The team of the NGO “Metta” implements a project whose goal is the natural rehabilitation and resource recovery of military personnel and their families with the help of horotherapy.
Having received a request from three communities of Lviv region – Drogobytska, Mykolayivska and Chervonohradska, the organization is engaged in improving the quality and availability of services in the field of mental health by promoting the coordinated actions of services at different levels and familiarization with the best global practices and science-based tools, as well as the dissemination of the received experience among other communities.
We have been preparing for the launch of the project in 2021 for a long time, but due to a full-scale invasion, we were forced to adapt to the realities of today. Because the ideological founders of the Nomad.live project were forced to take up arms, and those demobilized during 2014-2021 returned to active combat. Those who were supposed to lead the hikes and those who were supposed to be participants have changed. At the same time, the request for the service has increased hundreds of thousands of times” – emphasize the representatives of the Metta NGO team.
What is horotherapy?
It is a form of alternative therapy that uses the natural environment, particularly mountains, to improve a person’s physical and mental health. Horotherapy can help a person restore inner harmony, reduce stress, anxiety, change attitudes towards traumatic experiences, and improve physical and psychological health.
Horotherapy makes it possible to:
– for military personnel undergoing treatment, rehabilitation or demobilization to ground and recover;
– for families who are waiting to spend time resourcefully in the circle of people who understand their experiences;
– military medics, paramedics and volunteers are also invited to recuperate.
In the course of the project, 4-day trips to the mountains with overnight stays in small houses and radial one-day crossings will be organized. There are mountains, where you can gather strength to live and fight on.
Participation in such hikes is free, food and transport are provided.
In order to better plan our program and start forming groups, the organizers ask you to fill out the pre-registration form: https://forms.gle/2yLDyKQt3ZBqXWfG8.
The next event will take place on November 16-19 – Horotherapy in Yavirnik for veterans.
The registration form is https://forms.gle/gYTV3M75bf62P6Zs9
Also, the NGO “Metta” has implemented another project that is extremely important in the current conditions – “Living in Waiting”, which is based on the principles of psychological support and accompaniment of families with an unspecified loss. The program is implemented with the support of the Ukrainian-Swiss MH4U project “Mental Health for Ukraine”.
For more detailed information, you can contact the department of socio-psychological, legal support and interaction with defenders and their family members of the Drohobytsk City Council.