The psychosocial support program for refugees: Bine cu mine în țări străine
The program supports people who fled the path of war and chose to call Sibiu county home for a moment. Since May 15, we have been organizing thematic meetings at the Ukrainian Center in Sibiu, aimed at bringing us together and helping us to create bridges between the Ukrainian and local communities.
Group meetings create fellowship and provide a setting that facilitates moving beyond fear, frustration, helplessness, pain and stimulates inner resources to regain power, strength, confidence, courage and dignity. Participation is free, within the limits of available places, for those who express their interest in such activities by email at contact@aleg-romania.eu or by message at tel: +40 753 893 531. An experienced psychologist is always present at these events.
What activities did we do this fall?
On September 18 and October 5, a storytelling workshop was held, coordinated by our psychologist colleagues from the A.L.E.G. team, in the context in which the war changed the narrative for most of us. Stories are meant to bring us together, being based on emotions (ex: pain, joy, struggle, love) and have a magical way of helping us connect with other people. Then, the transformation took place in the art therapy workshop. The personal stories were transposed through drawing. The result is a collection of paintings, sprinkled with the power of starting over every day, with the stubbornness of a better, safer, more peaceful today and tomorrow.
On September 16, Agelina Zaporojan, the founder of the Women’s Law Center in Chisinau, who 6 years ago started it from scratch in Romania, shared with us about the mechanisms that help us adapt to a new environment, but also about how we continue our lives after a terrible loss. We did not avoid tears, but we received them warmly.
On September 3, Rosa Logar, director of the Domestic Violence Intervention Center in Vienna, spoke with members of the Ukrainian community in Sibiu about women’s rights and how they are an indication of how democratic a society is. The Romanians and Ukrainians who were present exchanged impressions about how the role of women was seen during the communist period and about the changes that today’s generation sees as necessary. We discovered many similarities, as if we were speaking the same language.
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The psycho-social support program is carried out with the financial support of the International Rescue CommitteeBalkans
