Croatian soldiers teach Ukrainian veterans to relieve themselves mentally thanks to diving and water sports within the framework of the joint project of Ukraine and Croatia “Resocialization of Ukrainian veterans: peer-to-peer”. From May 7 to 14, the 2nd stage of the project will take place in Lviv and the region, and 16 Ukrainian veterans will participate in it.
In particular, a number of active events and psychological trainings were planned for the participants. In particular, it is planned to:
May 7-8: scuba diving in the pool and reporting by psychologists on the work previously carried out with project participants (veterans)
May 9: Archery and meeting with Zoran Komar, who was the chief psychologist of the Croatian Armed Forces.
May 10-12: water sports (kayaks, SUP boards, dragon boat), fishing, darts. Evening program: communication and lectures by psychologists.
Here you can familiarize yourself with the full plan of activities of the 2nd stage of the project.
Download photo Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, resocialization of veterans is very important. Croatia has considerable experience in helping its veterans, and their experience is valuable to Ukraine, so it is being adopted. The charity foundation UNBROKEN has already started this process in a joint project with the Croatian Association of Veterans and Disabled Persons (HRVI Nemo). And already, according to the feedback of the participants, there are excellent results. After all:
– 92% of the participants noted an improvement in their health. On average, the physical condition score increased from 5.4 to 8.3 (on a 10-point scale), which corresponds to an improvement of +54%.
– 92% of participants noted an improvement in their psychological state. On average, the assessment of the psychological state increased from 4.9 to 8.8 points, which corresponds to an improvement of +80%.
This project was initiated and launched in September 2023 in the city of Savudria on the shores of the Adriatic Sea (9 Ukrainian veterans participated then) – with the support of the Croatian government, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, the Lviv City Council and private benefactors.
In 2024, 10 more participants were recruited. Here is more detailed information about the project, here is what it looks like.
“We aim to create a network of veterans who will be able to involve others in various resocialization activities. The main goal of the project is to increase the number of veterans to 500 per year in order to provide them with decent resocialization. We believe that our project will create a network of equal mentors of veterans,” shared the executive director of the UNBROKEN charitable foundation Oleksandr Kobzarev.
The UNBROKEN Foundation mobilizes resources for the treatment, prosthetics, rehabilitation and reintegration of those who suffered as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine.