The strength to help others comes from taking care of yourself. Every day, charitable organizations support people who find themselves in difficult life situations. They listen to stories of loss, help solve problems, and know about human pain, not from hearsay but from personal experience. However, to continue helping, they, too, need to replenish their own strength.
That’s why the team of the Lifesaving: Protection, Shelter, and WASH for War-Affected Regions project, implemented by our Foundation in cooperation with Malteser International and supported by Aktion Deutschland Hilft, recently traveled to Truskavets and participated in a two-day training titled “I Help You, You Help Me.”
“The idea for this training came from the director of the Foundation’s humanitarian programs, Anna Borysova. Our daily work in challenging security conditions creates additional emotional stress for the entire team, for regional coordinators as well as specialists of the mobile teams who work in the field to help people. Since opportunities to rest and regain inner balance are extremely rare, we were very happy to participate in a training that helped us recharge, meet new people, and talk,” said project manager Khrystyna Oliinyk.
Self-awareness was the focus of the first day. Exercises called I Am Not My Position and My Space helped the team step outside their work roles and find harmony. The focus of the second day was effective communication and support techniques. According to hotline operator Yuliia Nikolayenko, who takes dozens of calls from beneficiaries every day, the training was a wonderful opportunity to get to know colleagues better and understand her own emotional state.
“The main feature of the training was the large number of exercises that fostered interaction, mutual understanding, and conflict resolution. It was especially important to hear about professional burnout and ways to prevent it — allowing yourself to take a break, take stock of your own resources, and properly restore your strength,” Yuliia shared.
The coaches (Candidate of Psychological Sciences Oleksii Liashchenko and CF SSS supervisor Olha Sobolieva) offered exercises and activities that mobilized internal resources, allowed us to unwind, and regain strength, as the Sumy project team described.
“We sincerely thank our organizers and donors — Malteser International and Aktion Deutschland Hilft — for giving us the opportunity to come together and work on our personal development, as well as the professional coaches for their new and valuable knowledge. This event brought us together with colleagues from other regions — creative, open, ambitious, like-minded people who love their work and believe in it,” said a mobile team social worker in Sumska Oblast, Liudmyla Vysotska.
Having replenished their strength, recharged their motivation, and gained new experience, the project team is returning to their work — helping those who need it most.
