In the Zaporizhzhia community centre "Oplich Hub", the "Club of Successful Teenagers" has been operating for a month, where children from 12 to 17 years old meet.
Here teenagers can talk to a psychologist about issues of interest to them, make new acquaintances and try their hand at creativity.
"We gather teenagers and hold meetings on hot topics that are of interest to young people now – how to deal with emotions, get out of conflict situations in an environmentally friendly way, establish communication with peers and parents. Everyone knows that no matter how smart you are, if you can't present yourself, you can't establish communication, then it will be difficult to reach success.
At first, the children did not go to school due to covid, then a full-scale war began. Now someone goes to school, someone doesn't, so communication has suffered," said Natalia POPOVA, the psychologist at Oplich Hub.
Ms. Natalia says that live communication is extremely important for teenagers. Now a whole generation is growing up that has not studied offline for almost 5 years. There are children who easily coped with this, thanks to the support of parents and relatives, but there are also those who need the help of specialists.
"There are children who stayed at home, they do not go anywhere, they have withdrawn into their shell. Parents do not make enough time for them because of work. And that is how this children's tension begins to grow. Many of them have eating disorders, self-harm - damage to the body. The children scrape themselves with needles, they pinch themselves, they also harm themselves in some way. And when such children begin to come to the group, this symptomatology disappears," the psychologist said.
Fourteen-year-old Yevhen came to these classes precisely because he had been studying online for a long time.
"There is live communication here, and it is very useful, especially when you have studied a lot online. Maybe if I went to school, I would have enough communication. But I study remotely, that's why I come here with such zeal," says Yevhen.
Viktoriia is at the lesson in "Oplich Hub" for the fourth time. She also lacks live communication with peers and activities. The girl likes their variety in the classroom - teenagers draw, sculpt from plasticine and communicate at the same time. Victoria remembers the last lesson.
"I'm interested in coming here. It's a lot of fun here, the kids are very friendly, the teacher is very kind and everyone is very nice. First, we have some kind of conversation on some topic, and then we start drawing, sculpting, cutting, and at the end we present our work to everyone in the room.
For example, in the last lesson, we told how we see our future, what we will do. I dream of a large family, a son and a dog. I also love to draw and want to become a tattoo artist," Victoria shared.
It should be noted that the Oplich Hub was created by the UN Global Compact in Ukraine as part of the Mental Help project. The Community Centre works with the support of the humanitarian initiative of Metinvest Group "Saving Lives" and Zaporizhstal Iron and Steel Works.
From Tuesday to Sunday, you can attend classes in yoga, fitness, Pilates, articular neurogymnastics, art therapy, and painting free of charge at Oplich Hub. There are individual consultations with a psychologist, and classes in the "Club of Successful Teenagers".
"Our group is dynamic. There are children who go all the time, and there are children who can join us. The children follow the schedule. If they are interested in a topic, they come to somehow find answers to their questions. Anyone can get to the class by calling the phones of our hub – the administrator will make an appointment at a convenient time. We meet on Fridays from 3 to 5 p.m. The first week of the month we have painting classes. That's why, come, let's talk," says Natalia Popova, the psychologist at Oplich Hub.
