in my heart,” recalls Olena. “It gave me hope. I thought that if something new opened up in the city, it could distract us from the war.”
This is the moment Olena first saw the Spilno Child Spot, a safe space for children run by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on the streets of Balakliya. Later, this white tent became not only her place of work, but her vocation.
"I was invited to take care of the children during the spot's opening,” she says. “My task was to engage kids in developmental and creative activities. I gladly accepted. And now I know what this job means to me – maybe this is my mission."
“We counted the explosions”
Before the full-scale war broke out in February 2022, Olena worked as a singer, actress and cultural educator for children. But the fight to survive overshadowed creativity in her life.
"I was paralysed by the war. I was frustrated and didn't know what to do. My daughter was three years old at the time. To calm her down, we counted the number of planes shooting at us. We knew that in the evening there would be about nine big explosions, and then it would be quiet. So we counted the explosions. That's how my child learnt to count."
For two months, as the shells rained down on Balakliya, Olena and her daughter hardly left their home. As well as worrying about her family, she also feared for the future of their city.
"All the infrastructure, schools and kindergartens in Balakliya were destroyed,” she recalls. “Many buildings are still in ruins because there is no money to repair them. The educational process is completely on hold. And children had nowhere to go to socialise. The war took away that opportunity.”
When, in November 2022, the violence in Balakliya eased and UNICEF opened a Spilno Spot, Olena leapt at the chance to join the project. At that time, the city lacked a reliable heating and electricity supply, so a generator and autonomous heating were installed in the tent.
"For a city in darkness, this tent became a place of hope. It provided warmth, allowed us to charge our phones and offered comfort. It marked the beginning of our journey, filled with extraordinary experiences.”
“I remember our first visitors, who enjoyed a rare moment of positivity after a long period of hardship. Accustomed to shelters and air raids, they were apprehensive but eager for light and kindness. And they found it here.”
“The Spilno Spot has become a second home”
Since then, Balakliya’s Spilno Spot has served as a hub for learning and play, offering mathematics, Ukrainian and English lessons, speech therapy, art therapy, sports, recreational activities and creative workshops. When there are frequent air raids, as many as 20 children find shelter in the tent, while on quieter days, hundreds of children often attend activities.
"For the children, it has become a second home – a world where they can freely express themselves,” says Olena. “It's a place of safety which embodies peace. Here, within this tent, they find tranquillity.”
Twelve-year-old Katya particularly enjoys the art classes and festive celebrations.
"I'll never forget our Harry Potter game on New Year's Eve, it was fantastic,” says the youngster. “We formed two teams – Gryffindor and Slytherin – and took part in tasks. And in the evening, Olena treated us to candy sticks while we watched the Harry Potter series on the projector.”
Katia attends the Spilno Spot every day after finishing her online classes at school.
"I really miss my normal school,” she says. “It was a lot of fun. Now, I go to Spilno and it replaces school for me, because only here can I communicate.”
Today, Katya has come to the Spilno Spot to do her homework, try her hand at drawing with a 3D pen in a creative class, and talk to a psychologist.
"We welcome all children,” says Olena. “We are open to them, we are there for them, we are ready to advise and support them. The Spilno Spot has become the heart of Balakliya in difficult times. The war has left many children without parents, without homes, and many children are suffering. At the Spilno Spot, we want to make their lives easier, more interesting, safer and more friendly.”
“This is my big dream – to make life easier for our children.”
Since 2022, Spilno Child Spots in 22 regions of Ukraine welcomed a total of around three million visitors. Children can take part in masterclasses (such as origami, drawing and embroidery), play games, join early development classes, and sign up to music lessons and sports competitions. They are also offered health education, psychological counselling, conversation clubs, mine awareness classes, career guidance courses, and leadership, teamwork and creativity training.
Over the course of 2024, new Spilno Spots will continue to open across Ukraine, including in five railway stations in Kyiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Lviv and Kharkiv. Each of these locations will have areas for children's creativity and play, as well as private breastfeeding and changing rooms, waiting areas for parents and places to charge smartphones.
