Sascha, founder of an NGO and of the social centre VPN-zone in Svitlodarsk

»Originally I am from the Crimea. I studied in the Department of Military Education when the annexation began in 2014 and could not finish my studies and so I went to Odessa. For my master I moved to Kharkiv where I learned about the Erasmus program in Poland and then I went there. I did my master's degree in Electrical Engineering and previously I had already completed a degree in Alternative Energy Sources.
I have been living in Svitlodarsk as a volunteer for the last two years and at the same time I'm studying at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv and at the Institute of Leadership and Management, because it could be useful for our NGO.
The place for our center is relatively new, we only started our work in summer.
The name VPN (Virtual Private Network) for our center resulted from the fact that at the beginning VPN was forbidden by the Ukrainian government, but it was used by everyone in the gray zone anyway. We chose this name because everyone understands this term and it technically works in this area.
We started with training and workshops because the people's mindset is a big problem for us. For example, the ultimate dream for a student is just finishing the technical school, that's all. And after finishing school, many people only think about working in the Svitlodarsk's power plant.
I think that's not normal and many person here don't know how many jobs and opportunities there are outside their city. Many people from Svitlodarsk have never travelled further than the neighboring towns of Bakhmut or Slowiansk, so in my opinion their imagination is pretty limited. Our goal is to educate these people and to raise new ideas, e.g. we organize some trips to other locations in Ukraine, such as Kharkiv or Lviv, with small groups.
One of our first workshops were about critical thinking, in another workshop we taught the possibilities of photography. Above that we offered a workshop for teenagers, who are leaving home, to prepare them for adult life. To raise your own opinions, parents are one of the most important aspects. So if they do not teach you proper values or practical knowledge you will not be able to handle your life or it will at least take a long time. Our goal is also to educate the parents themselves.
And that's why we often work with psychologists who explain to the parents first how to deal with war traumas and what they should take care of in respect to their children. Those parents, who visit our center, are very cooperative. We invite many people, but some of them never show up.
I know some organizations that only spread an illusion of work but still receive official grants. There is another organization that helps, but in my opinion not in a proper way. We don't have the same problems everywhere and to offer the same kind of help in different places does not work. For example, when an organization distributes food and clothing, people take it, but in the end they depend on this help. And at some point people will say, but you have to help us. Well, some organizations have good intentions, but they don't know how to implement them properly.
A meaningful way of helping is to invest in business because that can sustainably improve the region.
The most important needs for local children are their parents and their relationships with the parents. The war has strongly changed the children's psyche and caused traumas. According to Maslow's pyramid, every child needs security, and even before the war this need existed. But as a result of the war now everyone feels this strong need because of the lack of security. Talking to people the first important thing for them is peace even if they do not always understand what it takes to implement a proper peace.
The second, important need should be a proper education and many people here don't understand this. However, if they have not been educated properly, they are in danger of coming to wrong decisions in their lives.«

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