During this period, the Italian Physical Education teacher Viviana Zito, Capdi & LSM
, contacted some colleagues of our field in Ukraine and she has made a short interview with Julia Pavlova trying to understand what they are experiencing and how the schools are being organized during the war.
A virtual hug to all the Ukrainian teachers and a special thanks, on behalf of Capdi & LSM and EUPEA to Julia Pavlova, Nataliya Sorokolit, Ivanna Bodnar who managed, between one alarm and another, to dedicate some time to the realization of the interview.
I am very worried about the situation we are living in and every day I carefully evaluate how to behave in order to try to save my family’s lives. With a lot of effort I try to be concentrated in everything I do and to be optimistic because it is the only way to stay balanced and try to survive. At the same time, having a very young child I must try to maintain a peaceful and stimulating environment for his growth.
Fortunately, the city where I live (Lviv) is located near the border with Poland. Every bomb alert last 2-3 hours each time, after one of the missile strikes in the city, we had a situation that there was no electricity and no internet connection. This is a dangerous situation, because you have no information when the next missile launches will take place. There are only several real equipped bunkers in the city, so most people hide where they can, for example in underground parking, in the basements, or try to protect themselves at home by settling in the corridors where there are walls and no windows which are very dangerous for splinters. It goes without saying that these attentions would not protect us if the bombs hit us directly.
Many colleagues located in the eastern part of Ukraine have been living in the undergrounds of subways or basements of houses for months, without information, medicine or food.
The most concerned are colleagues with elderly parents or sick family members. Such family members are difficult to evacuate, sometimes impossible to move to a safe place during bombing. Sometimes they can do nothing but pray and hope to survive the night.
In this period, schools of all levels are all closed because there are no bunkers where children can be protected in the event of an alarm. But all educational establishments in the unoccupied territories are trying to organize distance lessons or study groups, including entertainment and socialization. I teach at the University and having finished with lectures, I try to pass by the University to complete some bureaucratic work.
Viviana: Is it possible to use the parks, the city sports facilities or the school playground to carry out some physical activity outdoors?
Since the start of the war, Russian troops have destroyed Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure: schools, universities, hospitals, sports facilities and parks. According to the Office of the Attorney General of Ukraine, 223 children have died as of 7 May 2022 and 410 children have been injured since the start of the war. There are many students with psychological damages. Sports infrastructure was also severely damaged: most of the destruction was caused to sports facilities in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Kiev regions.
The President of Ukraine launched the “Let’s Win Together” school project.
Nearly a thousand specialists (instructors and Graduates in Sports Sciences) from all regions of Ukraine have joined their efforts to offer special online classes of Physical Education and Sports Science. Through groups created specifically on the Telegram platform, each teacher can propose a lesson to their students independently or join the lesson of another connected colleague in another city.
This form of teaching, in addition to improving the physical health of pupils, facilitates active communication between children and young people with peers from their own or other cities, helps to reduce anxiety and stress, to share experiences and to support each other in moments of difficulty.
The platform disseminates the lessons divided by topics and age groups (kindergarten, primary, lower and upper secondary school) and also takes into account the general guidelines of the National Ministerial program.
The moderators of the platform, in addition to managing the scheduling of lessons, also organize flash mobs at national level, meetings with the military who heroically defend Ukrainian cities, or the stars of sport and entertainment who become PE and Sport ambassador involved in promoting physical activity as a source of physical and mental well-being.
Having a healthy and active lifestyle is certainly helpful in keeping your physical and mental health in good condition.
In this particular period of war, however, it is of fundamental importance to be able to walk for many kilometres, run in the event of a bomb alarm or have the ability to carry weights (food, water, objects, children or elderly people), in case you want to move from one place to another. The experience of many people that flee from the occupied territories shows that the use of transport (cars, buses) can be very dangerous. Many people have walked by foot very long distances to save lives.
Being trained can save your life and the lives of your loved ones.
